Why a massive cruise ship was christened with a bottle of Italian Prosecco

Science · Published 20 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: The MS Queen Victoria is a marvel of modern maritime engineering, yet her launch was steeped in ancient superstition. When the traditional champagne bottle failed to shatter against her hull, onlookers feared a bad omen. To ensure good fortune, the vessel was eventually christened with a backup bottle of bubbly.

The Queen Victoria, a Vista-class vessel operated by the Cunard Line, represents a strategic pivot in maritime economics. Following the high costs associated with the Queen Mary 2, which required approximately $300,000 per berth, Cunard opted for a modified design to maintain its fleet. Despite her cruise ship architecture, the vessel features a reinforced bow to handle transatlantic crossings and a high freeboard, leading some, including former captain Ian McNaught, to classify her as a liner based on her aesthetic.

Construction of the vessel was a massive logistical undertaking involving eighty prefabricated steel blocks, each weighing 325 tons. During the 2007 float-out ceremony, the ship was blessed with a Euro and a gold sovereign welded beneath the radar mast. Her operational history has been marked by both spectacle and misfortune. In 2015, she participated in a synchronized river dance on the River Mersey alongside her fleet mates to celebrate 175 years of the Cunard Line, an event witnessed by an estimated 1.3 million people.

The ship maintains a rigid social structure common to the Cunard fleet, segregating passengers into three distinct dining tiers: the Britannia, Princess Grill, and Queen's Grill. This class system is further reinforced by exclusive outdoor spaces known as Grills Terraces. While the ship is equipped with modern luxuries like a retractable glass roof and a two-story library, she has also faced challenges, including norovirus outbreaks and a 2008 collision in Malta caused by a thruster malfunction. Despite these incidents, she remains a central figure in Cunard's legacy, frequently participating in ceremonial Royal Rendezvous events in New York City.

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