Work has started on P&O’ Cruises new superliner Azura, which is due to come into operation in 2010.
The name of the new ship, one of the two largest ever built for P&O Cruises, was announced at the keel-laying ceremony at the Monfalcone shipyard of Fincantieri in Italy.
Azura will cater for 3,100 passengers and have 15 public decks, 11 restaurants, five boutiques, four swimming pools, two lounges and more than 900 private balconies. Its maiden voyage will be in late spring in 2010, with further details announced early next year.
The keel-laying involved placing a section of the ship’s hull in dry dock. Once built, the ship will take to water for its ‘float out’ in summer 2009.
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