All About Cruises

Category: P&O Cruises

  • The Best Cruise Lines in the UK

    The Best Cruise Lines in the UK

    There are a lot of great cruise lines in the UK. Many of them even compete with the biggest American cruise lines. The English cruise industry is only getting bigger and better as time goes on. There are far more options today than there were just a few years ago, and we expect that trend to continue. Whether you’re looking for a small luxury cruise or an exciting family vacation, here are the best cruise lines in the UK.

    Cunard

    Based out of Southampton, Cunard has been around longer than pretty much every cruise line out there. The company was actually founded in 1840 (yes, you read that right), although it didn’t become the modern cruise line it is today until just a few decades ago. Their current fleet is made up of just three ships: Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth. Each ship is quite large, being able to take on a maximum capacity of about 2500 travelers each. Their ships have a classic British feel, but they have itineraries throughout the entire world. If you live in the UK and are looking for a refined cruising experience, Cunard should be at the top of your list.

    P&O Cruises

    One of the larger and more popular cruise lines in the UK, P&O has enough variety to fulfill everyone’s needs. They currently have a fleet of six ships ranging from 76,000 to 184,000 tons. P&O is considered an excellent family cruise line, and their prices are very affordable. If you have never taken a cruise before, P&O is a great place to start. They don’t really specialize in any one area and instead do just about everything well. You can check out all of their itineraries over here.

    Saga Cruises

    Saga Cruises fills a very unique niche in the United Kingdom: their cruises are only available to those ages 50 and up. They have two ships and each can hold up to 999 passengers. They do both ocean and river cruises, and their ships sail from the UK to pretty much every location around the world. While they are largely known for the market they serve, Saga is also renowned for having excellent and personalized service, something that is obviously a big deal to the clients they serve. Almost everyone who cruises with Saga leaves feeling satisfied.

    These three cruise lines just scratch the surface of all the great British companies out there. If you live in the UK, you can rest assured that the industry doesn’t only cater to Americans!

  • English Cruises Returning on May 17th

    English Cruises Returning on May 17th

    It looks like cruises are going to be returning to England sooner than we thought! Right now is arguably the most exciting time in the cruise world since the beginning of the pandemic. While we have seen flickers of hope throughout, our optimism has been mostly stifled by continuous cancellations and delays. The recent distribution of vaccines throughout the world has bolstered the confidence of many nations throughout the world, however, and a return to cruising seems imminent. The news from England is definitely a step in the right direction!

    English cruises in 2021

    Cruises were expected to return to England in 2021, but no one was sure when this would happen. The government had been relatively silent on the issue up until now. An announcement from Robert Courts, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation and Maritime, changed everything. According to him, cruises will be allowed in England starting May 17th, 2021. This was made public news on March 8th, and some cruise lines are already prepping changes to their plans for the year in light of this.

    Are cruises throughout Europe coming as well?

    Cruising returning to England is certainly an exciting thing, but many people are now asking whether or not this means that the rest of Europe will follow suit. As of now, there are no indications that this will influence the decisions of any other European countries. However, Courts said that the English government is “working with the home nations to get UK-wide domestic cruising up and running.” Sailing between English ports will start right away on May 17th, but a trip between England and other UK countries might not be too far away. Additionally, the Independent wrote that “the domestic move would help the cruise industry restore confidence and demonstrate the robustness of their protocols for passengers and crew.”

    Which cruise lines are involved?

    This is another detail that is currently unknown. Cruise lines will undoubtedly jump at the chance, though. P&O Cruises was one cruise line that was planning on sailing around the United Kingdom in 2021, and they are quite happy with the news. According to Paul Ludlow, P&O’s president, they are “delighted that the government has acknowledged that UK domestic cruise holidays can begin from May 17.” From this, we can expect P&O to be one of the cruise lines to focus on the English market beginning in May.

    A safe and smooth return to sailing in the United Kingdom could definitely prove to the world that cruises are a good idea in a post-vaccine world. Let’s hope that it goes well!

  • An Update on the Newbuild Ships for Holland America, P&O, and Celebrity

    An Update on the Newbuild Ships for Holland America, P&O, and Celebrity

    There aren’t many ships sailing right now (although there are a few), but that doesn’t mean that all newbuild ships are on pause. Companies across the cruise industry have used this lull in activity to continue working on new ships for their fleets. Several of these ships are getting close to being ready to sail. Pending the end of the CDC No Sail Order, we are likely going to see many new ships in the water! Here are the latest updates on new ships for three cruise lines: Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, and Celebrity Cruises.

    Holland America Line

    Holland America made headlines a few months ago when they sold off two of their ships to Fred. Olsen Cruise Line. One of those two ships was Rotterdam, a ship built back in 1997. This sale to Fred. Olsen isn’t the end of the line for Rotterdam, though. The new ship for Holland America, which is currently being built at Fincantieri, recently had its name changed to Rotterdam. This means that it will be a spiritual successor to their classic vessel. The building process seems to be going smoothly. On October 8th, the ship was floated out at Fincantieri. This means that the ship is now far enough along in its construction that the remaining work will take place while it is in water. This is a great sign for Rotterdam being ready to sail by its expected July 2021 debut date!

    P&O Cruises

    P&O celebrated an exciting moment when their newest ship, Iona, was delivered to them on October 12th. The ship was constructed in Germany and is now an official member of the P&O fleet. That doesn’t mean it will be sailing soon, though, as P&O’s guest operations will be on pause for the rest of the year. But we’re sure many are going to want to book with Iona as soon as possible, which is a great thing for the cruise line. Some of the draws of Iona include its size of 184,000 tons, 17 total decks, and the fact that it is the first British ship to be powered by liquefied natural gas.

    Celebrity Cruises

    Like P&O, Celebrity also welcomed a new ship into their ranks: Celebrity Apex. A ceremony was held at sea on October 13th that found Apex greeted by a number of the other ships from the Celebrity fleet. It will now go back with the rest of Celebrity’s ships to await the okay to sail again. Its current plans are to sail this winter season, but it remains to be seen if this will be allowed.

    During this pandemic, it’s always reassuring to see signs like this that indicate the cruise industry is still plenty healthy. We’re looking forward to seeing how travelers enjoy these ships when the time is right!

  • Big Cancellations from P&O and Hurtigruten; AIDA Prepares for Restart Inbox

    Big Cancellations from P&O and Hurtigruten; AIDA Prepares for Restart Inbox

    This week, both P&O Cruises and Hurtigruten announced that they would be cancelling large groups of itineraries this year. Interestingly, AIDA also announced their plans to restart operations. It seems that the cruise industry is still very much in flux, and we can honestly say it is very hard to predict what will happen going forward. Regardless, here are all the details from P&O, Hurtigruten, and AIDA.

    P&O cancels 2020 itineraries

    Okay, this is a pretty big one. P&O announced that they will not be sailing at all until 2021 at least. This means that all current 2020 itineraries are now cancelled. They also gave some further specific information about their Caribbean cruises, stating that they would all be cancelled until February 2021. Additionally, itineraries that involve Southampton will not sail until March 2021. In a press release, the cruise line mainly cited “evolving restrictions on travel from the U.K.” as the reason for the cancellations. We will have to wait and see if this indicates a worrying trend for other U.K.-based cruise lines to have similar cancellations.

    Hurtigruten cancels winter Antarctica sailings

    Hurtigruten also announced that they will be cancelling a major portion of their 2020 sailings. They had planned to start off their Antarctica season this October, but it seems this will no longer be happening. In fact, they have cancelled the first three months of their Antarctica season, meaning they will not be sailing to the region beginning in January 2021. Because Hurtigruten is mainly known for its expeditions to polar regions, this is likely a pretty big deal for them. They now plan to move forward with “even stricter COVID-19 measures in place,” including “testing for all guests.”

    AIDA preps restart

    In contrast to Hurtigruten and P&O, AIDA is gearing up to follow in Costa’s footsteps by resuming sailing operations. Their original plan was to begin this November, but they are now planning to sail on October 17th, 2020. The cruise line didn’t cite any COVID-based reasoning for moving up their restart date. Instead, it seems they simply have added a new (and earlier) series of itineraries that will visit Italy. These itineraries will each last seven days and will depart weekly from Civitavecchia beginning on October 17th. You can book a spot on one of these cruises starting on September 21st.

    While it seems that the cancellations are still rolling in, certain areas of the world are beginning to become more comfortable with cruising. We have no idea how long it will take for this to become the norm again, but we’re hoping it will be sooner rather than later!

  • P&O, Viking, and Holland America All Cancel Cruises

    P&O, Viking, and Holland America All Cancel Cruises

    As August ends, more cruise lines are cancelling cruises beyond just the summer season, with the most recent cruise lines to do so being P&O, Viking, and Holland America. These major companies may not be quite ready to sail again, yet others are prepping new health protocols and are preparing to start cruising again as soon as possible. In the end, the decision comes down to both health and business reasons, and these three cruise lines have evidently decided that they would like to wait longer to begin operations again.

    P&O

    P&O is one the biggest cruise lines in Britain, meaning they do not need to abide by the CDC No Sail Order and can instead go by local European ordinances if they wish to sail. Despite this, they still have to answer to local British health guidelines, and most are saying that it is not quite safe to cruise just yet. Because of this, they have cancelled all sailings up until November 12, 2020. A few in January 2021 are cancelled as well: the Aurora’s Caribbean and South America itinerary and the world cruise that was set to be on the Arcadia. Guests will get an automatic 125% credit, which is nice. They can also opt for a 100% cash refund on the P&O site.

    Holland America

    Holland America is a cruise line that travels to many locations across the globe, and the combination of all the different travel restrictions and health orders in the areas that they sail to has made them extend their suspension of operations. They are now cancelling all sailings up until December 15, 2020. Guests will get a 125% refund in the form of credit that can be used on future Holland America sailings, or they can fill out a Cancellations Preferences form on their site for a 100% cash refund.

    Viking

    Viking has been especially cautious throughout this pandemic. They were one of the first cruise lines in the world to cancel sailings due to coronavirus, and it seems they will not be reversing their stance on guest safety any time soon. In fact, the cruise line has just announced that they will be cancelling the rest of their sailings for the entire year. This means that there won’t be a Viking cruise until at least January 2021. Like with most other cruise lines, guests will receive a 125% credit refund.

    Luckily, it seems that the cruise lines making this decision have enough money to wait out the pandemic, at least for a bit longer. Viking said in a statement, “We are a private, closely-held company, which means we do not have to rush the decision to return to service.” At least that’s some good news!

  • P&O to Sell Oceana

    P&O to Sell Oceana

    In a move that may come as a surprise to some and as a big disappointment for those who were booked on the ship, P&O Cruises has come forward to confirm rumors that they are selling their ship, the Oceana. The company cited multiple reasons for this change in their fleet. Let’s see what this means for the cruise line, as well as what the future currently looks like for P&O.

    The Oceana

    The Oceana has a long history, both with P&O and without it. It was originally with Princess as the Ocean Princess before being traded over to P&O in the early 2000s. It received its name at a ceremony in 2003 and quickly became a very popular ship among P&O’s fleet. It even recently saw an expensive refurbishment at the end of 2017, meaning the ship should be in pretty much perfect shape as of right now.

    Why are they selling it?

    P&O released a statement about it, but it’s not entirely clear. It seems to be at least tangentially related to COVID-19, but they also mentioned the new ships that they have coming in the near future. Paul Ludlow, the president of the company, said “During this pause in our operations we need to fit the fleet for the future and ensure we have the right mix of ships once we resume sailing.”

    Right mix of ships?

    That’s right. P&O has a relatively busy future planned, and their fleet is still poised to get larger even with the selling of the Oceana. In fact, these new ships could be a contributing factor to the sale, with Ludlow adding that “her departure will allow us to focus on our remaining ships in the fleet, as capacity expands with the delivery of Iona later this year followed by her sister ship, scheduled for 2022.”

    Who are they selling it to?

    As of right now, we have no idea. We also have no idea how much the ship is being sold for. Hopefully we can get some more info from P&O about the destination of the Oceana soon.

    While it’s hard to point at coronavirus as a cause for this, it’s likely that it at least played some role, with Ludlow specifically mentioning the pause in operations. If so, that would make this the first ship being sold due to COVID-19. In the end though, it doesn’t seem it matters too much, as P&O seems ready to continue growth in spite of the pandemic.

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