More P&O Cruises growth on the horizon
Sunday, 12 Apr, 2010
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The P&O Cruises’ fleet is set to grow in the future but any new ships will be no bigger than newly launched £380 million Azura.
The addition of the 3,100-passenger vessel brings the British market leader up to seven ships.
David Dingle, CEO of parent company Carnival UK, predicted that the number of UK cruise passengers will rise from 1.5 million to 2.5 million in five years time.
Speaking at the launch of Azura in Southampton at the weekend, he said: “I think that in the long term the UK market can absorb more P&O Cruises’ ships.”
But 115,000-tonne Azura will be the last in its current class of ship – alongside sister vessel Ventura.
“A ship of this size is the largest we will have for P&O Cruises. It is a very big ship. I don’t see that we need a ship any bigger than this,” said Dingle.
He added that whenever the company added capacity, it filled each new ship, helped by the fact at more than one in five cruises sold in the UK are for P&O Cruises.
Carnival Corporation president and CEO Micky Arison would not be drawn on potential future capacity for the UK line other than to say that P&O Cruises’ management would have to compete against other brands in the organisation for the capital expenditure for any further new builds from 2013-14.
P&O Cruises is replacing small ship Artemis next year with 710-passenger Adonia, which is being transferred from US sister line Princess Cruises where it us currently operating as Royal Princess.
*See separate Azura naming story and pictures.
Azura’s godmother
Darcey Bussell
by Phil Davies
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