Cruise lovers and travel agents who were looking forward to the naming ceremony of the cruise ship Adonia this weekend might be forgiven for thinking that Dame Shirley Bassey is bad news when it comes to the weather. Weather conditions for Southampton do not look very good for Friday and Saturday – and Ms Bassey will be the godmother at this ceremony.

When the singer made an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007 it ended up being one of the muddiest in history. On that occasion she caused quite a stir by wearing diamante-encrusted boots.

Actually the forecast for Saturday is not that bad. It will be partly cloudy and the day’s maximum temperature will hover around 65 degrees Fahrenheit. There is only a 10% chance of rain.

The real problem is that the Adonia’s Atlantic crossing from Grand Bahama to Southampton has been delayed due to bad weather. The ship left the shipyard later than scheduled, so it will not be in Southampton in time for the inaugural events.

As a result several events scheduled for Friday had to be cancelled, including tours of the 30,000 ton cruise ship, which a large number of travel agents were looking forward to.

So far the naming ceremony will proceed as scheduled – if enough cruise lovers keep their fingers crossed! A spokesman for P&O Cruises said at a press conference today: “The delayed arrival will not have any impact on the naming day and the ceremony will be proceeding as planned.”