Christening a new ship has always been a very special event for Rudi and me. Not only are we celebrating the addition of a new member to our Amafamily but we are sharing our joy and pride with special media friends, longtime business associates, esteemed crew members and guests who have spent this special weeklong christening cruise on board with us. The event takes on a real homecoming feeling when the christening festivities take place in Vilshofen, Germany, where the mayor, city council and citizens have assisted in the christening of nine of our 20 ships.
This year’s christening of AmaLea was presided over by her godmother and close travel industry friend, Filomena Andre from AAA Travel. In addition to the heartfelt welcome speech by Mayor Florian Gams, delivery of the town’s flag to our Captain Jan de Bruijn (officiating his 10th AmaWaterways christening) and the priest’s blessing of the ship, the town of Vilshofen once again found a wonderful way to add a special touch to make this christening event truly unique. Whether it’s been a horse-drawn carriage for the arrival of the godmother, an original composed christening song or, as we saw this year, the raising of a beautiful AmaWaterways maypole, the town of Vilshofen has always gone out of its way to graciously and personally welcome our ships and guests, not only at the nine christening events, but all-season long as many of our Danube itineraries embark and disembark passengers here.
Like the other ships in our growing fleet, AmaLea was designed to be elegant yet warm and welcoming and her pastel colors received much positive feedback from guests and media alike. We are very proud of the many prestigious awards that we have won for innovative design of our ships, the quality of our food and wine and the wide choice of active excursions that we propose to guests; but what we really pride ourselves on is personalized service, as we believe it is our crew’s “sparkle” that truly sets us apart from the competition.
Destinations, ships, rivers and tours will change over the years, but that human connection is essential and will always remain the top priority at AmaWaterways as we build more ships, train more crew members and carefully choose our godmothers to help welcome each new ship to our growing family.
2019 will be another action-packed year with three christenings planned to welcome AmaMora, AmaDouro and AmaMagna. I’ll be sharing the news on their respective godmothers very soon.