20 February 2009

Arcadia makes Sydney debut

pictures: James Morgan

Arcadia has become the largest P&O Cruises ship ever to visit Australia as part of its debut world cruise.

The 83,000-tonne vessel sailed into Sydney harbour today with 1,950 passengers, evoking memories of former P&O ships to carry the same name.

Thousands immigrated to Australia on P&O Cruises’ second Arcadia as ‘ten-pound poms’ in the 1950s and ‘60s.

The modern Arcadia is the fourth ship in the company’s history to bear the name.

A group of past passengers who sailed on the second Arcadia will have a reunion lunch on board the ship tomorrow.

The second Arcadia was also based in Australia as a cruise ship in the 1970s.

The ship began its maiden world cruise in Southampton last month and has already called at Majorca and Greece in Europe, Egypt and Oman in the Middle East, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Fremantle, Albany, Adelaide and Melbourne.

After sailing from Sydney tomorrow, the ship will visit Brisbane on February 23, the Whitsundays on February 25 and then sail to Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Oman, Dubai and Egypt, before transiting through the Suez Canal to Libya, Portugal and Spain before returning to the UK in April.