Viking Names Newest Ocean Ship Viking Neptune In Los Angeles Prior to Honolulu Voyage
Viking® kicked off the New Year on a high note by naming its newest ocean ship, the Viking Neptune®, on January 8 in Los Angeles. The brand-new Viking Neptune accommodates 930 Guests. The ship is currently sailing the 2022-2023 Viking World Cruise, an epic voyage from Fort Lauderdale to London that spans 138-days, 28 countries and 57 ports.
Viking Neptune Is Celebrated
The celebration included a blessing of good fortune and safe sailing for the ship. The blessing was given by the ship’s ceremonial godmother, Nicole Stott. Stott is a retired NASA astronaut, aquanaut and artist, and she was afforded the honor of performing the maritime tradition that traces its roots back thousands of years.
In keeping with the naming tradition, during the ceremony Stott used a historic Viking broad axe to cut a ribbon that allowed a bottle of Norwegian aquavit to break on the ship’s hull. The historic axe was presented to Stott by Sissel Kyrkjebø, a world-reknowned crossover soprano and godmother of the Viking Jupiter®. She used the same axe when she named her ship in January 2020. Guests at the event enjoyed performances from Sissel and Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold.
Viking Neptune Arrived in Los Angeles
The Viking Neptune arrived in Los Angeles on the morning of January 8 and it departed for Honolulu following the naming ceremony. The naming of the Viking Neptune comes at a fortuitous time for Viking. As of January 1, Viking logged record sales coinciding with the launch of Viking’s 25th Anniversary Sale. The first week of January 2023 recorded the highest number of bookings for one week in the company’s history.
Viking Neptune Sails to Honolulu
Torstein Hagen is the Chairman of Viking and he said on Monday: “Today is a proud day for the entire Viking family as we name our newest ocean ship in Los Angeles, the home of Viking’s U.S. office for more than 20 years.”
“The Viking Neptune is a ship named for both the furthest planet in our solar system and the god of the sea—and our newest Viking godmother, Nicole Stott, as a NASA astronaut and aquanaut, also has connections to space and the sea. We are grateful for her many contributions to the scientific community and are proud to have her as part of the Viking family.”
Viking Sets Records
For her part Nicole Stott stated: “It is an honor and privilege to be the godmother of the new Viking Neptune. As someone who has been blessed to explore space, the ocean, and some of the otherworldly places on our planet, I understand the importance of broadening one’s horizons through travel. I am very excited for all those who journey around the world on this elegant vessel.”
Nicole Stott’s legendary experience includes two spaceflights and 104 days spent living and working in space on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). She performed one space walk and was the last crew member to fly to and from their ISS mission on a Space Shuttle as a member of the final flight crew of Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-133. As a NASA aquanaut Nicole lived and worked on the Aquarius Undersea Habitat for 18 days.
The Viking Neptune
The Viking Neptune is the newest ship in Viking’s award-winning ocean fleet of identical sister ships, which includes the Viking Star®, the Viking Sea®, the Viking Sky®, the Viking Orion®, the Viking Jupiter®, the Viking Venus®, and the Viking Mars®. It is identical to Viking’s other ocean ships but the Viking Neptune is uniquely equipped with a small hydrogen fuel system. This makes it the cruise industry’s first ship to test the use of hydrogen power for on board operations.
In April Viking will debut the new ocean ship, the Viking Saturn®.
Learn More About Viking Cruises, HERE!
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