Cruise & Maritime Voyages must find a special woman to take charge of the christening of their latest ship next June. The vessel, which will be re-named Columbus, already has an illustrious history and an impressive list of godmothers.
Launched in 1989, the ship was originally christened Star Princess by actress Audrey Hepburn. In 1997 the vessel was transferred to P&O Cruises to replace the much-loved Canberra. Following a refit at the Harland & Wollff yard in Belfast, she was re-named Arcadia by Betty Boothroyd, who was Speaker of the House of Commons.
Fast forward to 2003 when Arcadia was transferred to a P&O off-shoot, Ocean Village. The ship was christened Ocean Village by TV presenter Ulrika Johnson.
Another transfer, in 2010, took the ship to P&O Australia, where she was re-named Pacific Pearl by the Olympic board-sailing champion Barbara Kendall, from New Zealand.
Some famous shoes to fill for whoever is chosen to be godmother at the ceremony in Tilbury.
Before starting service with CMV the 1,400-passenger Columbus will be tweaked to cater for a British adult-only market. Its Teen Club will be replaced by a library and lounge, and the children’s centre is to be converted into a bridge and card room, and a separate craft studio.
Columbus, with 775 cabins (including 150 singles) joins Magellan (1,300 passengers), Marco Polo (800) and Astoria (550).
Here’s a taste of what the ship will look like. There’s more details in Cruise & Maritime’s online brochure.
Palladium Theatre
Captain’s Club
Cappuccinos
The Grill
The Dome
Plantation Bistro
Raffles
Waterfront restaurant
Twin cabin
Balcony suite
Oasis Bar
john, we travelled on Ocean Village 1 & Ocean Village 2 many times. Even on the last voyage on O.V2 . We made many friends on the staff who were there every time we sailed with them, and miss it more than any ships we have sailed on since. The atmosphere on board was so friendly, it was like a home from home. Superb food, is the new Columbus the first or second of the Ocean Village ships. It seems to look like the 2nd. We were given to understand that P& O sold them as it was loss making, but ran them to get people into cruising, which it certainly did.
We have since been on several of NCL ships as they are casual style. They are good, but don’t have the intimate friendly atmosphere which Ocean Village had.
Sincerely, Michael Lilley
Just spent a week on the Columbus it was brilliant food very good Asi my waistline will tell you good value staff very friendly cabins good plenty of storage space good size shower overall a very good holiday I would highly recomeng