An electrical fault on P&O Cruises’ ship Azura has forced the company to cut short its next cruise following a 24-hour delay to its current sailing.
The problem occurred on the ship’s current cruise in Norway, which resulted in the ship missing a call into Stavanger and docking in Bergen for repairs.
The company blamed a technical issue with the ship’s electrics for an unscheduled overnight stay in Flam.
Azura is now due to arrive back into Southampton tomorrow – a day later than scheduled – and will leave two days late on its next itinerary to the Mediterranean on Sunday.
The sailing has been cut from 14 to 12 nights with calls into Cadiz and Naples dropped from the itinerary.
The cruise line, which has been providing updates on the situation on its Facebook page, said: “Azura has now left Bergen to return to Southampton where she will arrive on Saturday, where guests on the current cruise will be able to disembark.
“As there are already four ships scheduled to be in Southampton on Saturday the port is completely full so unfortunately, those passengers joining Azura will start their cruise on Sunday.
“We know that there are a number of wedding parties and other celebrations planned for Azura’s next cruise and we are working hard to ensure that we make this a fantastic cruise for everyone.”
Various compensation packages are understood to have been offered to passengers together with refunds for cancelled excursions in Cadiz and Naples.