Queen Victoria - naming ceremony - champagne bottle refused to break for Camilla

**Ally** · 12-11-2007, 09:35 AM

Quote:

The Duchess of Cornwall failed to break the champagne bottle on the side of the ship, while naming the Queen Victoria yesterday (10.12.07).

Camilla, wife of Prince Charles, pushed the button to send the bottle swinging against Cunard's new luxury liner at the official naming ceremony in Southampton, but it bounced off the boat and dangled unbroken.

Superstitious seamen believe this is a bad omen and will leave the vessel cursed.

Moored in the same dock yesterday was the Aurora, officially named by Princess Anne in 2000. Then the champagne bottle also failed to smash at the ceremony and the cruise ship broke down on its maiden voyage. In 2003 The Aurora's passengers were all stuck down by a virus, and in 2005, its engines failed.

But a spokesman for Cunard, dismissed superstition, saying: "We were delighted with the ceremony. Sometimes champagne bottles don't break."

Before the ceremony Camilla and her husband Prince Charles toured the new luxury liner, which has an 830-seat theatre, seven restaurants, three swimming pools, a 6,000-book library and a casino.

During the tour the duchess pressed the button to sound the ships whistle.

The 90,000-tonne ship - which carries 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew -

set sail on its maiden voyage today (11.12.07), a 10-day cruise around northern Europe.

In its first year the chips passengers are expected to consume 351,000 bottles of wine and champagne, one million teabags, 59,000lbs of coffee, 1.5 million eggs, 372,000 packs of breakfast cereal and 13,000lb of smoked salmon.

American shipping company Cunard also operate ocean liners the QE2 and the QM2.

With the QE2 still in service until the end of next year, the three Cunard queens will be brought together in New York next month - one of the stops the Queen Victoria will be making on its first world cruise.

Camilla's champagne clanger - Royal Watch

**Ally** · 12-12-2007, 09:16 AM

What do you make of the lack of publicity of this naming?

There has been very little coverage of the ceremony or even the lead up to it...unlike past ship namings in Southampton, like Oriana, QM2 etc.

It has been said that the Queen was more than a little surprised at Camilla being asked to name the ship...Camilla isn't a true Royal, afterall, and many still see her as Prince Charles' 'bit on the side' while he was married to Diana.

I don't think Cunard made a good choice for Godmother on this occasion...Camilla is not as popular as Cunard thought and the lack of coverage of the naming ceremony pretty much confirms that.

What do you think?

lake5298 · 12-12-2007, 11:14 AM

Cunard have just managed to cancel a QM2 cruise for my wedding anniversary that I had booked with them several months ago. No explanation.

If I had known, I could have booked with a different cruise line at a better price than now available.

That would have been my first Cunard cruise.... so s*d them. I'll stick to Princess in future.

Accordingly, I don't give a monkey's doo-dah who they get to launch their ships... I for one won't be sailing on them.

**Ally** · 12-12-2007, 11:32 AM

Bad news on QM2...and to cancel without a word is really bad. I don't blame you for not wanting to sail with them. I hope you can get another cruise booked for your anniversary, lake...

Imperator · 12-27-2007, 10:04 PM

We all had a good laugh about Camilla and the naming ceremony whilst standing in line for embarkation on 11 December. Most of us were mystified at how a glass bottle could survive a hail Mary against a steel hull. I wish someone would tell me what kind of glass that bottle was made of. I could use a strong glass on my front porch window - damn little neighbourhood punks and their pesky slingshots keep putting little cracks and dings in the one I have now. I wish I could throw them against a steel hull.