River cruising is the most popular segment of travel instantly, and in a fitting feat for the world’s leading river cruise line, Viking River Cruises today set an international record with the christening of 10 new Viking LongshipsTM. The primary-of-its-kind simultaneous christening ceremony in Amsterdam debuted the ships – Viking Aegir, Viking Atla, Viking Bragi, Viking Embla, Viking Forseti, Viking Jarl, Viking Rinda, Viking Skadi, Viking Tor and Viking Var – and was certified by a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ adjudicator as ‘The Most Ships Inaugurated in a single Day by One Company.’ Playing an integral role within the event were 10 distinguished women from world wide, representing the secret Viking brand pillars of history, art, education, exploration and discovery, to function ceremonial godmothers for the hot ships.
“Today is a proud day for Viking and for river cruising. We’re honored to showcase 10 of our revolutionary new Longships and to have had this kind of celebrated group of ladies helping us christen them,” said Torstein Hagen , Chairman of Viking Cruises. “Our guests are explorers, like the ancient Vikings of our Norse heritage, that is why we deliver authentic and enriching travel experiences like no other cruise line.”
Guests on the christening ceremony enjoyed remarks by each godmother and a presentation at the growth of river cruising by Hagen. A GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS adjudicator also presented Hagen with an official recognition of the record breaking achievement, ‘The Most Ships Inaugurated in a single Day by One Company’ – eight* – breaking the former record of 2 ships. a primary in modern history, four of the christenings befell in front of a crowd of roughly 700 in Amsterdam, and the remainder six were conducted live via satellite from the Neptun shipyard in Germany. The celebration concluded with an onboard dinner and maiden voyage cruise round the Amsterdam harbor.
Viking Godmothers
With cultural enrichment and privileged access on the heart of each experience Viking offers its guests, 10 women of eminence from around the globe were selected to honor that spotlight and function ceremonial godmothers for the hot ships. They included:
* Lady Fiona Carnarvon , Godmother of Viking Skadi, is the wife of George Herbert , 8th Earl of Carnarvon. A former auditor at Coopers & Lybrand, Lady Carnarvon ran her own fashion label, Azur, and now successfully manages affairs on the Castle, including many special events which includes the Egyptian Exhibition. Curious about Highclere’s rich history, Lady Carnarvon recently authored the hot York Times Bestseller “Lady Almina and the genuine Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere.” Together with Lady Carnarvon , Viking has created its Oxford & Highclere Castle land extension with a privileged access tour of the Castle and its grounds.
* Agapi Stassinopoulos , Godmother of Viking Rinda, was born and raised in Athens, Greece. While collaborating along with her sister, Arianna Huffington , on research for her book in regards to the Greek gods, Stassinopoulos’ love for the gods and goddesses was ignited and resulted in two books of her own – “Conversations with the Goddesses” and “Gods and Goddesses in Love” – in addition to a one-woman show and a PBS special. She also co-produced and co-hosted a documentary called “Quest for the Gods,” shot on location in Greece. Stassinopoulos speaks and conducts seminars all over the world, and her latest book is the bestseller “Unbinding the guts.” She could also be a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post.
* Alexandra Lobkowicz , Godmother of Viking Forseti, is the chairman of the nonprofit that oversees the preservation of the vast Lobkowicz collections including thousands of artistic endeavors, a major library and family archive spanning eight centuries. Further, she oversees dozens of international loans, festivals, restoration projects and ongoing educational programs relevant to the collections. A former teacher, Lobkowicz also established educational programs on the Lobkowicz museums to assist raise funding for Czech schools. With personal input from Alexandra and William Lobkowicz , Viking has introduced a privileged access tour to Lobkowicz Palace in Prague.
* Zhang Ling , Godmother of Viking Embla, is a dedicated educator at Cen He elementary school within the city of Jinzhou, Hubei Province, China – a college sponsored by Viking River Cruises . As one of the dedicated teachers she feels fortunate to have won recognition as an “excellent educator,” “excellent educator of ethics” and “excellent mentor for young pioneers.” She also coaches the children’s orchestra, which has proudly performed for the thousands of Viking’s Yangtze River cruise guests who’ve visited in the past seven years.
* Marit Barstad , Godmother of Viking Tor, is the sister of Viking’s chairman Torstein Hagen . Marit started her working life as an individual assistant to the chairman of Oivind Lorentzen AS, an organization that during the late 1960’s built two of the ships that subsequently became Princess Cruises. She is now a manager inside the health services sector in Ski, a town outside Oslo where she has lived with Odd Barstad, her husband for over 40 years.
* Dertje Meijer, Godmother of Viking Bragi, is President and CEO of the Port of Amsterdam, that is the fourth largest port in Europe, hosting greater than 100 sea cruise ships and 1,300 river cruises ships, and handling greater than 75 million loads of cargo each year. Ahead of Meijer’s career on the port, she worked for 15 years in business development projects at one of the crucial world’s great transportation hubs, Schiphol Airport.
* Geraldine Norman , Godmother of Viking Var, is founding father of the days-Sotheby index of art prices and best-known for her discovery of the art forger Tom Keating . A professional within the history of The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Norman also authored “The Hermitage: The Biography of an excellent Museum.” Since, Norman was engaged on international outreach for the Hermitage, starting The Hermitage Magazine and assisting within the establish the Hermitage Rooms exhibition space in London. Additionally, Norman co-created Viking’s successful week-long “Glories of the Hermitage” tour and “Hermitage Behind Closed Doors” excursion, offering Viking guests privileged access to at least one of the world’s greatest museums.
* Sabine Rhabek, Godmother of Viking Jarl, is a founding member of the emergency room team on the General Hospital (AKH) in Vienna and a former nurse on the United Nations Mission Hospital in Iran, where she provided remedy to thousands of Kurdish refugees throughout the first Gulf War. Following her time on the Mission Hospital, Rhabek transitioned into medical technology, providing tech support for users of implanted defibrillators and pacemakers.
* Birgit Brandner-Wallner , Godmother of Viking Atla, is the co-owner of a Brandner Gmbh subsidiary that operates 38 piers in Austria and Hungary in addition to two passenger ships, MS Austria and MS Austria Princess. In 1997, Brandner-Wallner was the primary woman in Austria to procure her ship’s captain certification.
* Eszter Volner , Godmother of Viking Aegir, is a Budapest native, and lives at the Danube’s shore. Daughter of Dr. Pal Volner, secretary of the Hungarian State Ministry of National Development, she studies tourism and catering in addition to her past love, music, including voice and violin, and appears forward to a future within the classical singing field.
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