This article is about the British cruise line. For the Australian cruise line, see P&O Cruises Australia. For the separately-owned ferry line, see P&O Ferries.
P&O Cruises was divested from P&O in 2000, subsequently becoming a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises,[6] before coming under its current ownership in 2003, following a merger between P&O Princess Cruises and Carnival Corporation.[7]
In 1834, Brodie McGhie Willcox, a ship broker from London, and Arthur Anderson, a sailor from the Shetland Islands, formed an association with Captain Richard Bourne, a steamship owner from Dublin.[8] In 1837, the trio won a contract and began transporting mail and passengers from England to the Iberian Peninsula, founding the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company.[9][5] In 1840, the company merged with the Transatlantic Steam Ship Company and expanded their operations to the Orient, becoming the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O).[10] In 1844, P&O expanded its passenger operations from transportation to include leisure cruising, operating sailings from England to the Mediterranean that were the first of their kind.[5] By the mid-1900s, passenger shipping for the purposes of transportation was threatened by the increasing affordability of air travel.[11] Consequently, in the 1970s, P&O dedicated its passenger operations entirely to leisure cruising and, in 1977, relisted its passenger ships under the new subsidiary P&O Cruises.[1]
Initially, P&O Cruises operated Oriana and Canberra from Southampton, serving the UK market,[12][13] and Arcadia from Sydney, serving the Australian market,[14] while Uganda operated educational cruises.[15] All of these ships had previously operated for P&O and had been transferred to the new subsidiary. In 1979, Arcadia departed the Australian fleet[14] and was replaced by Sea Princess, which had previously been Kungsholm for Flagship Cruises.[16] In 1981, Oriana relocated to serve the Australian market,[12] while Sea Princess relocated to serve the UK market in 1982.[16] The same year, Canberra was requisitioned as a troopship during the Falklands War,[17] while Uganda was requisitioned as a hospital ship.[18]Uganda departed the fleet shortly thereafter, in 1983.[18]Oriana departed the Australian fleet in March 1986,[19] and Sea Princess departed the UK fleet in November 1986.[16] With only Canberra remaining, serving the UK market,[4] P&O diverged its Australian operations in 1988, acquiring Sitmar Cruises, which already operated a ship in Australia.[12] This led to the formation of P&O Cruises Australia, which would oversee Australian operations, while P&O Cruises continued to oversee UK operations.[3]
1995–2008: First newbuilds and changes of ownership
In the 1990s, P&O Cruises commissioned its first newbuild, the second Oriana, which entered service in April 1995.[20] Unlike the older ocean liners the company had inherited from P&O, which had been designed to transport passengers from one place to another, the new Oriana was a cruise ship, built purely for pleasure cruising. At 69,153 gross tons, she was one of the largest in the world.[21]Sea Princess also returned to the fleet in 1995, under the new name Victoria.[16]Canberra departed the fleet in 1997 and was replaced the same year by a second Arcadia, which had previously been Star Princess for Princess Cruises.[13] In 2000, Aurora, a newbuild of similar design to Oriana, entered service for P&O Cruises.[22] However, her service suffered an inauspicious start when she was forced to abandon her maiden voyage due to mechanical problems.[22] The same year, P&O divested all its cruise operations and formed the independent company P&O Princess Cruises, which now owned P&O Cruises.[6] In 2002, Victoria departed the fleet[16] and Oceana joined, having previously been Ocean Princess for Princess Cruises.[23]
In 2003, the ownership of P&O Cruises changed once again when P&O Princess Cruises merged with Carnival Corporation to form Carnival Corporation & plc.[7] Thereafter, Arcadia transferred to the new Ocean Village brand.[24]Adonia, previously Sea Princess and a sister to Oceana, replaced Arcadia but returned to Princess Cruises in 2005.[25]Adonia was replaced the same year by a newbuild Arcadia, which was allocated to P&O Cruises after having originally been intended for Holland America Line and thereafter Cunard Line.[26]Arcadia was joined by Artemis, previously Royal Princess for Princess Cruises.[27]
2008–present: Expansion, modernisation, and COVID-19
Britannia of 2015 in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 2019, bearing the company's post-2014 livery
The fleet expanded and modernised with the addition of the 116,017-ton newbuild Ventura in 2008,[28] and her sister Azura in 2010.[29]Artemis departed the fleet in 2011[30] and was replaced by a second Adonia, which like Artemis had previously been Royal Princess for Princess Cruises.[31] In 2012, P&O Cruises celebrated the 175th anniversary of the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company by staging a 'Grand Event', in which the entire fleet was assembled in Southampton.[32] In 2014, the company introduced a new livery, based on the Union Jack, to emphasise its British heritage,[33] and in 2015, the 143,730-ton newbuild Britannia joined the fleet.[34]Adonia transferred to Carnival's new Fathom brand in 2016,[35] returned in 2017,[36] and then departed the fleet permanently in 2018.[37] In 2019, the company's first newbuild, Oriana, also departed the fleet.[38]
In March 2020, P&O Cruises joined every other cruise line worldwide in suspending passenger operations as a precaution against the emergent COVID-19 pandemic.[39][40] This led to the departure of Oceana in July 2020, as Carnival sold multiple older ships across their fleets in order to increase liquidity.[41] It also delayed the arrival of the 184,089-ton newbuild Iona from May 2020 to October 2020.[42][43]Iona was the UK's first ship to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) rather than fuel oil, which was intended to make her more environmentally friendly.[44] The company resumed passenger operations in June 2021, after fifteen months, with Britannia being the first of the fleet to sail,[45] followed by Iona in August 2021.[46]
In March 2022, P&O Cruises suffered a public backlash following a mass firing of staff by P&O Ferries, another former subsidiary of P&O.[47] They subsequently embarked on an advertising campaign in national newspapers and on social media in order to clarify their separate ownership.[47]
Arvia, a sister ship to Iona, joined the fleet in December 2022.[48]
Golden Cockerel
P&O Cruises awards the company's Golden Cockerel trophy to the fastest ship in its fleet.[13] The trophy is currently held by Aurora, which achieved a speed of 25.7 knots in April 2019.[49] It was previously held by the first Oriana until her retirement in 1986,[13]Canberra until her retirement in 1997,[13] and the second Oriana until her retirement in 2019.[50]
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