MIAMI, Nov. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival
Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's
largest travel and leisure company, today announced its P&O
Cruises Australia brand has introduced its two latest ships,
Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, expanding Australia's largest year-round fleet to five
cruise ships.
With the addition of Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, P&O
Cruises Australia now has five ships cruising year-round from eight
homeports in Australia,
New Zealand and Singapore. During the celebration to welcome
its two latest ships, Australia's
leading cruise line made history by staging two first-ever events:
a five-ship spectacular in the world-renowned Sydney Harbour and a social media naming
ceremony.
Ann Sherry, CEO of Carnival
Australia, which operates P&O Cruises Australia, said the event
marked a new era for P&O, Australia's only homegrown cruise line, which
has grown its fleet in response to increasing demand for cruise
vacations.
"P&O Cruises has been sailing from Australia for more than 80 years, so we are
thrilled to be able to celebrate the expansion of our fleet with so
many Sydneysiders today," said Sherry. "The addition of Pacific
Aria and Pacific Eden represents a 50 percent expansion in our
guest capacity and heralds a new look and feel for our cruise line
that is inspired by modern Australia."
With Australian cruise passenger numbers having grown by an
average of 20 percent a year over the past decade to break through
the one million mark in 2014, P&O Cruises Australia is well
positioned to continue meeting Australians' surging demand for
cruise vacations. The addition of Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden has
paved the way for exciting new cruise options including deployments
from every mainland state in Australia, an extended deployment from
Auckland and a season of cruising
from Singapore.
Carnival Corporation, which owns 10 cruise line brands,
including P&O Cruises Australia, is the largest cruise operator
in Australia and the only cruise
company to have ships based full-time in Australian waters.
Over the past 10 years, Carnival Corporation's presence in
Australia has grown rapidly with
its local fleet increasing from two full-time ships, both with
P&O Cruises, to nine full-time ships from three of the
company's brands – five P&O Cruises ships, three Princess
Cruises ships and one Carnival Cruise Line ship.
P&O Cruises marked the debut of Pacific Aria and Pacific
Eden with a social media naming ceremony, which saw popular
Australian singer Jessica Mauboy and actress Kate Ritchie simultaneously christening the
ships via Twitter as the two vessels sailed by Fort Denison, in the
middle of Sydney Harbour.
Notable cruise industry officials and two special guests
attended the ceremony – young Sydney sisters Aria and Eden Mulligan, invited by P&O to perform the
role of "junior godmothers" for the sister ships, which
coincidentally share their names.
In a nod to maritime tradition, a bottle of Champagne was
smashed on the bow of each ship as they sailed by Fort Denison,
with all five ships sounding their whistles to mark Australia's first dual cruise ship
christening.
Thousands of Sydneysiders watched the cruise ship spectacular
from the shore, while more than 12,000 guests and crew onboard the
five ships joined in the celebrations.
The five ships are to remain on Sydney
Harbour all day, with guests onboard enjoying a series of
live concerts from more than 25 music acts, including performances
by leading local performers Jessica Mauboy, The Veronicas,
Justice Crew, Samantha Jade and
Stan Walker. The celebration will
conclude with a special fireworks display above the harbour.
Designed to be game changers for the Australian cruise industry,
Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden offer a relaxed vibe in a
contemporary and stylish setting.
Both ships feature a range of dining options, including the
revolutionary new Pantry, which replaces the traditional ship's
buffet with an international food market showcasing eight delicious
outlets. Other onboard offerings include stylish new lounges and
bars, a stunning poolside area, new Pandora jewelry boutiques and a
range of entertainment options including Bianco, the new P&O
White party.
Continuing the cruise line's modern Australian evolution,
P&O Cruises has another ship on the horizon to be named Pacific
Explorer. The ship will build on the fresh and contemporary design
of newcomers Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden. The 77,000-ton ship,
currently sailing as Princess Cruises' Dawn Princess, is scheduled
to enter the P&O Australia fleet in May
2017 and will sail from Sydney during its inaugural season.
Details of its sailings will be released in the near
future.
About P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises, Australia's largest and longest-serving cruise
operator, leads the way in cruising as Australia's only 'home brand' and its favorite
cruise line. P&O Cruises has been sailing the region for more
than 80 years and has pioneered new destinations around
Australia, the Pacific and
Asia, including Papua New Guinea.
About Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival
Corporation & plc is the largest cruise company in the world,
with a portfolio of 10 cruise brands in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Line,
Fathom, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA
Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK).
Together, these brands operate 99 ships totaling 216,000 lower
berths with 18 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2016 and
2022. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America
Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour companies in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both
the New York and London Stock
Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the
world to be included in both the S&P500 and the FTSE 100
indices.
Additional information can be found on www.carnival.com,
www.fathom.org, www.hollandamerica.com, www.princess.com,
www.seabourn.com, www.aida.de, www.costacruise.com, www.cunard.com,
www.pocruises.com.au and www.pocruises.com.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151124/290803
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/carnival-corporations-po-cruises-australia-debuts-two-more-ships-expands-countrys-largest-year-round-fleet-300184267.html
SOURCE Carnival Corporation & plc