It took the help of Mother Nature, one domestic diva, two fire marshals, and a team of hundreds of crew members, Coast Guard officers, planners, decorators, and special effects pros to produce the christening ceremony for Princess Cruises' 113,000-ton Crown Princess. Princess Cruises director of public relations Julie Benson worked with Morgan Driscoll and Karolyn Kovarik of Caffeine Media to produce the event, the culmination of a multiday effort to promote the new ship.Because the ship was still under construction during the event's planning phase, a site inspection was impossible. Instead, Driscoll and Caffeine's technical director, Tom Rodeheaver, flew to Florida to take measurements of the Caribbean Princess, the Crown Princess's sister ship, which has a similar size and layout.
The evening before the christening, Kovarik and the crew began readying the Crown Princess for the ceremony while the ship was still at sea. (During the days leading up to the christening, it hosted three "cruises to nowhere"—mini-voyages that travel in a circle from its port, out to sea, and back, to give travel press and travel agents a feel for the smoothness of the ship's movement, as well as a chance to sample the food and accommodations.) The Crown Princess finally docked at Brooklyn's new Red Hook Terminal at 3 AM Wednesday morning, and by 7 AM, the fairly simple decor—blue bunting and blue carpet with some large floral arrangements from LMD Floral—was in place and ready for Princess execs' final inspection before rehearsal.
American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee emerged from behind a wall of crew members dressed in solid-colored nautical uniforms to kick off the ceremony by singing the national anthem. Gavin MacLeod (aka Captain Stubing from The Love Boat) hosted the 45-minute ceremony, which culminated with the appearance of Martha Stewart, the ship's designated "godmother." Stewart gave a short speech, and then wound a crank to release a bottle of champagne which, in nautical tradition, shattered on the boat's side and onto a blue carpet below. Confetti canons and fireworks blasted off. But the floating location also required special consideration for these elements: Jauchem & Meeh used biodegradable confetti to avoid polluting the river, and the pyrotechnic show proceeded only after getting the go-ahead from fire marshals Neil Criscuolo and John Reilly, who radioed a nearby oil tanker to speed up in order to be well past the regulation distance for the pyrotechnics and fireworks to blast off on time.
—Chrissi Mark
Posted 06.28.06
Photos: Courtesy of Princess Cruises
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The evening before the christening, Kovarik and the crew began readying the Crown Princess for the ceremony while the ship was still at sea. (During the days leading up to the christening, it hosted three "cruises to nowhere"—mini-voyages that travel in a circle from its port, out to sea, and back, to give travel press and travel agents a feel for the smoothness of the ship's movement, as well as a chance to sample the food and accommodations.) The Crown Princess finally docked at Brooklyn's new Red Hook Terminal at 3 AM Wednesday morning, and by 7 AM, the fairly simple decor—blue bunting and blue carpet with some large floral arrangements from LMD Floral—was in place and ready for Princess execs' final inspection before rehearsal.
American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee emerged from behind a wall of crew members dressed in solid-colored nautical uniforms to kick off the ceremony by singing the national anthem. Gavin MacLeod (aka Captain Stubing from The Love Boat) hosted the 45-minute ceremony, which culminated with the appearance of Martha Stewart, the ship's designated "godmother." Stewart gave a short speech, and then wound a crank to release a bottle of champagne which, in nautical tradition, shattered on the boat's side and onto a blue carpet below. Confetti canons and fireworks blasted off. But the floating location also required special consideration for these elements: Jauchem & Meeh used biodegradable confetti to avoid polluting the river, and the pyrotechnic show proceeded only after getting the go-ahead from fire marshals Neil Criscuolo and John Reilly, who radioed a nearby oil tanker to speed up in order to be well past the regulation distance for the pyrotechnics and fireworks to blast off on time.
—Chrissi Mark
Posted 06.28.06
Photos: Courtesy of Princess Cruises
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