Viking River Cruises set a world record with the christening of 10 new Viking Longships.
The
first-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 One Day by
One Company.' Playing an integral role in the event were 10
distinguished women from around the world, representing the key
Viking brand pillars of history, art, education, exploration and
discovery, to serve as ceremonial godmothers for the new ships.
Guests
at the christening ceremony enjoyed remarks by each godmother and a
presentation on 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 One Day by One Company' – eight* – breaking the
previous record of two ships. A first in modern history, four of the
christenings took place in front of a crowd of approximately 700 in
Amsterdam, and the remaining six were conducted live via satellite
from the Neptun shipyard in Germany. The celebration concluded with
an onboard dinner and maiden voyage cruise around the Amsterdam
harbor.
Viking
offers its guests, 10 women of eminence from around the world were
selected to honor that focus and serve as ceremonial godmothers for
the new 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
at the Castle, including many special events such as the Egyptian
Exhibition. Fascinated by Highclere’s rich history, Lady Carnarvon
recently authored the New York Times Bestseller “Lady Almina and
the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere.” In
conjunction 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 with her sister, Arianna Huffington, on research
for her book about the Greek gods, Stassinopoulos’ love for the
gods and goddesses was ignited and led to two books of her own –
“Conversations with the Goddesses” and “Gods and Goddesses in
Love” – as well as 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 around the world, and her latest book is the
bestseller “Unbinding the Heart.” She is also 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 works of art, a significant library and family archive
spanning eight centuries. In addition, 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 at the Lobkowicz
museums to help 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 in the city of Jinzhou, Hubei Province, China – a
school sponsored by Viking River Cruises. As one of many 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 have visited during 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 a personal
assistant to the chairman of Øivind Lorentzen AS, a company that in
the late 1960’s built two of the ships that subsequently
became Princess
Cruises.
She is now a manager in 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, which is the fourth largest port in Europe, hosting more
than 100 sea cruise ships and 1,300 river cruises ships, and handling
more than 75 million tons of cargo every year. Prior to Meijer’s
career at the port, she worked for 15 years in business development
projects at one of the world’s great transportation hubs, Schiphol
Airport.
Geraldine
Norman,
Godmother of Viking Var, is founder of the Times-Sotheby index of art
prices and best-known for her discovery of the art forger Tom
Keating. An expert in the history of The Hermitage Museum in St.
Petersburg, Russia, Norman also authored “The Hermitage: The
Biography of a Great Museum.” Since, Norman has been working on
international outreach for the Hermitage, starting The Hermitage
Magazine and assisting in the set up 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 one of the world's greatest museums.
Sabine
Rhabek,
Godmother of Viking Jarl, is a founding member of the emergency room
team at the General Hospital (AKH) in Vienna and a former nurse at
the United Nations Mission Hospital in Iran, where she provided
medical care to thousands of Kurdish refugees during the first Gulf
War. Following her time at 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 as well as two passenger
ships, MS Austria and MS Austria Princess. In 1997, Brandner-Wallner
was the first woman in Austria to acquire her ship’s captain
certification.
Eszter
Völner,
Godmother of Viking Aegir, is a Budapest native, and lives on the
Danube’s shore. Daughter of Dr. Pál Völner, secretary of the
Hungarian State Ministry of National Development, she studies tourism
and catering as well as her first love, music, including voice and
violin, and looks forward to a future in the classical singing field.