MSC Cruises laid on an epic show for the launch in Naples of its second ship of the year, the 3,274-passenger MSC Fantasia.
Over the course of almost three hours, acrobats tumbled, drummers drummed, speeches were spoken and three of Italy's favourite singers warbled. I cannot tell you my relief when the cameras picked up godmother-to-be Sophia Loren and Gianluigi Aponte, the owner of MSC, making their way to the tent so she could do her naming thing.
It wasn't so much that it was an over-long show - although it was - but I was getting colder and colder as the evening wore on, despite the polythene tent they had erected quayside for the event and the big coat and gloves I had thought to take.
Ms Loren said a few words in Italian - probably something along the lines of "yes folks, I'm godmother yet again" (this must be the fifth or sixth MSC ship she has named) - before making her way over to the ribbon.
That should have been the moment she said "I name this ship", but that job fell to someone else - "she never says it," an MSC insider told me - the ribbon was cut, the bottle smashed and the tent filled with confetti.
It was the moment I had been waiting for and worth the wait, although I confess I missed the fireworks in my mission to get back to the warmth of the ship as soon as possible.
Job done. Now it's all hands on deck at MSC because in just seven months, it will be the turn of MSC Spendida, another 3,274-passenger ship, which is being named in July in Barcelona by... you guessed it, Sophia Loren. Talk about déjà vu. But at least it will be warm!
Jane Archer
