Viking Names Seven River Ships for Advisors
Seven advisor and agency leaders became godparents of Viking's newest river ships: two sail the Nile, one the Seine and four the Rhine, Main and Danube.
Viking has made its seven newest river ships a thank-you to the trade. On Thursday 15 October, the line named each ship with a godparent drawn from a travel agency, consortium or online travel company. It calls the honourees “valued advisor partners”.
The ceremony took place in Amsterdam, with live links to Les Andelys in France, Rostock in Germany and Luxor in Egypt.
The ships and their godparents
Godparents include executives from Virtuoso, Cruise Planners and Flight Centre Travel Group, as well as agency owners.
| Ship | Godparent | Company | Ceremony | Sails |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viking Fjolvar | Shelby Steudle, president | Pavlus Travel | Les Andelys, France | Seine |
| Viking Ptah | Michael Londregan, SVP, global markets | Virtuoso | Luxor, Egypt | Nile |
| Viking Sekhmet | Michael Consoli, owner | Cruise Planners | Luxor, Egypt | Nile (from 2027) |
| Viking Rota | Ealeen Wong, senior director, strategy, partnerships and sales | Expedia Group’s global cruise business | Amsterdam | Rhine, Main, Danube |
| Viking Haki | Carol Porter, co-owner | The Roaming Boomers | Amsterdam | Rhine, Main, Danube |
| Viking Halogi | Carol Shaddix, owner | Imagine Going There Travel | Rostock, Germany | Rhine, Main, Danube |
| Viking Sjofn | Danielle “Dani” Galloway, global managing director, luxury and independent | Flight Centre Travel Group | Rostock, Germany | Rhine, Main, Danube |
The release says Viking Sekhmet starts sailing in 2027. It gives no delivery dates for the other six.
Who was there
Executive chairman Torstein Hagen welcomed guests. “For nearly 30 years, Viking has carried forward that spirit of discovery,” said chief executive Leah Talactac. Singer Sissel Kyrkjebø, godmother of Viking Jupiter, performed with violinist Tor Jaran Apold.
Viking says it now has more than 100 ships and sails 21 rivers, five oceans and all seven continents.
Sources
Jeff Cameron writes about neighbourhoods and the business of travel for Not An Atlas, usually from a desk buried in maps, beside a mug of tea big enough to count as carry-on. His first trip was to St. Pete Beach, Florida, where dipping his feet in the Gulf felt like a major expedition, and he's still chasing that first shock of “the ocean can be warm?” He always takes the window seat (nobody climbs over him to get to the washroom), lands already briefed thanks to an audiobook or two about wherever he's going, and sizes up every city by its first cup of coffee. He'll happily walk 45,000 steps in a day to find the side streets where a place really lives. Kraków, Utrecht and Turin are the underrated favourites he'd go back to tomorrow. Friends say curious, candid and composed. His mom says contrary, and she's probably right. Next stop: anywhere a first-class, round-the-world ticket will take him.
