Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

The New Zealand Herald

National

Katy Perry to be cruise godmother in Reykjavík for Norwegian Cruise Lines

Katy Perry Norwegian Cruise Line Reykjavík

By her own admission, pop star and American Idol judge, Katy Perry is not "scared to rock the boat".

Counting 13 Grammys, nine number 1 Billboard Singles and four Guinness World Records - now the musician will be adding 'Cruise Godmother' to her long list of accolades.

On 27 August Perry will be launching Norwegian Cruise Line's ship Norwegian Prima in Reykjavík, the first cruise ship ever to be launched in Iceland.

Cruise Godmothers (and Godfathers) are a long-standing maritime tradition at a naming ceremony. The honorific is conferred on a celebrity present at the launch of any large ship. Although it's largely symbolic, they do have one important task on the day: breaking a bottle of champagne on the bow of the ship.

Norwegian Prima features glass observation decks and infinity pools. Photo / NCL

Perry will also be performing at the launch of the Prima, which will be the first of six sister ships in the Prima Class.

Perry said she was excited to "christen her with my good vibrations", and that she couldn't wait for the ship to begin carrying passengers on "family vacations".

"My most favourite way to vacation with my family is on the water. Every morning that you wake up, you get to experience an incredible new view," she said.

Norwegian Cruise Line President and CEO Harry Sommer welcomes pop star sensation Katy Perry in Las Vegas. Photo / Dimitrije Curcic, Supplied

Prima will be a distinctive presence on the water. With top-deck infinity pools on Ocean Boulevard, glass viewing bridges and an open-air food market - the ship has been designed to be "instagrammable," says the cruise line. Artists David Harber and Alexander Krivosheiw have also lent their work to the 107-stateroom ship.

Prima will begin her life on itineraries in Northern Europe, before sailing to the Caribbean and Bermuda.

The 'Instagrammable' Norwegian Prima's observation deck. Photo / Supplied, NCL

"We are so excited to welcome Katy Perry, a one-of-a-kind artist and worldwide sensation, as godmother of Norwegian Prima," said Harry Sommer, NCL's President, and looked forward to celebrating the launch in August.

There will be fireworks, for certain.

What's a cruise godmother? And what do they do?

Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II and Floridian DJ Pitbull might not have much in common, but they are both godparents to cruise ships.

It was once a ceremonial duty involving smashing a bottle of fizzy wine on a ship and the utterance of the magic words:

"God bless this ship, and all who sail in her…"

It is believed that as far back as the Ancient world some sort of ceremonial 'sacrifice' to the sea on the prow of a new ship.

Today, it is less about champagne or oxen blood. It is a deal that involves concerts, launches and branding opportunities for the ships.

The Cruise Godfather: Musician, Pitbull christens Norwegian Escape. Photo / Alexander Tamargo, Getty Images

Local dignitaries and monarchs are no longer the 'go to' for ship blessings.

The choice of godparent is important to the appeal of the ship and who cruise companies envisage as sailing within their fleet.

From Afghan women's activist Malala Yousafzai - who christened Celebrity Edge in 2018 - to Oprah Winfrey who named Nieuw Statendam for Holland America in 2018, some cruise lines have gone as far as to get fictional characters to 'christen' their ships.

In 2017 P&O Australia had cartoon character Dora the Explorer christen their ship, Pacific Explorer.