By
Rebecca Gibson |
World Champion and gold medal Olympian Katherine Grainger CBE, will act as godmother to Avalon Waterways’ Avalon Poetry II when she launches in spring 2014.
Grainger, who won gold in the rowing double sculls at the last year’s Olympics, will name the river cruise ship during a ceremony in Dordrecht, Holland on 22 March 2014.
"I am both honoured and delighted to become godmother to the Avalon Poetry II,” Grainger said. “It is clear that Avalon Waterways shares my passion in creating a winning formula on the water and I am very much looking forward to the christening.”
The naming ceremony will be attended by guests from the worldwide travel industry and will be followed by a celebratory champagne reception, dinner, live entertainment and a fireworks display. The vessel’s sister ship, Avalon Impression, will also be named during the event. Following the ceremony, both ships will sail a four-day inaugural river cruise between Cologne, Germany and Amsterdam, Holland.
“We are delighted that Katherine will be godmother to our latest suite ship Avalon Poetry II and join us in our celebrations with travel industry partners,” said Alan MacLean, Avalon Waterways’ managing director. “Being a world class athlete and having achieved so much in her sport of rowing, Katherine continues to be an athlete ambassador to show others what can be achieved by drawing inspiration from London 2012.”
Avalon Poetry II and Avalon Impression are two of Avalon’s three new suite ships, which are all set to debut in spring 2014. The vessels will bring the total of suite ships in the fleet to eight and feature two full decks of Panorama suites with wall-to-wall panoramic windows that open to create ‘open air balconies’.