More P&O ships in Bris

P&O Cruises will ramp up its Brisbane deployment, revealing in its 2018/19 brochure it will base a record three ships in the city for the first time in 2018.

Pacific Jewel will sail from the Queensland capital from SepNov 2018 and Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria will cruise from the destination year-round.

The move will see a total of 126 departures from Brisbane in 2018 - an 18% increase on 2017.

In addition, a record 12 P&O Cruises sailings will depart from South Australia during the year.

P&O Cruises president Sture Myrmell said Queensland was “made for cruising”.

“Not only is it the second biggest source of cruise passengers in the country, it offers more cruise destinations than any other state, with our ships sailing to 10 ports along the coastline,” he said.

MEANWHILE, P&O revealed details of the dining offering on its new ship, Pacific Explorer which will debut in Sydney in Jun.

The line will build on its partnership with celebrity chef Luke Mangan and launch a new poolside grill called Luke’s, which Myrmell said would “offer a modern, relaxed setting, providing a great backdrop for some seriously delicious gourmet burgers – including Luke’s Chicken Confidential burger”.

P&O Cruises has also revealed a new partnership with Melbourne pizza chef Johnny Di Francesco, who will open a new pizzeria, 400 Gradi on the ship.

The 2018/19 program includes 180 cruises featuring 39 threenight roundtrip cruises from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide or Auckland and more than 40 different cruises to the Pacific Islands.