Carnival Splendor: The Biggest Passenger Ship to Sail From Dover

There's going to be a hunka-hunka British hottie assisting Carnival Splendor's Godmother during her bottle-breaking assignment this coming Thursday. The first ever underwater-to-hull bottle break should go something like this...

Classical musician, singer, and presenter Myleene Klass will have an unusual “assist” from Royal Navy divers when she performs her Godmother duties to officially name the 113,000-ton Carnival Splendor, the biggest passenger ship to sail from Dover Cruise Port. Petty Officer Christian Rumming, 39 (pictured here), assisted by a Royal Navy dive team led by Lt Ian Richardson, 43, will be underwater near the bow of the Carnival Splendor when he will hear a unique radio signal from Myleene Klass, playing live classical piano music on the ship’s top Lido deck. PO Rumming will let out some compressed air from his diving tanks and then, in wet suit, safety harness, and flippers, personally climb a 60-ft black marlin ascent rope to reach the Carnival Splendor’s name on the top of her bow.

Lt Richardson of the Royal Navy Fleet Diving Squadron said, “This has to be a rather unusual assignment for my men, who are trained in deep sea marine diving and underwater bomb and mine disposal to protect our fleet, but I am confident they can pull this off.”

While Myleene Klass may not be a household name here in America, nor is “presenter” a term we're familiar with (it apparently has something to do with television?), we love Carnival Cruise Lines and new cruise ships. Cruise Diva will be aboard for the Naming festivities and to blog from the ship during Carnival Splendor's 3-day preview cruise to Amsterdam.

Be sure to join me here on the Cruise Diva Blog from July 10-13 for all the news. And don't miss the video replay of the Carnival Splendor Naming Ceremony beginning on the 10th at the Carnival Splendor web page at Carnival.com. It should be quite a show!