Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) christened its new flagship, the 1,250-passenger Magellan, which will operate "adult-friendly" voyages for the British line.
The ship - built in 1985 as Carnival Cruise Line's Holiday, rebuilt in 2010 and most recently operating as Costa's Grand Holiday - was named by TV personality Gloria Hunniford in Tilbury, the River Thames port near London.
"It's been a big week for cruising and I just want to say a big thank you to Her Majesty the Queen for being my warm-up. THIS is the main event!" Hunniford joked, referring to the queen's christening of P&O Cruises' Britannia earlier in the week, according to an article posted at Express.co.uk.
The Magellan - pronounced by the Brits with a hard G - will depart on its inaugural voyage March 15, a 12-night "Solar Eclipse and Northern Lights" cruise to Iceland and the Faroes.
Here's a brief video of the naming ceremony CMV posted on Twitter.
The 46,052-ton Magellan joins the CMV ocean fleet alongside Marco Polo (800 passengers), Astor (600 passengers) and Azores (550 passengers).
The addition of Magellan will increase the company's capacity by 40 percent, said John Dennis, vice president-sales and marketing for CMV USA. "We are delighted to have secured this excellent addition to our fleet, which we believe will be very well suited to our U.S. and Canadian guests sailing from the U.K. throughout Northern Europe," he said.
The ship will carry passengers age 16 years and up. CMV notes that Magellan "still retains a feel of intimacy and personal attention when compared with the megaresort-style ships built today. No climbing walls or ice-skating rinks and no kids!"
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