P&O Cruises Grand Event July 3rd 2012

On the 3rd of July 2012 P&O Cruises will see their entire fleet docked in its home port of Southampton for the first time ever

Named “The Grand Event” the year of celebrations in 2012 will mark the 175th anniversary of the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company being awarded the lucrative Admiralty contract to carry mail to the Iberian Peninsula and beyond. Not long afterwards the concept of cruising was born and since 1837 cruising has evolved into a popular holiday choice and now P&O Cruises carries more British cruisers than any other line.

P&O Cruises managing director, Carol Marlow, said “We are very excited to announce this special day. It will be a great celebration for P&O Cruises, our passengers and for the whole maritime world.”

“As cruising has become the fastest growing sector of the UK holiday market, so the P&O Cruises fleet has grown to seven ships dedicated to the British market. Whereas the very first P&O ships plied their trades to the Iberian Peninsular and the Orient, P&O Cruises ships sail throughout Europe, the Caribbean, South America, Scandinavia, Mediterranean, Atlantic islands and, of course, on round the world cruises. What was once a national necessity is now a national pastime and is worthy of a grand celebration.”

Each ship in The Grand Event will then depart on its own cruise, with a spectacular send off, the ships will then form a procession as they leave Southampton for the English Channel and beyond.

More information on the “Grand Event Cruises” can be found on pages four and five in the P&O Cruises 2012/13 brochure, and can be booked from Tuesday April 5, 2011.

The Grand Event Cruises are:

11-night Atlantic Islands cruise on Azura (A215)

17-night Central Mediterranean cruise on Ventura (N216)

seven-night Norwegian Fjords cruise on Oceana (E214)

14-night Norway and Iceland cruise on Arcadia (J208)

17-night Baltic cruise on Aurora (R208)

4-night cruise break on Oriana (X210)

21-night Central Mediterranean cruise on Adonia (D208)