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CNN Live At Daybreak
'International News Desk'
Aired January 08, 2004 - 05:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's head across the -- actually, we're going to stay right here to talk about a ship across the sea, a ship naming fit for a queen. That is the big story in Britain today.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here.
And the Queen Mary II.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning.
Yes.
COSTELLO: It's a big ship.
CLINCH: Queen Mary II meets Queen Elizabeth II today. The queen, Elizabeth, coming to officially name what will be, what is the largest cruise ship in the world. And the story today really, apart from the visual aspect of it -- the naming ceremony will be some time around, I think, 11:00 a.m. or so. The queen is expected to turn up around 9:00 a.m. Eastern time and she will do the naming, which, of course, is the traditional champagne bottle smashed against the side. And we saw some pictures yesterday of the champagne bottle. It's a very expensive Veuve Clicquot being wasted, knocked against the side of a cruise ship here.
But, of course, they hope it'll break the first time. There have been occasions when the queen and others, of course, of course, launching ships have had to try a few times to break a bottle.
COSTELLO: Isn't it a specially rigged bottle now?
CLINCH: Well, apparently not. It's apparently not. It's a real bottle of Veuve Clicquot. But the queen has a strong arm, so I'm sure she can smash it there.
Now, the other part of the story which we think is interesting is the business and just the optimistic side of this story. I mean launching this huge cruise ship to go from Britain, I think to Florida will be the main route, across the Atlantic, carrying people paying a huge amount of money. The amount of money that this cruise ship has cost, launching it in these uncertain times has to qualify as a pretty optimistic business venture.
But the cruise ship industry, I think reflecting what we're seeing in most travel industries at the moment, is that despite all the terror alerts, despite all the security and those issues, people are still traveling. And people are still interested in doing these things, especially very wealthy people. And that's the market they're going after here, clearly.
COSTELLO: Now you've made me curious about how much it costs to board that ship.
CLINCH: Well, I should have checked before I said that. I'm not sure. I know it's...
COSTELLO: I knew I shouldn't have asked you that.
CLINCH: I know it's thousands of pounds for one of the main...
COSTELLO: Rooms.
CLINCH: Rooms, I think...
COSTELLO: Cabins.
CLINCH: The cabins, I think they're referred to. There are various grades. But one of the most expensive is thousands of pounds.
COSTELLO: Right. The Balmoral Suite is $50,000.
CLINCH: The Balmoral Suite, $50,000. That's what -- I thought that figure I had -- I couldn't remember, but the Balmoral Suite is the main suite on the ship and that will cost $50,000. So very expensive.
COSTELLO: Crazy.
CLINCH: But people are interested. People are buying. So we'll see some pretty pictures of the christening later today.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, David.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 8, 2004 - 05:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's head across the -- actually, we're going to stay right here to talk about a ship across the sea, a ship naming fit for a queen. That is the big story in Britain today.
Our senior international editor, David Clinch, is here.
And the Queen Mary II.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Good morning.
Yes.
COSTELLO: It's a big ship.
CLINCH: Queen Mary II meets Queen Elizabeth II today. The queen, Elizabeth, coming to officially name what will be, what is the largest cruise ship in the world. And the story today really, apart from the visual aspect of it -- the naming ceremony will be some time around, I think, 11:00 a.m. or so. The queen is expected to turn up around 9:00 a.m. Eastern time and she will do the naming, which, of course, is the traditional champagne bottle smashed against the side. And we saw some pictures yesterday of the champagne bottle. It's a very expensive Veuve Clicquot being wasted, knocked against the side of a cruise ship here.
But, of course, they hope it'll break the first time. There have been occasions when the queen and others, of course, of course, launching ships have had to try a few times to break a bottle.
COSTELLO: Isn't it a specially rigged bottle now?
CLINCH: Well, apparently not. It's apparently not. It's a real bottle of Veuve Clicquot. But the queen has a strong arm, so I'm sure she can smash it there.
Now, the other part of the story which we think is interesting is the business and just the optimistic side of this story. I mean launching this huge cruise ship to go from Britain, I think to Florida will be the main route, across the Atlantic, carrying people paying a huge amount of money. The amount of money that this cruise ship has cost, launching it in these uncertain times has to qualify as a pretty optimistic business venture.
But the cruise ship industry, I think reflecting what we're seeing in most travel industries at the moment, is that despite all the terror alerts, despite all the security and those issues, people are still traveling. And people are still interested in doing these things, especially very wealthy people. And that's the market they're going after here, clearly.
COSTELLO: Now you've made me curious about how much it costs to board that ship.
CLINCH: Well, I should have checked before I said that. I'm not sure. I know it's...
COSTELLO: I knew I shouldn't have asked you that.
CLINCH: I know it's thousands of pounds for one of the main...
COSTELLO: Rooms.
CLINCH: Rooms, I think...
COSTELLO: Cabins.
CLINCH: The cabins, I think they're referred to. There are various grades. But one of the most expensive is thousands of pounds.
COSTELLO: Right. The Balmoral Suite is $50,000.
CLINCH: The Balmoral Suite, $50,000. That's what -- I thought that figure I had -- I couldn't remember, but the Balmoral Suite is the main suite on the ship and that will cost $50,000. So very expensive.
COSTELLO: Crazy.
CLINCH: But people are interested. People are buying. So we'll see some pretty pictures of the christening later today.
COSTELLO: All right, thank you, David.
CLINCH: OK.
COSTELLO: We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
