British travel agent to be Anthem godmother

Emma Wilby will christen the Royal Caribbean ship and sing for an audience of about 1,300.

Royal Caribbean International picked a 27-year-old travel agent to dedicate Anthem of the Seas in Southampton, England, later this month, underscoring the cruise line's connections to the trade and to young travel agents in particular.

Emma Wilby, an agent at Thomson Holidays, is from Sunderland, near Newcastle in the North East of England. She will christen the ship and sing for an audience of about 1,300 invited to the April 20 event.

Royal Caribbean said Wilby is a military wife and budding singer who performs in the Military Wives Choir in Kinloss, Scotland, where she is based with her husband, a Royal Engineer for the British Army.

She was picked from a large group of agents who applied for the honor, Royal Caribbean Chairman Richard Fain said.

"We thank all travel agents, who we value and are honoring by naming a fellow travel agent as the godmother of our newest ship,” Fain said.

Anthem will sail in Europe from April through the fall before moving to its permanent home port at New Jersey’s Cape Liberty.