P&O Cruises goes Med fly-cruising
March 15, 2010 - P&O Cruises is offering its largest ever cruise programme in 2011, including fly-cruise holidays to the Mediterranean on new small ship Adonia and the first full year of cruising for 3,100 passenger ship Azura.
For the first time, family friendly ship Oceana will offer cruises from Southampton throughout the winter (October to April), to the Western and Eastern Mediterranean, Atlantic Islands and the Caribbean and USA.
Holidays in the P&O Cruises 2011/12 brochure go on sale on April 27.
More about P&O Cruises in 2011

Stage set for Azura arrival
February 8, 2010 - International opera star Russell Watson and a host of other famous British faces will perform for passengers on the April maiden voyage of the latest and most sophisticated addition to the P&O Cruises fleet, Azura.
Multi-million album selling Watson, often referred to as 'The Voice', will perform a selection of famous hits from his career.
Star of British musical theatre, Gary Wilmot will have passengers 'waving their jazz hands' as he performs, along with Mike Alexander, an evening of music and witty reflections on a half century of careers at the top of their profession.
More about Azura's maiden voyage

Learn to cook with Marco on Ventura
January 14, 2010 - Marco Pierre White will be travelling on board P&O Cruises superliner Ventura at various dates throughout the year to show passengers, young and old, how to get cooking.
Marco, who has a fine dining restaurant, The White Room, on Ventura, will be offering the chance for passengers to get up close and personal by hosting cookery sessions for groups of up to eight adults and children in the theatre kitchen on board.
The interactive sessions will involve participants joining Marco as he creates a series of Mediterranean dishes, including several fish dishes and sauces.
More about Marco on board Ventura

January Sail launched
December 27, 2009 - P&O Cruises is offering free on board spending money and discounts of up to £1,000 per couple, for bookings made between before January 31.
Consumers are being urged to think ahead to their summer holiday and take advantage of the 'January Sail' incentives on offer.
Says P&O Cruises managing director Carol Marlow: "The thought of watching the sun rise each day on your own private balcony is a great way to beat the January blues, and we are offering these extraordinary experiences at very ordinary prices."
More about the January Sail

A good year for P&O
December 15, 2009 - P&O Cruises has enjoyed a much better than expected 2009.
It had anticipated a bumpy ride owing to the ecomic downturn, but P&O Cruises managing director Carol Marlow told a Christmas gathering in London last night that, as with UK cruising in general, sales were up five per cent and this, coupled with the arrival of Ventura, had made for a wonderful year.
She fully expected 2010 to follow suit, with pundits predicting continued increase in cruise sales and the arrival of Azura in April heralding a new era for the line.

Adonia to rejoin P&O fleet
December 9, 2009 - P&O Cruises is bucking the industry trend towards ever larger vessels by introducing a ship to its fleet that will accommodate just 710 passengers.
It means she can visit the "off the beaten track" destinations that are inaccessible to some of the bigger ships of today.
Adonia, which was built in 2001, will join the fleet in May 2011, to become the smallest of P&O Cruises seven ships. Along with Arcadia she will be adult only.
More about the return of Adonia

Artemis final voyage sells out in 17 minutes
December 1, 2009 - The final cruise of P&O Cruises Artemis went on sale at 10am this morning and it took just 17 minutes to sell out.
The Artemis Farewell Voyage departs from Southampton on 12 April 2011, for one final 14-night voyage visiting Gibraltar, Alicante, Palma, Sorrento, Rome (from Civitavecchia), Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Southampton.
The cruise will include a special jazz and classical Music Festival at Sea, commemorative memorabilia, surprise guest entertainers and passengers will enjoy champagne sailaways. Prices started from £1,100 per person based on two sharing. P&O Cruises managing director Carol Marlow said: "This is the fastest selling farewell voyage I have ever known. It is fantastic to see how much Artemis is loved by our passengers, and to know that her final send-off will be a truly memorable experience."
More about the Artemis farewell cruise

E-Ticketing on its way
November 27, 2009 - P&O Cruises bookings are moving to E-Ticketing from next week.
The first cruises affected are Oceana's January 22 sailing.
Passengers will be able to access their E-Tickets between five and six weeks before departure from the Cruise Personalise Page at www.pocruises.com.

P&O Cruises unveils Artemis farewell
November 22, 2009 - P&O Cruises are to celebrate the life and travels of Artemis with a farewell cruise, which goes on sale December 1.
During her time with P&O Cruises, Artemis has visited the Mediterranean on many occasions. On April 12, 2011, she will return for one final 14-night voyage visiting iconic cities including Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome.
More about the Artemis farewell cruise

Star ballerina Darcey Bussell to be godmother to Azura
November 22, 2009 - Darcey Bussell, one of the world's best loved ballerinas, will be godmother to the latest and most sophisticated addition to the P&O Cruises fleet, the 115,000-ton Azura.
The former Royal Ballet principal dancer now lives in Sydney, Australia, but will fly back to Britain next Spring with her family for Azura's glittering naming ceremony, details of which are being kept a closely guarded secret until the day.
Darcey said today: "I am so excited, honoured and, at the same time, somewhat filled with trepidation to be Godmother to Azura, as I know how significant the ceremony is viewed by the ship's captain and crew."
More about the Azura godmother

First time to Alaska for P&O Cruises in over 40 years
November 9, 2009 - P&O Cruises will sail to Alaska for the first time since 1970 with a 72-night Grand Alaska Voyage departing April 12, 2011, visiting 29 ports of call.
Arcadia's voyage, the only Alaskan cruise departing from the UK, will go on sale Tuesday, December 1, offering three holiday options.
Adult-only Arcadia's Alaskan voyage offers travellers exceptional value for money options such as Early Bird Savings of up to £1,300, cruise only fares and £250 free on board spending money.
More about Arcadia's Grand Alaska Voyage

Go to sea with the P&O Michelin men
October 14, 2009 - P&O Cruises, the only cruise line to have three Michelin-starred chefs, will have Gary Rhodes, Marco Pierre White and Atul Kochhar visiting their restaurants at sea on a selection of cruises throughout 2010.
The celebrated chefs will take part in cooking demonstrations, lessons, Q&A sessions and book signings while on board, in addition to spending time with their teams in the galley and in the restaurant with passengers.
More about the superchefs at sea

P&O lands £55,000 online booking
July 14, 2009 - P&O Cruises has secured a £55,000 world cruise booking on its website. And UK sales director Giles Hawke says this demonstrates how important it is for operators and agents to have websites that are fully bookable.
The booking also shows that consumers are prepared to make high value purchases on line and not just low-value purchases as is commonly claimed.

Bookings record for 2011 world voyages
July 7, 2009 - Bookings opened for the P&O Cruises and Cunard 2011 world voyages opened last week with a record breaking start.
On Wednesday (July 1), 2,044 people booked voyages from the two programmes, 47 per cent more than on the same day last year for 2010 world voyages, when a total of 1,385 bookings were made.
P&O Cruises is offering its largest ever world voyage programme in 2011, and managing director Nigel Esdale said: "We hope the figures are indicative of shoots of growth for the travel industry as a whole, and show the resilience of the cruise sector. The appetite to take that 'once in a lifetime' voyage is far from in decline, and for many experienced cruisers a world voyage is becoming a regular winter holiday experience. The success of this launch day suggests that cruising is more immune to the current economic climate and that holidays are still a priority."

P&O offers four world voyages in 2010/11
June 30, 2009 - For the first time P&O Cruises is offering four world voyages in 2010/2011.
The programme  features Oriana, 84-night world cruise from September 23, 2010; Artemis, 98-night Asian Grand Voyage from January 4, 2011; Arcadia, 82-night world cruise from January 5, 2011; Aurora, 95-night South America and Pacific Grand Voyage from January 9, 2011. P&O Cruises managing director Nigel Esdale said: "This is our biggest ever World Voyage programme. With four ships sailing roundtrip from Southampton visiting a total of 89 ports in 46 countries we are able to offer more choice, more destinations and more holiday options than ever before."
More about the 2010/2011 World Voyages

P&O Cruises' Azura floats out in traditional ceremony
June 26, 2009 - The newest superliner for P&O Cruises, Azura, touched water for the first time today in the traditional floating out ceremony, prior to her launch next April.
The 115,000-ton ship is taking shape at Fincantieri Monfalcone shipyard near Trieste and saw the float out of Azura in a special two part ceremony.
Amanda Dowds, wife of Azura's Captain, Keith Dowds acted as godmother for a symbolic ceremony in which a newly-minted two pound coin and a new euro are welded at the foot of the ship's mast for good luck.
More about Azura's float out