Vicky Garcia of Cruise Planners Named Godmother of Viking Magni

Vicky Garcia, COO, Cruise Planners - American Express Travel, will be the godmother of the new longship Viking Magni.

The christening ceremony for the ship will take place in Amsterdam in March and will be part of festivities for 18- longships being christened throughout Europe by Viking Cruises.

“I am truly honored to be selected as godmother during this historic event,” said Garcia.  “Viking Cruises believes in travel agents and they are an amazing travel partner.”

In announcing Garcia's godmother appointment, Cruise Planners said it's seen a spike of more than 250% in river cruise sales in the last two years, which includes sales of Viking Cruises.

“From the industry perspective, Viking Cruises still pays agent commissions on non-commissionable fares, which shows how the line values travel agents,” Garcia said. “The effort they have made to grow the river cruising market has been great.”

“Remarkable women are historically honored as godmothers,” said Michelle Fee, CEO, Cruise Planners-American Express Travel. “Vicky embodies what Viking represents and selecting her to be godmother of Viking Magni, meaning strength, is a word that truly describes her.”

As ceremonial godmother, Garcia is entrusted with the guidance of the ship to and around its destinations, and will perform the age-old, maritime traditional blessing of the ship for the safety of its crew and passengers throughout its journey.

In addition to providing the blessing, godmothers traditionally break champagne against the ship’s hull to formally christen a ship before its inaugural sail. “I’m especially touched that I was selected to christen the Viking Magni since it has such a powerful definition, so I now have a lot to live up to,” Garcia said.

“I usually don’t like wasting a good ‘bubbly,’ but I am truly excited about breaking this bottle of champagne,” Garcia joked.