The official naming ceremony of Viking Cruises' newest ship, Viking Orion took place on Thursday, June 14 in Livorno, Italy.
Dr.Anna Fisher served as the ceremonial godmother of the newbuild and offered her blessing of good fortune and safe sailing. Fisher used a Viking broad axe to cut a ribbon, thus signifying the vessel is ready to set sail.
The godmother presented Chairman of Viking, Torstein Hagen, and Viking Senior Vice President, Karine Hagen, with official NASA astronaut flight jackets, adorned with mission patches from her colleagues at the ceremony. The prime contractor for Orion spacecraft, Lockheed Martin, also presented the vessel with a gift in recognition of the connection between the mission of NASA and ship’s namesake.
The naming ceremony also featured a display of Orion mythology, Swedish musicians, a man flying a jet pack around the vessel to deliver the ceremonial axe. The evening ended with a fireworks display, before the cruise ship set sail for its next destination- Portofino.
Viking Orion's Explorers' Dome attraction uses the latest in planetarium technology, and according to the company, is "the highest-definition 7K planetarium in the world".
Orion is the world's 2nd cruise ship to debut with a planetarium, following Cunard's liner Queen Mary 2.