ONTD Original: Celebrity Cruise Ship Godparents
Did you know that it is a tradition for ships to have a godmother (or, more recently, godparent given that now men are being invited to serve in the role)? This is true for most ships - in many Navies around the world, ships have a sponsor and Godmother, often someone related to the person the ship is named for or with connections to the place it is named for; for example, the USS Gerald R. Ford (the US aircraft carrier) is sponsored by Susan Ford, Gerald Ford's cat-loving daughter.
It is bad luck for a ship to either not be christened or for the christening to go poorly. The main event - the ceremonial bottle of champagne broke across the ship's bow. Case in point - Eva Herzegova was selected in 2005 to christen the Costa Concordia but didn't successfully break the bottle. The ship proceeded to partially sink, killing 32 people, in 2012, but it should be noted that the Costa Concordia disaster was caused by a chain reaction of crew negligence started by a Captain who failed up and was involved in several scary incidents before being a negligent fool. He also got off the ship very early in the evacuation process, which you know from watching Titanic is a big no no. It's just a really weird coincidence.
So, what celebrities have sponsored cruise ships in particular? Well, let us dive in...
Lionel Messi - Icon of the Seas (2024)
What better way to celebrate the new biggest cruise ship in the world (which carries almost 10,000 crew and passengers combined) than getting Lionel Messi to be the ship's godfather? Other famous Royal Caribbean godparents - Whoopi Goldberg for Splendor Serenade of the Seas (aka the TikTok famous world cruise ship), Alexa and Carlos PenaVega (and their son) for Symphony of the Seas (the world's first Godfamily), and a random mother from Pennsylvania selected as a Wonder Mom for Wonder of the Seas.
Simone Biles - Celebrity Beyond (2022)
Fun fact - I was getting on a different Celebrity ship the next day (the much older Celebrity Infinity, christened by someone named Solveig Wilhelmsen idk either) so when I got to the terminal it was still decorated for this Christening LOL. Also a special occasion because the world's most famous cruise captain, Captain Kate McCue of TikTok fame (also a noted cat lover), is the Celebrity Beyond's inaugural Captain. Other recent Celebrity Cruises godmothers include Malala Yousefzai for the Celebrity Edge, Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code for the Celebrity Apex, and most recently Captain Sandy Yawn of Below Deck and her sister Michelle Dunham, founder of the Jacksonville School for Autism, for Celebrity Ascent.
Katy Perry - Norwegian Prima (2022)
NCL flew Katy Perry to Iceland to christen to Norwegian Prima in 2022, and this shows that most cruise lines now rely on mechanical ways to ensure the bottle breaks so the ship doesn't have bad luck. Other famous NCL godmothers include Rosie O'Donnell for the Norwegian Pearl (a ship where I am too familiar with the medical center), Reba McEntire for the Norwegian Epic (aka the world's ugliest cruise ship - google it if you don't believe me), Kelly Clarkson for the Norwegian Encore, and Pitbull for the Norwegian Escape.
Queen Elizabeth II - Queen Elizabeth (2010)
Cunard managed to score QE2 to christen the ship named after her in 2010. She also christened the Queen Mary 2 in 2004. The now Queen Camilla christened the Queen Victoria in 2007, but GASP she didn't break the bottle (luckily they had a second one on standby and she quickly finished the job). Since Cunard only gets royals to christen their ships, chances are Camilla will get a second go this year when Queen Anne is completed. Will Queen Camilla be their next ship?
Kimberley Jimenez, Miss Dominican Republic 2020 - Mardi Gras (2021)
The only Carnival ship without the word Carnival in its name, the Mardi Gras is actually named after Carnival's first ship (the name was announced on Wheel of Fortune of all places). Carnival doesn't seem to go all out for sponsors. Miss Dominican Republic Kimberley Jimenez was selected at the Miss Universe pageant as part of promotional tie-in with the event. She came in 4th runner-up. Carnival icon Shaquille O'Neill was also present, along with Carnival's "brand ambassador" and their most famous cruise director, John Heald. Other Carnival sponsors include Cassidy Gifford (daughter of Kathy Lee Gifford) for the Carnival Celebration (also named after one of their original ships), former US Senator from North Carolina Elizabeth Dole (and wife of Bob Dole) for Carnival Spirit, and Dame Judi Dench for Carnival Legend.
Catherine, Princess of Wales (Duchess of Cambridge at the time) - Royal Princess(2013)
Princess Cruises of Love Boat fame (fun fact - they, along with Cunard, Carnival, and several others, are owned by the Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company on Earth) managed to score a heavily pregnant Kate to christen the Royal Princess just before she went on maternity leave to give birth to Prince George. Other Princess godparents include Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame (one of four godparents, actually) for Discovery Princess, Yao Ming and Ye Li for Majestic Princess (originally built for the Chinese market - not unusual for cruise ships (Norwegian Joy was a similar case), but repurposed after COVID and currently in Australia), and Trista Sutter and Ryan Sutter of the Bachelorette fame for Ruby Princess.
Other Famous Godparents
Oprah Winfrey - Nieuw Statendam (Holland America)
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands - Eurodam (Holland America)
Helen Mirren - Ventura (P&O)
Julie Andrews - Crystal Serenity
Sophia Loren - Most MSC ships (since 2004 - and they have a lot)
Jennifer Hudson - Disney Wonder
Priscilla Presley - American Queen (it's a steamboat that sails the Mississippi)
Princess Fiona - Allure of the Seas (reminds me of that time they named a Panda at Zoo Atlanta Po for product placement...)
ETA 2/8 - And today Gwen Stefani was named the Godmother of the Carnival Jubilee lol, so add another celeb to the list.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Could you handle the job of breaking a champagne bottle on the side of a 1,000-foot-long ship, ONTD? And if I missed tags, forgive me, there are a lot of celebrities in the godparent industry.
It is bad luck for a ship to either not be christened or for the christening to go poorly. The main event - the ceremonial bottle of champagne broke across the ship's bow. Case in point - Eva Herzegova was selected in 2005 to christen the Costa Concordia but didn't successfully break the bottle. The ship proceeded to partially sink, killing 32 people, in 2012, but it should be noted that the Costa Concordia disaster was caused by a chain reaction of crew negligence started by a Captain who failed up and was involved in several scary incidents before being a negligent fool. He also got off the ship very early in the evacuation process, which you know from watching Titanic is a big no no. It's just a really weird coincidence.
So, what celebrities have sponsored cruise ships in particular? Well, let us dive in...
Lionel Messi - Icon of the Seas (2024)
What better way to celebrate the new biggest cruise ship in the world (which carries almost 10,000 crew and passengers combined) than getting Lionel Messi to be the ship's godfather? Other famous Royal Caribbean godparents - Whoopi Goldberg for Splendor Serenade of the Seas (aka the TikTok famous world cruise ship), Alexa and Carlos PenaVega (and their son) for Symphony of the Seas (the world's first Godfamily), and a random mother from Pennsylvania selected as a Wonder Mom for Wonder of the Seas.
Click to viewSimone Biles - Celebrity Beyond (2022)
Fun fact - I was getting on a different Celebrity ship the next day (the much older Celebrity Infinity, christened by someone named Solveig Wilhelmsen idk either) so when I got to the terminal it was still decorated for this Christening LOL. Also a special occasion because the world's most famous cruise captain, Captain Kate McCue of TikTok fame (also a noted cat lover), is the Celebrity Beyond's inaugural Captain. Other recent Celebrity Cruises godmothers include Malala Yousefzai for the Celebrity Edge, Reshma Saujani of Girls Who Code for the Celebrity Apex, and most recently Captain Sandy Yawn of Below Deck and her sister Michelle Dunham, founder of the Jacksonville School for Autism, for Celebrity Ascent.
Katy Perry - Norwegian Prima (2022)
NCL flew Katy Perry to Iceland to christen to Norwegian Prima in 2022, and this shows that most cruise lines now rely on mechanical ways to ensure the bottle breaks so the ship doesn't have bad luck. Other famous NCL godmothers include Rosie O'Donnell for the Norwegian Pearl (a ship where I am too familiar with the medical center), Reba McEntire for the Norwegian Epic (aka the world's ugliest cruise ship - google it if you don't believe me), Kelly Clarkson for the Norwegian Encore, and Pitbull for the Norwegian Escape.
Queen Elizabeth II - Queen Elizabeth (2010)
Cunard managed to score QE2 to christen the ship named after her in 2010. She also christened the Queen Mary 2 in 2004. The now Queen Camilla christened the Queen Victoria in 2007, but GASP she didn't break the bottle (luckily they had a second one on standby and she quickly finished the job). Since Cunard only gets royals to christen their ships, chances are Camilla will get a second go this year when Queen Anne is completed. Will Queen Camilla be their next ship?
Kimberley Jimenez, Miss Dominican Republic 2020 - Mardi Gras (2021)
The only Carnival ship without the word Carnival in its name, the Mardi Gras is actually named after Carnival's first ship (the name was announced on Wheel of Fortune of all places). Carnival doesn't seem to go all out for sponsors. Miss Dominican Republic Kimberley Jimenez was selected at the Miss Universe pageant as part of promotional tie-in with the event. She came in 4th runner-up. Carnival icon Shaquille O'Neill was also present, along with Carnival's "brand ambassador" and their most famous cruise director, John Heald. Other Carnival sponsors include Cassidy Gifford (daughter of Kathy Lee Gifford) for the Carnival Celebration (also named after one of their original ships), former US Senator from North Carolina Elizabeth Dole (and wife of Bob Dole) for Carnival Spirit, and Dame Judi Dench for Carnival Legend.
Catherine, Princess of Wales (Duchess of Cambridge at the time) - Royal Princess(2013)
Princess Cruises of Love Boat fame (fun fact - they, along with Cunard, Carnival, and several others, are owned by the Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise company on Earth) managed to score a heavily pregnant Kate to christen the Royal Princess just before she went on maternity leave to give birth to Prince George. Other Princess godparents include Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame (one of four godparents, actually) for Discovery Princess, Yao Ming and Ye Li for Majestic Princess (originally built for the Chinese market - not unusual for cruise ships (Norwegian Joy was a similar case), but repurposed after COVID and currently in Australia), and Trista Sutter and Ryan Sutter of the Bachelorette fame for Ruby Princess.
Other Famous Godparents
Oprah Winfrey - Nieuw Statendam (Holland America)
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands - Eurodam (Holland America)
Helen Mirren - Ventura (P&O)
Julie Andrews - Crystal Serenity
Sophia Loren - Most MSC ships (since 2004 - and they have a lot)
Jennifer Hudson - Disney Wonder
Priscilla Presley - American Queen (it's a steamboat that sails the Mississippi)
Princess Fiona - Allure of the Seas (reminds me of that time they named a Panda at Zoo Atlanta Po for product placement...)
ETA 2/8 - And today Gwen Stefani was named the Godmother of the Carnival Jubilee lol, so add another celeb to the list.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Could you handle the job of breaking a champagne bottle on the side of a 1,000-foot-long ship, ONTD? And if I missed tags, forgive me, there are a lot of celebrities in the godparent industry.