The UK’s largest cruise line, P&O Cruises which is owned by Carnival Corp, announced the homeport for its newest vessel, Arvia. The LNG mega-ship is currently under construction in Germany.
The vessel will be sailing from the Caribbean islands of Barbados and Antigua on 7-day and 14-day voyages. At the same time, 22-day voyages from and to Southampton will also be available.
Designed For The Sun
While sister ship Iona has been designed with the British Isles and Northern Europe in mind, Arvia will see design features specifically thought out to take full advantage of the sunshine and views of the Caribbean.
According to P&O President and CEO Paul Ludlow, the Caribbean islands will be the ideal backdrop for the stunning new LNG powered vessel:
“The Caribbean is the optimal maiden season destination for Arvia, a ship where every facet, including unique retractable roof SkyDome and Altitude Skywalk high ropes, is designed to provide exceptional views of the ocean, seashore, and surrounding destinations.
“From the very initial concept, Arvia has been created to be the epitome of a sunshine resort, developed to be an ideal way to enjoy the Caribbean’s turquoise waters and white sandy beaches like never before.”
New Ship- New Destination
The Islands of Antigua and Barbados will be new turn-around ports for the UK’s most popular cruise line. After its launch in December 2022, the vessel will be in the Caribbean for its entire maiden season. The fly-cruise itineraries will include several well-known Caribbean Islands, but also a new port.
The new Caribbean itineraries will feature La Romana in the Dominican Republic – a maiden port of call for P&O Cruises. The other ports of call include the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao; and Eastern Caribbean ports of call Martinique, St Kitts, St Lucia, and St Maarten.
P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said:
“Arvia holidays, alongside the rest of our winter 2022 season, will be on sale very shortly. We cannot wait to bring our newest ship to our glorious home port of Barbados and also to Antigua, which will be a first-time turn-around port for P&O Cruises.”
Also Read: New Features Revealed for New Excel-Class Cruise Ship
About Arvia
Arvia, which means from the seashore, will come in at 184,700 gross tons and carry 5,200 passengers. The second excellence class vessel will have an identical design to her sister ship Iona.
Under construction at the Meyer Werft in Germany, Arvia will be P&O Cruises’ newest ship to launch since the line welcomed P&O Iona just last year. The vessels are built on the same backbone as Carnival’s Mardi Gras, Costa’s Smeralda, and AIDAnova.
Arvia’s arrival will bring the P&O UK fleet to a total of seven vessels:
- Arcadia– 1952 passengers- 83,781 GT
- Aurora– 1878 passenger- 76,152 GT
- Azura– 3096 passengers- 115,000 GT
- Brittania– 3647 passengers- 143,730 GT
- Ventura– 3192 passenger- 116,017 GT
- Iona & Arvia– 5200 passengers- Over 180,000 GT
It has been good news all around for P&O UK lately. With more and more details coming out about Arvia in the last few weeks, a restart for the UK’s domestic cruise industry in just over two months, and the maiden voyage of Iona coming ever closer, the tide seems to be turning for at least one of Carnivals brands.
