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| Courtesy Norwegian Cruise Line |
Reba McEntire
Christening
Norwegian Epic
Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line's largest and most innovative Freestyle Cruising ship to date, was officially christened on July 2 by its godmother country music superstar Reba McEntire. The entertainment extravaganza was hosted by comedian and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Jeff Garlin and included performances by the ship's world-class entertainers on board, including Blue Man Group; Cirque Dreams™ & Dinner; Legends in Concert performers Madonna, Elvis and Tina Turner; Second City® Comedy Troupe; Howl at the Moon Dueling Pianos; among others.
The hour-long event was simulcast in venues throughout the ship to allow maximum viewing opportunities and culminated with Ms. McEntire cracking the bottle to christen the ship.
The ship, which was docked at Pier 88 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, is now sailing on a two-day preview cruise before returning to the pier the morning of July 4th to host the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® Spectacular.
You'll notice from the photo that Reba wasn't outside and she wasn't holding an actual bottle of champagne. Reba pushed a button on the screen inside and then they cut away to show the bottle being released to hit the ship.
Ship Christening Tradition
Wine poured upon the deck before a long voyage represents a libation to the gods which will bring good luck. "Christening" a ship by breaking a bottle of champagne across her bow at the time of launching arose from this practice. Read more about Nautical Superstitions & Legends.
Coming Soon
Although we weren't personally able to attend the Norwegian Epic's inaugural events in New York, we did have other representatives onboard from our agency, so we'll bring you more information from those that have sailed on the largest ship in Norwegian's fleet in future posts. We'll also be hosting our National Conference onboard the Norwegian Epic in October, so we'll have more to report throughout the year.
The hour-long event was simulcast in venues throughout the ship to allow maximum viewing opportunities and culminated with Ms. McEntire cracking the bottle to christen the ship.
The ship, which was docked at Pier 88 at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal, is now sailing on a two-day preview cruise before returning to the pier the morning of July 4th to host the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks® Spectacular.
You'll notice from the photo that Reba wasn't outside and she wasn't holding an actual bottle of champagne. Reba pushed a button on the screen inside and then they cut away to show the bottle being released to hit the ship.
Ship Christening Tradition
Wine poured upon the deck before a long voyage represents a libation to the gods which will bring good luck. "Christening" a ship by breaking a bottle of champagne across her bow at the time of launching arose from this practice. Read more about Nautical Superstitions & Legends.
Coming Soon
Although we weren't personally able to attend the Norwegian Epic's inaugural events in New York, we did have other representatives onboard from our agency, so we'll bring you more information from those that have sailed on the largest ship in Norwegian's fleet in future posts. We'll also be hosting our National Conference onboard the Norwegian Epic in October, so we'll have more to report throughout the year.
