Photo courtesy of Viking Ocean Cruises
Viking Ocean Cruises' second ship - the Viking Sea - has now been christened. The sister ship to Viking Star had already begun sailing on April 3, but as of last night, it has been officially named at a star-studded ceremony along the Thames River in Greenwich.
The 930-guest, 47,800-ton Viking Sea first entered the UK river passage via the Thames Barrier to be greeted by the historic Cutty Sark yesterday morning. The evening festivities then included a concert by Norwegian soprano Sissel and The Olav's Choir. Stein Olav Henrichsen, the director of Oslo's Munch Museum, also discussed the museum's exclusive new partnership with Viking to feature the artist and daily "Munch Moments" in the ship's atrium.
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"Today is a proud day for our Viking family. London is one of my favorite cities, and Greenwich is a significant port for Viking. We look forward to bringing more guests here this spring and in future years," said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises. "Our ships are built for exploration; they are vessels that help our guests spend more time immersed in and surrounded by their destination. With the arrival of our second ship - and with four more sister ships on the way - we are focused on introducing travelers to the Viking way of destination-centered cruising, a unique style that was inspired by our success on the rivers."
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Less than a year after the first Viking Star was launched, godmother Karine Hagen, Viking's senior vice president and daughter of Torstein, christened the new Viking Sea. In tribute to Norway, the ship was struck by a bottle of Gammel Opland aquavit instead of champagne, and a Viking battle axe was employed to cut the cord and release the libation. The event concluded with a fireworks fanfare before the ship sails from London towards Bergen today as part of its 15-day Viking Homelands itinerary.
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