Pacific Pearl to Wrap Up Her Career with P&O Cruises in 2017

Australian P&O Cruises, brand of Carnival Group, will transfer its 1,800-passenger cruise ship Pacific Pearl to an undisclosed operator in early April 2017.

By then, Pacific Pearl will have completed 294 separate cruises under the P&O Cruises banner and will have carried more than half a million passengers over a period of more than five years of service.

The move is a part of the company’s ongoing fleet expansion and renewal program, which saw Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden join P&O Cruises’ fleet at the end of last year, while the company’s newest vessel Pacific Explorer will become a part of the fleet next year.

The so-called New Zealand’s ship will be based out of Auckland for five months in 2016 and return for an initial 2017 cruise season from February to April next year. Pacific Pearl will then be replaced by the 70,310 tonne Pacific Jewel which will complete the second season for the cruise line from September to November 2017.

“Over the past four years, we have grown the New Zealand season by more than 20 per cent and this year we are sailing from Auckland for a record 140 days,” P&O Cruises Australia President, Sture Myrmell, said.