Latest news with #VictoryCruiseLines
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
CBP agents remove some crew from Victory's two ships in the Great Lakes
Crew members from Victory Cruise Lines' two ships, the Victory I and Victory II, were removed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the ships' routine operations in the Port of Detroit, according to the cruise line. Sources familiar with the situation said that on July 9 and 11, the CBP removed 13 crew members who had previously been cleared for entry into the U.S. and to work onboard the ships by the CBP. The cruise line obtains crew members primarily through third parties, a source said, which vets the crew members, who have valid work visas. The ships are currently operating Great Lakes itineraries. The CBP did not respond to a request for comment. "We are actively cooperating with federal authorities to clarify the circumstances, and my priority is always our crew and the experience for our guests," said John Waggoner, the founder and chairman of Victory. According to social media reports, other ships operating overnight cruises on the Great Lakes have also had crew removed by federal agents. Waggoner and other company executives are visiting both ships this week. The Victory I. Photo Credit: Anne Kalosh Related: The revival of Victory Two coastal ships with a long history get a new lease on life. Continue Reading Victory re-entered service in late April following Waggoner's purchase of the brand and ships last year after American Queen Voyages' closure. Victory's ships offer Great Lakes and New England-Canada itineraries through the fall.
Chicago Tribune
24-06-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Inaugural Great Lakes cruise sets sail from Chicago's Navy Pier to Toronto
A boat cruising the Niagara River that flows between the U.S. and Canada appeared close enough to Niagara Falls to get sucked into the powerful rapids and plummet 188 feet. But that was just an illusion created by the view from a helicopter over one of the world's most famous waterfalls. 'That's Horseshoe Falls,' the pilot announced into my headset. Horseshoe Falls is the largest of the trio of falls — including American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls — that comprise the natural wonder known as Niagara Falls. A ribbon of emerald water unfurled below and the mist from the crescent-shaped waterfall rose heavenward. Many visitors see Niagara Falls from a tourist boat but few enjoy this lofty vantage point from a helicopter that accommodates only four or five people. The 'flightseeing' was an experience offered by Victory Cruise Lines on a 10-night Great Lakes cruise that traveled from Chicago to Toronto last month. Ports of call in Michigan included Escanaba, Mackinac Island, Sault Sainte Marie and Detroit on a trip that also took us to Cleveland. The Victory II ship was christened at Chicago's Navy Pier on May 12, ahead of its inaugural sailing on all five of the Great Lakes, marking the debut of the relaunched cruise line. Its sister ship, the Victory I, was christened in Toronto on April 27. The Victory I and II are the only ships in the small cruise line's fleet. Both 190-passenger vessels were purpose-built to sail the five Great Lakes and the Canadian Coast. It's the only such cruise line operating out of Navy Pier and has cruises scheduled between Chicago and Toronto, and between Milwaukee and Toronto, into October. After the flightseeing, when my traveling companions and I landed at the 13th Street Winery in the heart of Ontario's wine country, a bottle of sparkling Blanc de Blanc was poured into Champagne flutes to welcome us. We strolled through lush vineyards and a sun-splashed sculpture garden before sitting down to a tasting that included the region's famous ice wine. The dessert wine is made from grapes that freeze naturally on the vine, producing a honey-like elixir. Afterward, an alfresco lunch was served on a perfectly manicured lawn where other wine enthusiasts sipped Gamay and Riesling, some with canine companions at their feet. 'This cruise appeals to retired baby boomers seeking a low-key experience close to home,' said Kari Tarnowski, vice president of marketing with Victory Cruise Lines. Unlike international cruises, these trips don't require long flights, which can be hard on arthritic joints and cause jet lag. That was part of the appeal for Phil and Gee Barker of Charlotte, North Carolina. 'I've lost my desire for traveling all night and not sleeping,' Phil Barker said. 'It takes me two or three days to acclimate, and then it's time to come home. We started to ask, 'Why did we go so far when there's so much to see here?'' Detroit is a perfect example, a city undergoing a renaissance. It's the only UNESCO City of Design in the United States, and a shore excursion introduces cruisers to two architects who left a mark on the city: Eliel Saarinen and Frank Lloyd Wright, both of whom have ties to the Chicago area. In the Saarinen House on the campus of Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, a Detroit suburb, hangs a black and white sketch that is easily overlooked but worth scrutinizing. It reveals how different the Chicago skyline would look today had Finnish American architect Saarinen won the 1922 architectural contest to design Chicago's Tribune Tower, once the Tribune newspaper's headquarters. Saarinen's submission came in second, but the modern design made waves in the world of architecture. It caught the eye of George Gough Booth, founder of the art academy, and he engaged Saarinen to design the Cranbrook campus, including a home for the president, a position held by Saarinen himself from 1932 to 1946. Saarinen lived in his own architectural masterpiece until his death in 1950. Aside from patterned brick, the exterior is unimposing, but inside, Saarinen's unique aesthetic unfolds. Scandinavian ideals of simplicity and functionality don't equate to sparseness and lack of adornment. Elements of the Arts and Craft Movement that champion handcrafted simplicity are present, but so are the bold geometric shapes and luxury materials that define Art Deco. The piece de resistance is the octagonal dining room. A dome-shaped brass light fixture hangs from a gilded ceiling, and Chinese red art niches break up the neutral-toned walls. A tour of the campus itself is where Saarinen's genius shines. Lush, rolling landscapes are punctuated by Carl Milles sculptures, and the result is a harmonious blend of architecture, art and nature. The tour concludes at a Frank Lloyd Wright house once owned by school teachers Melvyn Maxwell Smith and Sara Stein Smith. It's a stellar example of Wright's Usonian ideal of building affordable, functional housing for the American middle class. Other cruise highlights include car-free Mackinac Island, where passengers take a horse and carriage ride to the iconic Grand Hotel, known for its expansive front porch lined with geraniums, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, where new inductees include Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker and Salt-N-Pepa. Toronto's CN Tower, an architectural marvel that looks like a needle puncturing the clouds, soars 1,815 feet and offers a panoramic view of Canada's most populous city with an aerial perspective of Lake Ontario and the skyscrapers that comprise the cityscape. In the evenings, passengers enjoy fine cuisine in the Coastal Dining Room and entertainment in the Compass Lounge. On sea days, passengers settle into the lounge for educational talks about the region. Ian Ross, the ship's 'lakelorian,' or regional storyteller, spoke about the system of locks, canals and channels that allow vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to Great Lakes ports. The Victory II passes through the Chicago Harbor Lock adjacent to Navy Pier, the first of eight canal locks on the cruise, showcasing an engineering feat that reversed the flow of the Chicago River in the 1930s to improve water quality and allow passage between the river and Lake Michigan. Now, Victory I and II are among the ships navigating the Great Lakes, but unlike the numerous cargo ships carrying commodities like grain and coal, they are mainly carrying passengers enjoying their golden years.
Travel Weekly
07-06-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
Frank Lloyd Wright gems on display on Victory Cruise Lines tour
Growing up in Illinois, I often visited family in Oak Park and Hyde Park, but I never got to delve into Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture in and around Chicago until visiting on a cruise ship. It was an eye-opener. The newly revived Victory Cruise Lines highlights America's most famous architect in a "premium" precruise shore excursion. And a new partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is bringing enrichment programming to the Victory I and Victory II along with architectural experiences in Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich. Shore excursions are a standout of Victory's Great Lakes program. Varied, high-quality tours at every destination are included, while extra-charge "premium" and "immersive" tours are commissionable when travel advisors book their clients ahead of sailing. Many of these tours are truly special and would be time-consuming or, due to exclusives woven in, tough to arrange independently. Excursions are "one of the most important aspects" of Victory's Great Lakes program, said Kari Tarnowski, vice president of marketing, "which is why we have this partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, just like our association with the National Museum of the Great Lakes in Toledo, [Ohio], and the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Detroit." Such partnerships give an "additional dimension," she added. Victory Cruise Lines vice president of marketing Kari Tarnowski examines columns decorating the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio. Photo Credit: Anne Kalosh "People travel to Europe to see Unesco World Heritage Sites, and you have them right here with Frank Lloyd Wright," Tarnowski said. "You're in cities you can feel safe walking around in, learning something different, and it's not a 10-hour plane ride to get there." The Unesco designation came in 2019 with the inscription of Wright's 20th century architecture. This makes it one of just 26 Unesco World Heritage listings in the U.S. The designation includes eight iconic Wright buildings, including New York's Guggenheim Museum and the Fallingwater residence in Pennsylvania. But two are highlighted on the Victory tour: Oak Park's Unity Temple and Hyde Park's Frederick C. Robie House. The playroom on the second floor of the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, Ill. Photo Credit: Anne Kalosh Oak Park beginnings On Victory's Chicago tour, I enjoyed a comprehensive, rich experience -- even though I already knew the city well. The on-site interpreters were excellent. Wright was just 22 when he began designing his Oak Park home. It was completed in 1889, but he continued to revise, refining ideas that would shape his work for years to come and adding a studio. It's now a museum, and an interpreter-- which is what the guides here call themselves -- gave a helpful grounding in the context of Wright's work and development. Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Oak Park was part of a movement to return to country living, with wide-open prairie all around. We learned on the tour that Wright designed his shingle-style house using natural materials and earthy colors, wanting it to seem part of the landscape. Detailed woodwork, lots of leaded glass and custom furniture became some of his lasting hallmarks. The surrounding blocks comprise a historic district with several Wright houses, all private residences, and his Unity Temple, completed in 1908. It was dramatically different from other churches. Wright used concrete to meet the Unitarian congregation's limited budget. Gray and cubist outside, inside it is grand yet intimate, with warm colors. Light flows in from clerestory windows and amber-tinted leaded glass skylights. An interpreter at Hyde Park's Frederick C. Robie House. Photo Credit: Anne Kalosh Hyde Park masterpiece In Hyde Park, Wright's 1910 Robie House is considered a masterpiece, the consummate expression of his prairie style, the on-site interpreter told us, and a forerunner of modern architecture. It is stunning. The home has 175 doors and windows, and 12 sets of double doors with leaded glass in the sweeping living/dining space open to balconies. Electricity came to Hyde Park with the 1893 Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World's Fair), and the home's electric lights are originals. The Robies lived there just about a year, and it was occupied as a house only until 1926. It was threatened with demolition in the 1940s and '50s, and Wright himself campaigned to save it. Located in Chicago's financial district and one of the greatest surviving examples of early commercial skyscrapers, the Rookery Building (1888) was designed as a prestigious office address by Daniel Burnham and John Root. In 1905, Wright modernized the lobby into a spectacular, sky-lit space, encasing the iron columns in gilded white marble and adding bronze chandeliers with prismatic glass. The excursion, 8.5 hours and $169 including lunch, is curated for a seamless experience from the included pre-cruise hotel to the ship at Navy Pier. Demand is strong, so advisors should book clients at least two weeks before their sailing.
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Travel + Leisure
22-05-2025
- Business
- Travel + Leisure
This Cruise Line Lets You Visit Iconic Frank Lloyd Wright Sites as You Voyage Along the Great Lakes
While beach breaks, ziplining, and walking tours are common shore excursions on a cruise ship's itinerary, architectural immersions are less so, particularly in the U.S. To geek out over design, cruisers would need to drop anchor in Milan or Barcelona. But a new partnership between Victory Cruise Lines and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is changing that by bringing architectural enthusiasts to some of the late architect's sites in Illinois and Michigan. The journeys will be available starting May 2025, onboard Victory I and Victory II . Fresh off a 2024 refurbishment, each ship can accommodate up to 190 guests in 95 staterooms. There are lectures on board that educate travelers about Wright's work, life, and legacy—all curated by the Foundation's Taliesin Institute. Off board, there are shore excursions to his sites are available in three ports: Muskegon, Michigan; Chicago; and Detroit, Michigan. These are available on some of the 10-Night 'Toronto to Chicago' voyages, the 10-Night 'Chicago to Toronto' voyages and the 15-Night 'Chicago Roundtrip'. Interior of a Victory Cruise Lines stateroom. Chicago is an epicenter of Wright's work, as he launched his career in downtown Chicago working as a draftsman with Louis Sullivan. While ships dock at Chicago's Navy Pier, travelers can visit four sites via the 'Frank Lloyd Wright: His Home & Vision for the Future' excursion: Unity Temple, which Wright designed between 1905 and 1908 in the near-Western suburb of Oak Park. The Frederick C. Robie House, a 9,000-square-foot example of Wright's Prairie School Style completed in 1910 near the University of Chicago on the city's South Side. Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, where he raised his family. It is also the largest concentration of Wright homes worldwide, home to 25 of his projects. The Rookery Building, designed by Daniel Burnham and John Wellborn Root in 1888 in the Loop. (Wright was tasked to remodel the lobby in 1905). In addition to Illinois, cruisers can also visit Wright sites in another Great Lakes state, Michigan. From the Muskegon port of call, one excursion visits the Meyer May House in Grand Rapids, a Prairie School Style home completed in 1909, and the David M. and Hattie Amberg House Wright designed in 1911. Journeys start from $5,779 per person and you can learn more or book your sailing at
Travel Weekly
14-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Weekly
The reborn Victory Cruise Lines christens second ship
Victory Cruise Lines is now in full service after christening its second ship, Victory II, in Chicago on May 12. The ceremony followed the April 27 christening of Victory I in Toronto, which ushered the cruise line back into service after CEO John Waggoner purchased the ships last year following American Queen Voyages' closure. His granddaughter, Molly Applegate, is Victory II's godmother, and she broke a bottle of bourbon on the ship's bow during the ceremony. Members of the Chicago and Great Lakes tourism industries offered remarks. "Victory Cruise Lines will bring thousands of visitors to Chicago, and we are proud the cruise line is docking right here downtown at Navy Pier," said Jordan Engerman of Choose Chicago, the city's destination marketing organization. Victory is the only cruise line that will dock at Navy Pier. "There is no city in the world quite like Chicago, and we are delighted to celebrate here today at Navy Pier as Victory II joins Victory I in sailing the Great Lakes once again," Waggoner said. Both Victory ships accommodate 190 passengers.
