SOUTHAMPTON, England -- It was not a big deal in the U.S., but when the Duchess of York, Camilla Parker Bowles, named the Queen Victoria here on Dec. 10, not one British paper missed the event.
It was, as Carnival Corp. CEO Micky Arison said, "like Camilla's coming-out party."
Although Cunard Line asked Camilla to do the honors two years ago, it was still the first major public appearance here that the Duchess has made.
So when the duchess, standing in the company of her husband, Prince Charles, pushed a button to release the requisite bottle of champagne, and the bottle failed to break on the first swing, there was a collective gasp by the 2,000 people, mostly British, in the audience.
Luckily, as the first bottle of Veuve Clicquot bobbed against the side of the ship, a crew member was on hand to smash another one.
The hour-long ceremony was held in a custom-made tent alongside the new ship.
In opening remarks, Cunard Line President Carol Marlow commented that by 2010, Cunard Line will have introduced three ships in six years, starting with the Queen Mary 2 in 2004 and including the recently announced new-build, the Queen Elizabeth. Before the QM2, Cunard had experienced a 37-year period without a new Queen.
"This is the renaissance of that great name," Marlow said of Cunard. "Cunard's lion does roar again."
Parker Bowles, dressed in powder blue, is apparently a woman of few words. She said only the standard, "I name this ship" and asked God to "bless her and all who sail on her."
The London Philharmonic Orchestra performed throughout the ceremony. A history of Cunard Line was read by British actor Derek Jacobi, who assumed the persona of Phileas Fogg from Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 Days."
An accompanying video showed photos and footage from Cunard's almost 140-year history.
Three tenors did a rendition of "Rule, Britannia" that sent the crowd into a Union Jack-waving frenzy.
The ship was revealed at the end of a performance of a gypsy dance along with a performance by British opera singer Katherine Jenkins. The screen behind the dancers opened to reveal the hull of the Queen Victoria, against the sunset, and a fireworks display.
Twenty-eight of Cunard's top-producing North American travel agents attended the event, and many said it was the best naming ceremony they had experienced.
"It took the cake," said Richard Bravo of AAA Los Angeles. "It superseded all others. I felt like being British."
Before the ceremony, the royals got a tour of the ship. In the vessel's main atrium, the stairways were lined with crew members and guests who broke into hearty applause when the royal couple entered the ship. They were taken on a tour that began in the ship's double-decker, 6,000-volume library.
Cunard invited the top three producers from each region to meet with the royal couple before the ceremony in the Queen's Room onboard the vessel.
William Allyn Jr. of Pisa Brothers in New York represented the eastern U.S., Mary Jean Tully of the Cruise Professionals in Toronto represented Canada and Greg Nacco of Cruise Specialists in Seattle represented the western region.
"I told her she should be proud to be the godmother and that it was such a beautiful ship," Tully said of her encounter with the duchess.
"And I told her, 'Yours is a true love story.' "
To contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to [email protected].