Launching Ventura, the inside scoop

It's bad luck if the bubbly doesn't break when christening a ship, so P&O recruited the Royal Marines to launch supersize liner Ventura by getting Dame Helen Mirren - the godmother of Ventura - to order them to abseil down the ship and smash the bottle against the hull. Why? Because superstition says that if the bottle fails to smash, the ship will be destined for an unlucky life at sea. Last year the Duchess of Cornwall made a complete horlicks of things - she failed to smash a bottle on the side of the Queen Victoria and within weeks, many passengers were taken ill with a contagious stomach bug. To avoid this ill omen, cruise companies have many ways to guarantee the bubbly breaks. 1. Scoring the bottle - Champagne bottles are extremely tough, having been designed to withstand high pressure, but it only takes a tiny defect, such as a bubble in the glass, to compromise its strength, so they score the bottle with a diamond. 2. Choosing the biggest bubbles - The bigger the bubbles, the higher the pressure inside the bottle, the more likely it is to break on impact. The best option is a cheap bottle of cava with big bubbles and to double the effect by giving the bottle a good shake. 3. Using stiff rope or wire - A rope which has any elasticity in it will absorb the energy of the swinging bottle, so a wire means maximum impact. 4. X-Ray vision – Of course ship bows are made of rigid steel, but some parts are more solid than others - so they x-ray the bow, locate the groins (main support structures) and take aim for one of those. 5. Automating the process - Later this month, Royal Caribbean International launches Independence of the Seas, but her godmother will press a button to activate a special machine to smash the champagne. Cheat – Some of the video footage supplied to journalists of the Ventura launch was actually recorded the day before the event, and showed a close up of a bottle smashing against the hull, just to be sure they avoided the bad luck!