Last week, at the International Ballroom inside the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Viking Cruise Line invited 800 cruise and travel professions to the official naming of their newest Viking ocean ship, Viking Jupiter. It’s the sixth and latest elegant, state-of-the-art small class Viking ocean ship to sail with 930 guests.

During the official naming of the beautiful ship in Beverly Hills, Executive Vice President Karine Hagen thanked her father Chairman Torstein Hagen for allowing her to do something meaningful in her life.

The ship offers all veranda stateroom and suites designed to provide maximum comfort. They range from 405 to 1,163 sq. ft., and have one of the best bathrooms of any cruise line.

Dining is destination-focused with regional cuisine, and Viking offers the most al fresco dining at sea. There are 8 dining options, all with no additional charge to passengers.

To bless the ship, a violinist came out to perform onstage, and Google Earth was projected on a large screen. One of the Viking Captains arrived onstage and conversed with the Viking Captain onboard the Viking Jupiter via satellite. As the ship sailed towards Cape Horn, Chile, the naming ceremony of this ocean vessel began.

A Nordic Viking approached the stage with an axe (the symbol of power and success), and Norway’s most beloved soprano singer Sissel Kyrkjebo. She is the Viking Jupiter godmother, and joined him to perform the ancient Norwegian ship naming ritual, that goes back more than 4,000 years. Sissel is Norways most beloved singer and the voice of Ariel in Disney’s film The Little Mermaid. As the formal godmother of the ship, her duty is to bless the ship, and the safety of her crew and passengers throughout her journey.

Traditionally, godmothers break a bottle of champagne against the ship’s bow during the formal naming before the inaugural sail. On Viking, they use the spirit of the Nordics, instead of champagne, they break a bottle of Gammel Opland Aquavit to name their ships. This Aquavit is a celebratory drink people sip during special occasions, and traditional Norwegian Christmas meals.

Founded in 1997, Viking founders purchased four ships in Russia and called this small line, Viking River Cruises. By 2000 they expanded into the American cruise travel market. Soon it became the leading long ship leader exploring the world’s rivers. Growth continued creating more ways for guests to experience and explore the world, and soon Viking became the largest river cruise line in the world. With this success, in 2015 Viking introduced Viking Ocean Cruises and expanded its global reach.

What makes Viking ships unique is that they are simple and elegant, not splashy and gaudy. The cruises are calm, quiet, informative, enriching and quite different from others. What also sets this cruise line apart from others is they don’t allow children under 18, they have no casinos onboard and they don’t nickel and dime their cruise passengers.

Viking has designed a specific cruise program for Chinese travelers who wish to sail Europe’s iconic waterways.

Today with 72 river ships and 6 ocean liners, Viking connects people and cultures around the world. Coming soon, Viking will introduce Viking Expeditions taking passengers to Antartica, the Arctic and The Great Lakes in 2022.

Torstein Hagen shared with the guest that his most favorite cruise is the “Waterways of the Tsars.” It’s from St. Petersburg to Moscow on a 13 day cruise from May to October 2020 and starts at $5,499 per person.

To learn more click on Viking Cruises.