Princess Cruises vessel to transfer to P&O Australia fleet

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Carnival Australia has just announced changes to its Australia-based year-round fleet, which will see Princess Cruises offload its Dawn Princess vessel to P&O Cruises, with the move effective from May 2017.

The 2000-passenger Dawn Princess will become the sixth and largest vessel in the P&O Cruises Australian fleet. The news comes just over a month out from P&O taking delivery of its fourth and fifth ships Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden.

P&O Cruises senior vice president Sture Myrmell said Dawn Princess would be reflagged and renovated to take on the P&O product prior to its transfer to the fleet.

"This ship is a great addition to P&O Cruises’ fleet, with her larger size opening up opportunities for new onboard product and experiences," he added.

The gap created in the Princess inventory will be filled by Golden Princess, which will now remain in Australian waters throughout 2017. To make its debut in Australia this summer peak season, based in Melbourne and initially as a seasonal visitor, Golden Princess will join Sea Princess and Sun Princess in the line's locally based fleet on a year-round basis from May 2017.

"One of Golden Princess’ key sailings for the year will be a 75-night Circle Pacific itinerary taking holidaymakers on a roundtrip cruise from Australia to Asia, Alaska and America," Princess Cruises senior vice president Australa and New Zealand Stuart Allison said.