It has recently been announced that P&O cruises have ordered two more ships. The dates for these are 2020 and 2022. At the moment this seems a long way off but as we are now already in 2018 it will soon come round.
The feed back I have had from customers and the main thing that crops up is they hope it isn’t too big. I don’t have any real details but would imagine they are keeping up with their comptetors and will go large. This is a shame for P&O regulars who were very disappointed with the sale of Adonia. It came to my attention that not everyone likes the large vessels and maybe P&O should listen to their clients. The only small ships exiting the UK now are Fred Olsen and Cruise & Maritime. i cam understand it is a competative world and the need to compete with the likes of Royal but on the other hand P&O are different and sometimes attract different clients. maybe they should recognise this.
So what size are we looking at? The new ships will have a capacity of 5,200, with the largest of the fleet at the moment being the Britannia which hold a mere 3,647 passengers. Avid cruisers will find this very exciting and will be eager to sail on her and will book to go on the inaugural sailing. The salings will go on sale as early as September this year and I can imagine it will book up fast.
A competition took place last summer for the name with the winner being announced this year. So what would you name a ship? I quite like Poseidon – Greek God of the sea, perhaps I should have entered. I hope what ever they choose it will fit in with the names of the rest of the fleet. Watch this space for more information.
Emily