Viking River Cruises Christens Four Ships

Yesterday was quite a remarkable day for Viking River Cruises, they christened not one but four new ships in Amsterdam

As Viking Freya and Viking Njord are undergoing last minute construction work to finish the vessels they “attended” via a live video link but Viking Odin and Viking Idun where docked in Amsterdam during the lavish ceremony.

Four ships means four godmothers and Viking Odin’s is none other than Britain’s absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumley. Viking Idun’s godmother is Harvard physicist, Lisa Randall and Viking Freya and Viking Njord have top Viking customer Gail Wiswedel and Masterpiece boss Rebecca Eaton.

Each godmother recited the same traditional blessing from a large stage set between both Odin and Idun, “May your passengers and crew always be safe, and may you always have a hand’s worth of water under your keel” they each said before cutting a ribbon that triggered the smashing of the champagne bottle.

Each ship has a capacity for 190 passengers and are the very first in an entirely new generation of vessels dubbed “longships”. They have innovative indoor/outdoor terrace areas, suites with balconies and a better general layout.

Viking River Cruises has a total of 12 new ships ordered all with delivery in 2012 and 2013. They are also discussing plans for a further six ships in 2014.