Viking became the first cruise line to have more than 100 ships (river, ocean and expedition) in their fleet when they christened another nine new river ships that will sail in Europe, Egypt and Asia.
The christening ceremony for nine new Viking river ships took place in Basel, Switzerland on Viking Honir. Photo credit: Viking
The simultaneous christening ceremony took place in Basel, Switzerland for the nine new ships. Four Longships (Viking Annar, Viking Dagur, Viking Eldir and Viking Honir) will sail the cruise line’s most popular itineraries on the Rhine, Danube and Main rivers.
The two new ships for Egypt, Viking Thoth and Viking Amun, will sail on the Nile River on Viking’s Pyramids and Pharaohs itinerary.
Viking Nerthus, Viking Gyda and Viking Tonle will offer cruises on the Seine, Douro and Mekong rivers.
Godmothers and godfathers for the new ships are:
- Allison Becker, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Viking—Godmother of the Viking Nerthus
- Sara Conley, Senior Vice President of Brand, Creative and Communications, Viking—Godmother of the Viking Dagur
- Chitra Goswami, Senior Vice President of Finance, Viking—Godmother of the Viking Gyda
- Yumi Kim, Senior Vice President of Finance, Europe, Viking—Godmother of the Viking Eldir
- Michelle Patterson, Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller, Viking—Godmother of the Viking Annar
- Laura Perlman, Senior Vice President of Marketing Planning, International & Product, Viking—Godmother of the Viking Tonle
- Michele Saegesser, Vice President, Trade Development and Training, Viking—Godmother of the Viking Honir
- Youssef Fouad Amin, Chief Executive Officer & Chairman, Sherry Nile Cruises—Godfather of the Viking Thoth
- Sherif El Banna, Chief Executive Officer, Cosmos Egypt—Godfather of the Viking Amun
The christening ceremony took place on Viking Honir with the eight other cruise ships connecting virtually, since they are located across five other countries.
Viking Chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen, Executive Vice President of Product Karine Hagen, and the godparents and captains of the nine ships on board the new Viking Honir for the ceremony. Photo Credit: Viking
Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of Viking, gave the following statement:
“Today we are proud to name our newest river ships and to honor the nine distinguished members of our extended Viking family serving as their godparents.
“We have always been quite a bit different from others in the travel industry—we like to be contrarian. Over the last 28 years, we have grown from four ships to more than 100—a fleet size that no other line has achieved—and we have done so because of our innovative approach.
“First, we modernized river voyages; then we reinvented ocean voyages and perfected the expedition experience. We look forward to continuing our leadership in experiential travel in the years to come.”
Appeared first on: Cruisefever.net
