P&O Cruises’ MASSIVE MILESTONE!

P&O Cruises has just launched celebrations of the 90th anniversary of cruising at a history filled event hosted aboard the newly refurbished Pacific Encounter. The occasion marks 90 years of P&O offering scheduled cruises from Australian ports, with the first voyage taking place aboard the P&O ocean liner Strathaird. — Chapters: 00:00 P&O 90th Year of Cruising 00:10 The First P&O Cruises 01:04 P&O Experience Today 01:30 P&O experience 90 years ago 02:03 First circumnavigation cruise 02:30 Australia’s Favourite Cruise Brand 03:13 P&O Cruises today 03:26 Event on Pacific Encounter 04:09 Our Book & Outro — Learn More: 🚢 My Cunard History Website: https://www.chriscunard.com/ 📚 Buy my books: https://www.chrisframe.com.au/books 👕 Buy cruise merch: https://chrisframeofficial.Teemill.com/ 🎶 Listen to The Big Cruise Podcast: https://www.thebigcruisepodcast.com/ — About the event: Strathaird’s first Australian cruise sailed from Sydney to Brisbane and onward to Norfolk Island. It was so popular that it sold out in three days and demonstrated the significant desire for Australian pleasure cruising. While passengers were excited to see ports such as Brisbane and Norfolk Island on the first voyages, the ship was the real appeal; especially when the voyage was being booked on one of the famous Strath-sisters such as Strathaird and Strathnaver. In fact, it was so successful, that P&O undertook a further five cruises in that inaugural season, with voyages aboard Strathaird, Strathnaver, Moldavia, Narkunda and Maloja taking place throughout 1933. So, what was life on the early cruises like? Well, very different that’s for sure. Today we are used to cruises being all encompassing experiences where your every whim is catered for. There are teams of entertainment staff aboard each cruise ship to ensure passengers are kept entertained for the entire trip. Take P&O’s Pacific Encounter for example. She’s got two show lounges, a shipboard hotel, multiple restaurants, a spa, swimming pools and the on-deck Edge experience including zip lines, rope ladder climbing and the brand-new twin racer waterslides. Now it won’t come as a surprise to you that the first P&O cruises did not offer waterslides. But they also didn’t offer much of what is available today. After boat drill, on day one, passengers would be invited to nominate a committee of other passengers who were then tasked with developing an entertainment programme. The purser’s office would provide a few staff to help, but it was up to the travellers to arrange the actual events. Popular activities on the early cruises included egg and spoon relays, bucket and ball, as well as push the bottle. Despite the simple entertainment, the cruises were very popular and passenger demand increased. This was bolstered in 1934 when the P&O liner Cathay undertook a circumnavigation of Australia – the first P&O cruise of its kind, and something that pioneered Australian cruising travel even further. Over the decades, P&O Cruises has grown to become Australia’s leading cruise brand. The 1980s saw Oriana cruise here, as well as the beloved Fairstar which was unquestionably Australia’s favourite cruise ship. Fairstar was followed by Fair Princess which was in-turn replaced by Pacific Sky. By the 2000s the brand was introducing more and more cruise ships to sail locally – some names you may remember including Pacific Sun – the former Jubilee, Pacific Star – the former Tropicale, Pacific Dawn – the former Regal Princess, Pacific Pearl – the former Ocean Village, Pacific Jewel – the former Crown Princess, Pacific Eden – the former Statendam and Pacific Aria – the former Ryndam. Today the brand has three large ships – Pacific Encounter, Pacific Adventure and Pacific Explorer. These ships continue the P&O cruising tradition, sailing on pleasure voyages from Aussie ports to the South Pacific. Happy 90th Anniversary P&O Cruises, and here’s to the next 90! — Note: I was aboard Pacific Encounter as a paid media / history spokesperson, but I was not paid to make this video. — Image Support: - The Henderson & Cremer Collection used with permission. - Pacific Sun - CC BY SA 3.0 Saberwyn - License: https://bit.ly/3ZtYmbG (Video incorrectly notes 2.0 whereas the license is 3.0) - Arrow : Jesse Pinkman CC BY Attribution / The Noun Project - Circle: Jesse Pinkman CC BY Attribution / The Noun Project - Thumbnail: Pacific Encounter Brisbane / P&O Cruises Supplied. — #cruisenews #pocruises #pacificencounter #pacificexplorer #pacificadventure