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Dame Helen Mirren will officially name the biggest cruise ship to be built exclusively for the UK market - with a little help from the Royal Marines.
Bosses of P&O Cruises are determined the naming of the 116,000-tonne Ventura goes without a hitch following occasions in the past when the champagne bottle did not break against the side of a newly-christened vessel.
A non-breaking is seen as a bad omen, so at Wednesday's naming ceremony at Southampton, the Oscar-winning Dame Helen will signal for a team of Royal Marine Commandos in full combat gear to abseil off the bridge of the £300 million Ventura to crack the bubbly in style.
A huge fireworks display will then begin as 1,500 invited guests look on before they enjoy dinner on board the 3,600-passenger liner.
Last December, the champagne failed to break at Southampton when Cunard's new liner the Queen Victoria was named by the Duchess of Cornwall.
In April 2000, the champagne also failed to break in a naming ceremony by the Princess Royal for the P&O Cruises vessel Aurora. The ship broke down on her maiden voyage and was later hit by a sickness bug and technical problems which prevented a voyage in 2005.
Before Wednesday's ceremony, Dame Helen will meet two of the Royal Marines involved - Mark Barton and Carl Thurgood - to hand over the bottle of Taittinger for the ceremony.
On Friday, the 3,600-passenger ship starts on its maiden voyage to the Mediterranean.
Built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy, the Ventura is seen as a "next generation" ship by P&O at a time when cruise holidays continue their surge in popularity.
Pity P & O didn't pick Dover..the port that supplies the bread and butter of their company.
