P&O Cruises Australia announced on 4th March that a commercial arrangement had been reached to transfer the 63,786gt/1989 built Pacific Pearl from its fleet as part of an ongoing fleet expansion and renewal program.

The popular ship will bid farewell in April 2017 having completed 294 separate cruises under the P&O Cruises’ banner and carried more than half a million passengers over a period of more than five years’ service. The transfer of the 1,800 passenger capacity ship is part of an unprecedented fleet renewal program for P&O Cruises Australia, with the addition of the Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden at the end of last year and the Pacific Explorer due to join the fleet in 2017.

The company is also making history in becoming the first cruise line to build a new ship specifically for the Australian market to be delivered in 2019. The Pacific Pearl began life as the Sitmar Fair Majesty, became the Star Princess in 1989, transferred to P&O Cruises (UK) as the Arcadia in 1997, then to Ocean Village cruises as the Ocean Village in 2003 and onwards to the Pacific Pearl in 2010. Just days later on 7th March Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) revealed that it had acquired the ship to serve the British cruise market as the Columbus, homeporting year round at London Tilbury.

She will convey a maximum of around 1,400 passengers for CMV in 775 cabins (including 150 singles) and will become the proud new flagship of the CMV ocean fleet operating alongside the Magellan (1,300pax), Marco Polo (800pax), Astor (600pax) and Astoria (550pax).