Goldie Hawn declines to re-christen Sea Princess

We don't know what's odder: that Princess Cruises decided to re-christen the Sea Princess when they swapped the ship back into their fleet this weekend in Southampton England, or that the christener, Goldie Hawn, declined to perform her appointed task.

The Sea Princess was built and introduced to the Princess Cruises fleet in 1998, to be swapped out to sister company P&O Cruises in 2003 to serve the Australia market and renamed Adonia, to be swapped back now and re-renamed Sea Princess.

The re-renaming ceremony over the weekend hit a snag when Goldie Hawn, flown in especially to release the traditional bottle of champagne to break over the bow, claimed she felt unwell and couldn't fulfill her commitment. Princess substituted British actress Joanna Lumley.

Screen stars were featured at the re-inaugural ceremony to emphasize the addition of the popular Movies Under the Stars outdoor movie screen high atop the ship. The Sea Princess will be cruising Europe and the Caribbean. Sea Princess is substantially identical to sister ships Dawn Princess and Sun Princess (and Ocean Princess which is currently sailing in the P&O fleet as Oceana).