New P&O Cruises ship Arvia will embark on its first summer sailings from Southampton to the Mediterranean in summer 2023.
The 5,200-passenger sister ship to Iona is due for delivery in December 2022 and will make its debut running Caribbean fly-cruises early the following year.
The LNG-powered newcomer to the fleet will then reposition to the UK to sail on 14-night itineraries from the company’s home port to up to six of the most popular ports in Italy, Spain and France. Itinerary choices include La Spezia, for Florence and Pisa, or overnight visits to Barcelona.
Arvia will then operate its first full season of Caribbean fly-cruises from home port Barbados between October 2023 until the end of March 2024.
Prices for 14-night Arvia cruises start at £999 per person for an inside cabin departing on April 30, 2023 to La Coruna, La Spezia, Marseille, Barcelona and Seville from Cádiz.
The details emerged as pre-registration opens today (Wednesday) for summer 2023 and winter 2023-24 cruises.
Launch booking offers include free places for third and fourth passengers, both adults and children, sharing the same cabin on selected departures.
Past passengers are being offered a 10% booking discount, while a 5% discount applies for new passengers.
Iona will return to resume seven-night cruises to the Norwegian fjords from Southampton in summer 2023 and operate to mainland Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands in winter.
Prices lead-in at £499 for a seven-night Iona sailing from Southampton to Stavanger, Olden, cruise by Innvikfjorden, cruise by Nordfjord, Ålesund and Haugesund in Norway.
Britannia will also offer seven-night summer Norwegian fjords cruises, a 14-night Baltic itinerary and 14-night western Med island cruises featuring either an overnight call in Palma or Palma and Ibiza. The ship will spend winter sailing 14-night fly-cruises from Barbados.
Azura will be based in Malta for summer 2023 running eastern and western Med fly-cruises and Tenerife for two alternating seven-night winter fly-cruises.
Ventura’s summer 2023 schedule includes Atlantic coast and Canary Islands cruises as well as short breaks to Amsterdam.
The ship will serve Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands in winter plus Caribbean cruises with some itineraries also visiting New Orleans.
A special five-night cruise to Amsterdam and Bruges, from Zeebrugge, will run to mark new year 2024.
Arcadia and Aurora will visit Norway, Russia, New York and the Greek islands in summer on itineraries designed to include lesser frequented destinations, including Grundafjordur in Iceland, Palermo in Sicily and Klaipeda in Lithuania.
Aurora will operate two 12-night Northern Lights winter itineraries with one of these trips taking place over Christmas 2023.
The ship will also offer a 65-night US, Caribbean and Central America cruise with an overnight call New Orleans plus a partial transit of the Panama Canal.
Arcadia embark on a 99-night world cruise on January 6, 2024, with ports including Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong and Singapore. An overnight call to Singapore has been added in addition to established overnight visits to Honolulu, Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai.
P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “This series of new cruise holidays is an exciting one, with our new ship Arvia, new destinations and new itineraries.
“Our guests have told us that anticipation and planning is a vital part of the booking process and we certainly hope we can give them something to look forward to within these new holidays.
“Each itinerary is carefully designed to provide the best sight-seeing, beach and culture on shore whilst maximizing time on board.
“New to cruise guests will also find appeal in our line-up and we are sure that Britannia’s new summer holidays to Ibiza, Palma and Sardinia will be very popular as well as Iona’s season in the magnificent Norwegian fjords.”