Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Sunday, January 8, 2023 - Los Angeles - Part 2

 Post #2 – Sunday, January 8, 2023 



The naming ceremony. Not a lot to say, but quite a few photos. As promised, the ceremony began right around 5:00 p.m. We were in a suite at the front of the ship and were able to view the ceremony with almost a perfect view. We felt very lucky to be included in this small gathering and thank our hosts. 

Lots of Viking employees lined the rail at the bow of the ship. A small stage was set up and a couple of rows of chairs for the VIPs which included, Torstein Hagen, Karine Hagen, Viking Orion Godmother Sessel, A couple of excellent musicians, and Nicole Stott, former NASA Astronaut, also Aquanaut and now author and Viking Neptune Godmother. 

Torstein made his remarks, acknowledging the Viking Staff at the LA Headquarters for Viking that had been brought to the dock for the ceremony and a celebratory dinner. They were in the Cruise Terminal, but there was an open walkway on the third floor of the terminal where they all gathered and could watch the ceremony. 

Sessel made some remarks. Sessel is also a godmother of a Viking ship and is an acclaimed vocalist. At one point, the national anthem for Norway and for the US were sung by Sessel. She has an absolutely lovely voice. 

Nicole made some remarks naming the Viking Neptune, she accepted the Viking Ax from the bearer and smashed the ribbon with the ax, triggering the bottle of aquavit to fall and strike the hull. The ship had been named. 

When we got back to our room, each guest had been provided a copy of Nicole’s book “Back to Earth”. A special and moving evening.











 

1 comment:

  1. Enjoying your blog, thanks for your work, we are future Viking WC's!

    ReplyDelete

Tuesday, May 23, 2023 - Travel Day Home

For anyone posting comments on the blog, they come to us as “anonymous”. Please add at least your name and maybe email, and I may be able to...