Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Queen Victoria Considered Cursed

This is a story for the superstitious out there. When the Queen Victoria was launched in December Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall did the customary christening of the ship by hitting it with a bottle of champagne. Well the bottle did not break. Less than a month after launch less than 100 of the 2000+ passengers on board came down with the norovirus bug. While many frequent cruisers are familiar with what norovirus is and how it can spread on a ship, this is the first incident on the Queen Victoria that is already being attributed to the curse. The champagne curse goes back quite a ways in ship launching history but now the Queen Victoria will have the added curse of Camilla. All the other Cunard ships were christened by the Queen until now adding to the lore of having a curse. To make matters worse, the Aurora, a ship that was launched in 2000 by Princess Anne who failed to have the bottle break, was in the harbour on the day of the launch. Aurora broke down on its maiden voyage, had problems with norovirus, and in 2005 had total engine failure. So for the adventurous out there, here may be the ship for you. For the superstitious, this may be one to stay away from for a while.

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