Viking Cruises’ New Octantis Is So Much More than Just a Cruise Ship

Yes, clients can book a vacation onboard Viking Octantis in plush accommodations featuring the cruise line’s signature Scandinavian style. Sure, they can savor global cuisine — including nightly lobster tails — along with time in the full-service Nordic spa. And of course, they will sail to ports and destinations with the opportunity to see new things and take part in once-in-a-lifetime experiences. But don’t be fooled — Viking’s expedition arm is not your average cruise.

Viking Octantis — and soon-to-debut sister Viking Polaris — are fully equipped research vessels employing several scientists and specialists onboard; for a lucky few, their full-time job on the ship is to go about conducting their research. “It’s not just a cruise ship that happens to have a science program,” says Dr. Damon Stanwell-Smith, a marine scientist with an office at Cambridge University whose portfolio is an impressive one. He was headhunted by Viking three years ago to be its head of Science and Sustainability, leaving a pristine position as the executive director of the International Association of Antarctic Operators (IAATO).

Onboard a Great Lakes itinerary this week, he led us on a tour of the ship and into its bowels where an unbelievable bounty of equipment lies, from two $5 million submarines to a full, 400-square-foot genetics laboratory. Recreational submarines are relatively nonexistent, and passengers have the chance to dive down to the depths of their destination if the conditions are right. The only other ship that has a lab like the one here is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Navy. We’re told that Viking is in the process of transforming the lab from health-based genetics testing (aka processing PCR results) to nature-based genetics research.

No detail was too small in designing and outfitting the ship, which Stanwell-Smith assisted with. The boots provided to guests and used on expeditions in Polar regions have soles that are specially designed to not carry seeds or other environmental contagions with them in their tread; 1,000 pairs were privately commissioned by Viking to adhere to these biosecurity standards. 

“It’s like the back of the vessel is paid for by the front end of the vessel,” Stanwell-Smith says, explaining that the revenue from cruise passengers helps to sustain the ship’s many significant scientific programs. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) is one of Viking’s many partners and Octantis is the 103^rd civilian weather station, providing essential data back to NOAA from Antarctica or the Great Lakes where it sails. (Viking Polaris will be number 104.)

“And it’s almost like the back end of the ship justifies the travel taking place onboard,” according to Stanwell-Smith. The staff has been shocked by how popular weather balloon launches have been with passengers, which typically take place on the top deck early in the morning, before sunrise.

Stanwell-Smith explains that the difference between citizen science and primary science is that instead of passengers participating in isolated science experiments, professional scientists are conducting studies and gathering information, and guests can witness and learn about this exciting research as it’s happening. “I would benchmark Viking Octantis against any other operating research vessel,” he says.

Currently, there is an ongoing study taking place that monitors the levels of microplastics in the water. Laboratory tours are held throughout each voyage to give passengers a closer look at the activities happening there.

There are always three full-time scientists onboard — a chief scientist, a secondary scientist, and a visiting scientist — as well as three specialists, with backgrounds that span geology to ornithology. Most of the expedition crew who pilot Zodiacs, lead guided walks and even provide the safety demonstration on the first day, are also accomplished scientists working in guest-facing roles to help passengers with interpreting the nature they see around them.

On our sailing, the chief scientist is Dr. Daniel Moore, a marine ecologist specializing in genomics from the UK. He clarified that the definition of an expedition is a “journey with purpose,” which explains so much of Viking’s approach to these vessels and the guest experience.

Breaking down the significance behind the biospheres of each itinerary, from birds in the sky to rocks below the surface of the water, is the main goal of the expedition crew, and they go about it in a number of ways. Exploration Central on Deck 2 is rife with charts, maps, and tactile objects like fossils endemic to the region; it’s the place to find the experts who can discuss what lies beyond the ship.

Just across the atrium on the same deck is The Studio, where demonstrations might be held and the ship’s memorable collection of true-to-size bird replicas are displayed in their naturally resplendent colors. (The birds change depending on the itinerary and were created in partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.)

Talks from Viking’s talented staff or visiting lecturers are held in The Aula, a theater akin to a lecture hall, designed in collaboration with Cambridge University. Comfortable tiered seating faces a 4K IMAX-style screen, which can be converted to display a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows behind it. You can also find storytelling over a Scotch in the ship’s secret lounge called The Hide.

Even if you pause for a cappuccino and a bite, there’s no escaping the knowledge onboard Viking Octantis. The bars and lounges on Decks 4 and 5 encompass a 4,000-volume library curated in conjunction with esteemed London bookshop Heywood Hill, as well as input from a constellation of Viking partners. There are biographies of Ernest Shackleton alongside volumes of poetry and classic literature, books on bugs, and tomes on travel writing. A week onboard can be a bit of a binge for the brain.

But beyond engaging an innate curiosity for learning, which Viking counts on its passenger base to have, the pace of a Viking expedition cruise remains comfortable and relaxing. You can still lounge by the pool sipping a cocktail in Canada on a sunny summer day and forget you’re supposed to be retaining a single thing.

So, ok — Viking Octantis is actually a cruise ship; just not like one you’ve ever sailed before. As Stanwell-Smith puts it: “We have a shiny white outside and a disruptive inside.”