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Viking Ocean Cruises Christens Its Star
Viking Ocean Cruises Christened Its First Cruise Ship
You’ve been living under a pineapple under the sea if you haven’t been following the launch of Viking Ocean Cruises. Having conquered river cruises, Viking River Cruises expanded to the sea and created Viking Ocean Cruises.
Viking Ocean Cruises recently christened its first ship, the 930-passenger Viking Star. The ceremony took place in Bergen, Norway, which is significant because it marks the first time in 10 years that a Norwegian-flagged passenger cruise ship has chosen Norway’s second-largest city as its homeport.
The christening ceremony occurred in conjunction with a citywide celebration for Norwegian Constitution Day, and featured parades, parties and a public concert in the harbor. All in all the event drew approximately 20,000 local residents and visitors.
Well this doesn’t suck.
The mayor of Bergen, Trude Drevland, served as ceremonial godmother and offered a blessing of good fortune and safe sailing for Viking Star – a naval tradition that dates back thousands of years.
“We believe the arrival of Viking Star signals a new era in destination-focused cruising, and I could not be more proud that she will call my favorite city in the world ‘home,’” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises. “This is a ship that was built for exploration and designed with our Scandinavian heritage in mind, and our guests will experience it from the moment they step onboard.”
This pretty much looks like the foyer in my house.
Viking Star’s christening was the culmination of a maiden voyage that began April 11 when the ship set sail from Istanbul. Over the last five weeks, she made stops in what will be regular ports across the Mediterranean and Western Europe, including Athens, Santorini, Kotor, Dubrovnik, Venice, Barcelona, Seville (Cadiz), Gibraltar, Lisbon, Paris (Rouen) and London.
Still not sucking.
In Bergen,Viking Star was positioned in the harbor to serve as the backdrop for a first-of-its kind floating concert. As thousands of attendees gathered along the waterfront last night, they were treated to performances by world-renowned artists and musicians. My favorite being the comedy duo Ylvis, who put out the wildly popular song “What does the Fox Say?”
Following the concert, christening ceremony, and a fireworks show, Viking Star set sail on a special journey to Oslo and from there will continue on to Copenhagen, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Helsinki and Stockholm.
Viking Star
Do not miss a chance to sail on Viking Ocean Cruises’ Viking Star. It’s magnificent. And don’t worry, two additional ships, Viking Sea andViking Sky, are currently under construction.
