On 4 April 2023 Swan Hellenic announced that it had taken delivery of SH Diana from the Helsinki Shipyard on 31 March, and that its newest and largest ship was en-route in the Baltic. It passed the through the Kiel Canal on 5 April.
SH Diana headed to Palermo for her inaugural cultural expedition cruise, the ten-night Mysteries of Carthage and the Moors, which will take her guests to explore locations in North Africa before crossing the “Pillars of Hercules” to Seville and Lisbon.
Departing Lisbon on 25 April, the nine-night Historic Ports of the Western Seaboard will see her calling along the coasts of Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands to reach Amsterdam.
On 4 May a christening ceremony with US luxury travel industry icon Valerie Wilson as godmother will take place, naming SH Diana in the traditional manner with a modern twist, sending her on her way in style to cruises of the Scandinavian fjords and a full Arctic season.
“We’re delighted to have taken delivery of this exceptionally beautiful and versatile new 5-star vessel,” said Swan Hellenic CEO Andrea Zito.
“As the largest ship in our fleet, she is the first to be outfitted with large tender boats as well as expedition zodiacs, offering guests a wide variety of extraordinary in-depth experiences seeing what others don’t.”
Swan Hellenic was relaunched in July 2020 to continue the spirit of cultural expedition cruising the company pioneered in the 1950s.