GREENWICH, England – Viking Cruises late Thursday christened its second oceangoing ship along the banks of the River Thames in front of a crowd of invited guests, local dignitaries, and travel media.
Under a sky blanketed with fireworks, the 930-guest Viking Sea was officially welcomed into service by her godmother, Karine Hagen – Viking’s vice president and daughter of company chairman Torstein Hagen.
The nighttime christening ceremony paid homage to Viking’s Norwegian history – both on a professional and personal level.
Instead of the typical bottle of champagne, Viking Sea was christened with a bottle of Gammel Opland aquavit, which comes from the town where Torstein’s mother and Karine’s grandmother, Ragnhild, known as Mamsen, was born.
Karine Hagen gave a moving speech to her father, telling him how proud Mamsen would have been of the company he had built. The ceremonial cord to release the aquavit was cut using a replica of a Viking broad axe from the 11th century that was discovered in the 1920s lying at the bottom of the Thames.
Following the christening, guests gathered on the Pool Deck to listen to a private performance by Norwegian vocalist Sissel while lights mounted along the banks of the Thames illuminated the ship. Viking Sea is the largest vessel ever christened along the Thames.
“Today is a proud day for our Viking family. London is one of my favorite cities, and Greenwich is a significant port for Viking,” said Torstein Hagen. "We look forward to bringing more guests here this spring and in future years."
Viking Sea is the second of six nearly-identical small ships that Viking plans to launch by 2020. Viking’s rapid expansion on the oceans of the world puts the company in line to become the world’s largest small-ship cruise operator by passenger capacity in the next five years.
Viking’s first oceangoing ship, Viking Star, debuted one year ago this month in Bergen, Norway. Bergen is the next port of call for Viking Sea following her departure from Greenwich.
“I think the ocean [product] has turned out to have exceeded expectations,” said Hagen. “Seldom has anybody seen a cruise line come out of the gate and be Number One with one ship. And I think ship number two is not very inferior to ship number one. We had a shakedown cruise, and the only problem was, there was no shaking. It worked perfectly.”
Viking Star has been heralded by passengers and press alike as one of the most innovative and game-changing cruise ships to appear in years.
Viking Sea will be sailing in Europe this year from the Baltic to the Mediterranean.
USA TODAY Cruise last month got a sneak peek at Viking Sea in advance of its christening. For our first-look tour of the ship, scroll through the carousel at the top of this story. The carousels below offer a look inside the Viking Star.
