Scenic Eclipse christened in New York

NEW YORK -- Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren named the Scenic Eclipse in a ceremony at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

"I've had the great fortune of staying in some of the most magnificent hotels in the world," she said. "I've experienced that real high level of luxury and this is up there. It's better than some of them. It's an extraordinary experience."

The Eclipse is the first oceangoing vessel for Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, a longtime river cruise operator. The 114-cabin ship, which Scenic calls a "discovery yacht," has two helicopters and a six-guest submarine capable of depths of nearly 1,000 feet.

The Eclipse was originally scheduled to launch in 2018 but shipyard problems delayed its completion. Scenic founder and chairman Glen Moroney said Scenic "got through it" and that "we knew the ship would be something really special."

He thanked the travel partners that "stuck with us" through it all.

"They've taken quite a bit of abuse at times," he said. "But they trusted us and knew we'd get there in the end."

Moroney said the ultra-luxe vessel was built to give passengers "the experience of a billionaire" traveling on megayacht.

Mirren said she has never been on a cruise despite serving as godmother of the P&O Ventura in 2008, and that were the Eclipse not "very green," she would not have wanted to be involved.

"I thought it'd be fun, quite honestly," she said when asked why she accepted the invitation to be godmother. "Then I came, and it just is incredible, quite incredible. I'm just so excited to be a very small part of it."

Mirren said she'd like to sail the Antarctic or Arctic regions "to see that world before it disappears. And we all know it is disappearing."

Mirren won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 2007 for her performance in "The Queen." She was also nominated for Oscars for her roles in 1994's "The Madness of King George," 2001's "Gosford Park" and 2009's "The Last Station."