Cruising the world for a good godmother

[Ziggy7]

Cruising the world for a good godmother

 

Can it be that the Golden Age of ocean liners truly is dead if the honor of christening a cruise ship can go to a convicted felon?

Then again, if anybody knows the exact method for artfully breaking a champagne bottle across the bow of a ship, it's probably Martha Stewart.

Princess Cruises announced recently that media mogul Stewart, who paid her debt to society by serving five months at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia, will be the godmother to the 3,080-passenger Crown Princess, the line's newest ship.

She will christen the vessel on Wednesday.

Stewart is only the latest high-profile pick for an honorary title once relegated to the wives of dignitaries and board members - and, occasionally, to royal families.

Are godmothers the newest marketing weapon in the ultra-competitive world of cruise lines?

For instance:

- Holland America executives obviously thought long and hard about who would best represent the elegant Zaandam as godmother - and picked then-13-year-old twin celebrities Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. (It's unclear if the bottle was empty by the time it hit the hull.)

- While christening the Norwegian Dawn, "Sex and the City" actress Kim Cattrall commented, "She's the biggest ship in New York City. Don't let anyone ever tell you size doesn't matter."

- In a publicity stunt as big as the ship itself, Royal Caribbean asked the TV-viewing public to pick (a la "American Idol") the godmother to Freedom of the Seas, the new largest passenger ship on the planet, getting NBC's "Today" show to hype the promotion. Most of the 171,000 viewers voted for Katherine Louise Calder, a Portland, Ore., foster mother to more than 400 children, whose name was announced live on the show - during coverage from the 2006 Winter Olympics, of course.

Honorary or not, competition in the cruise industry makes World Cup soccer hooligans look as meek as the cast of "Friends," and companies are not above trying to one-up the other guy with the biggest, best-hyped stars available.

It seems as if some godmothers were picked for battle, a little like the NFL draft:

- Looking for someone who could swing a bottle as well as a racquet, Holland America picked Chris Evert (Volendam), and Royal Caribbean picked Steffi Graf (Navigator of the Seas). Olympic skater Katarina Witt is godmother to Voyager of the Seas (probably a knowing jab at the other lines: "We have an ice rink and you don't").

- Anchors for the happy talk morning shows are well represented: Carnival tapped Katie Couric (Valor) and Paula Zahn (Paradise); Holland America picked Joan Lunden (Zuiderdam).

- Oscar winners abound: Carnival can claim Judi Dench (Legend) and Mira Sorvino (Liberty), but Whoopi Goldberg has christened both Viking Serenade and Serenade of the Seas for Royal Caribbean.