Feb 28 2015
Her Majesty The Queen To Name P&O Cruises Britannia
By CruiseMiss
<p><br></p><div class="post-entry" style="border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);"><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><a data-cke-saved-href="https://cruisemiss.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/britanniacookeryschool.jpg" href="https://cruisemiss.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/britanniacookeryschool.jpg" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 102, 204); text-decoration: none;"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-6486" data-cke-saved-src="https://cruisemiss.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/britanniacookeryschool.jpg?w=605&h=357" src="https://cruisemiss.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/britanniacookeryschool.jpg?w=605&h=357" alt="BritanniaCookerySchool" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 5px auto; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; height: auto; max-width: 100%; display: block;"></a></p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">I think we all knew it was coming, but today P&O Cruises has finally announced that Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, will name the new P&O Cruises vessel <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannia</em> at Ocean Terminal, Southampton, SO14 3QN, on Tuesday March 10, 2015.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">The naming will be a milestone in British maritime history and will be an event of great national interest.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">The biggest ship designed exclusively for Britain, <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannia</em> is P&O Cruises’ latest “modern classic”, heralding a new era of holiday choice. Chief amongst her features are her restaurants, bars and cafes, with menus and culinary experiences created by P&O Cruises’ ‘Food Heroes; James Martin, Marco Pierre White, Atul Kochhar, Eric Lanlard, wine expert Olly Smith and cheese expert Charlie Turnbull. In the new Cookery Club, a 24 person state-of-the-art cookery school, these celebrity chefs and experts will demonstrate their culinary skills, and will be joined throughout this year by other famous chefs including Mary Berry CBE, Pierre Koffmann, Paul Rankin and Commendatore Antonio Carluccio OBE.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">The new Epicurean restaurant is a multi-sensory cooking experience with touches of molecular gastronomy to complement the more traditional dishes, while the Limelight Club will combine a supper club with contemporary entertainment. <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannia’s </em>bar highlights include the Great British Gin Menu with 20 artisan gins in the Crow’s Nest cocktail lounge and the Great British Beer Menu with 70 UK bottled beers, ales and ciders in Brodie’s pub.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannia</em>’s most outstanding design statement is reserved for her three-deck high atrium with illuminating Star Burst sculpture, and she also provides the largest British spa at sea, a state-of-the-art theatre with LED wall, four pools, gym, and a multi million pound art collection including a specially commissioned representation of the “Spirit of Modern Britain” from artist Johnny Bull.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">P&O Cruises will also uphold its celebration of all things British by selecting sparkling wine from the Wiston Estate Winery in Sussex for the bottle smash moment at the naming ceremony. A nebuchadnezzar of the quintessentially British Brut NV will be used for the ceremony itself while thousands of bottles of Brut NV and Rosé Vintage 2011 will be enjoyed during the various inaugural events that are scheduled to take place around the launch.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Previous Royal Launches</span></p><ul style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 1.5em 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2em; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HRH The Duchess of York (later HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) launched<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Strathmore</em> on April 4, 1935.</li><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HRH Princess Alexandra launched the first <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oriana</em> on November 3, 1959.</li><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HM The Queen named the second <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oriana</em> on April 6, 1995.</li><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HRH The Princess Royal named <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Aurora</em> on April 27, 2000.</li><li style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">HRH The Princess Royal and her daughter Miss Zara Phillips named <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oceana</em> and <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Adonia</em>on May 21, 2003.</li></ul><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannia</span></p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">There have been two previous <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannias</em> in P&O history. The first entered service in 1835 for P&O’s predecessor company, The General Steam Navigation Co. To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of both Queen Victoria and P&O itself, the company built the Jubilee Class of ships which consisted of the largest and grandest steamers (6,000 tons): <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Victoria, Britannia, Arcadia </em>and<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oceana</em>. This second <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannia</em> entered service in 1887 and was built in Greenock. The Jubilee class ships carried 250 first-class passengers and 160 second-class passengers and had a cargo capacity of approximately 4,000 tons. Winston Churchill sailed on <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Britannia</em> in 1888 to Bombay with his hussar regiment before going on to fight on the North West Frontier.</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">There are just a few days until Britannia reaches the UK for the very first time – I am incredibly excited to be a part of this incredible event!</p><p style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 1.6em 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">Info courtesy of P&O Cruises</p></div><p></p>