P&O Adonia and Pacific Sun

The name P&O has a long history of sea travel. It is celebrating 175 years of service and many maritime fans are keen to document the comings and goings of its ships.

The Adonia, one of P&O’s Cruise ships, has been temporarily withdrawn from service. This announcement will affect the January 3 (2012) sailing a 10-day cruise from Naples to Southampton. It is to undergo urgent maintenance prior to the ship’s 3-month program to South America from the UK.

The line has not disclosed the precise nature of the urgent maintenance; however P&O did say it was an “unavoidable decision.” Interestingly, Adonia’s holiday cruise, which is a 14-night cruise in the eastern Mediterranean from Athens to Naples on December 20th will still be sailing as per schedule.

Passengers on the cancelled sailing are being given a full refund from P&O plus a future cruise credit of 25% of what they paid for the cancelled cruise. This seems reasonable recompense for the disruption and inconvenience caused to those who had made bookings on the cruise.

South of the equator, P&O Cruises Australia announced on December 19th that Pacific Sun will leave its fleet after completion of its July 1, 2012 cruise, on July 8. As yet, the name of the buyer has not been disclosed.

The ship was probably best known as Carnival Cruise Lines’ Jubilee, which was transferred to Carnival’s Australian brand in 2004. In making the announcement in Australia, Carnival Australia CEO Ann Sherry called the ship “the core to rebuilding cruising in Australia.” She further enthused about the farewell to be given to ‘Australia’s favourite cruise ship’ and also said that passengers booked beyond July would be contacted directly by Carnival to make alternative arrangements.

Speculation about its replacement, or not, will certainly cause ripples.