Oprah Winfrey can now add cruise ship godmother to her long list of titles. On Saturday afternoon in Port Everglades, Florida, the queen of all media christened Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam with a thousand people in attendance and nearly a million others watching online.
The christening and naming for the almost 100,000-ton cruise ship took place at a pier-side ceremony. Speaking to the crowd, Winfrey said, “everyone takes something away from cruising.”
Oprah and O, The Oprah Magazine started a partnership with Holland America Line back in 2017 when she took her first cruise on Holland America in Alaska.
On January 30, Winfrey and her favorite gal pal, magazine Editor-at-Large Gayle King, embarked on a sold-out Girls Getaway cruise where guests got to take part in a special Conversations with Oprah event.
During the voyage, which included a stop at Half Moon Cay, three different ticketed events were scheduled in the ship’s World Stage theater. During the stop at the private island paradise, many of the cruisers — the vast majority of whom were, not surprisingly, women — took part in a morning yoga session on the beach.
Nieuw Statendam via Holland America Line
New godmother Oprah joins such past notable Holland America title holders as Queens Maxima and Beatrix of the Netherlands, Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, tennis superstar Chris Evert and actress Marlee Matlin.
Other recent godmothers have included Carnival Horizon’s Queen Latifah, Norwegian Epic’s Reba McEntire and Sophia Loren, who is actually the godmother to numerous MSC ships!
Nieuw Statendam is sailing her inaugural season from Port Everglades until the spring, after which she will be spending the Summer 2019 season sailing Northern Europe and the Mediterranean.
