The Pacific Pearl Is Leaving Australia in 2017, She Will Going To Cruise & Maritime Voyages.
Pacific Pearl is the sixth cruise ship of the P&O Cruises Australia brand. She was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, at their shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, and launched in 1988 as Sitmar FairMajesty.
Originally ordered for Sitmar Cruises, she was sold and first entered service with Princess Cruises as Star Princess in 1989. From 1997 to 2003, she served in the P&O Cruises flee...t as MV Arcadia. She was renamed Ocean Village in 2003 when the brand was established Ocean Village was the sole cruise ship of the Ocean Village brand after the Ocean Village Two became the Pacific Jewel.
She was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Pearl.
This year, Cruise & Maritime is sailing four ships, the Astor, Azores, Magellan and Marco Polo. The Astor divides her deployment between a German subsidiary brand and Australia.
The ship will go through a dry dock with some refurbishment and re-livery works in Singapore in April and early May 2017 before positioning to the UK, being renamed and starting its inaugural CMV ex-UK 2017 cruise season.
Christian Verhounig, ceo and chairman of CMV, explained: 'The successful introduction of Magellan in 2015 has encouraged our group to accelerate their mid-term growth plans and the addition of Columbus to the fleet in 2017 is another important milestone in achieving our longer term growth objectives.'
He added: 'The strategic development of the group’s presence in the UK and wider international markets will increase our overall capacity to 125,000 passengers in 2017.
Planned upgrade works will include some refurbishment to the cabins and public areas plus:
• Conversion of the HQ Teen Center into the maritime-themed Columbus Lounge & Library.
• Conversion of the Shark Shack & Turtle Cove Children’s Center into Trumps & Aces -- a dedicated Bridge & Card Room area and also a separate Studio.
Homeporting year round from Tilbury, Columbus will be dedicated to the British cruise market and will target adult-only cruisers (16yrs plus), with the exception of two all-age departures in August 2017.
Information supplied by: Cruise Marintime Voyages.
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