Residents of Sydney, Australia woke up to find not one, but five P&O ships in the harbor. The Pacific Dawn, Pacific Jewel and the Pacific Pearl as well as two new P&O ships, the Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria all joined up in the same location to welcome the two new ships into the fleet.
The two new P&O ships were christened by their godmothers popstar Jessica Mauboy and actor Kate Richie. After the ceremony the ships sounded their horns to a daytime firework. Both vessels were originally sailing for Holland America. They got an extensive refit in Singapore, with crews working non-stop for 11 days.
Sydney residents joined the celebrations in numbers with many sailing vessels and motor yachts joining the ship parade. “It’s normal for one ship to be in (Sydney Harbour) at a time, sometimes two but very rarely three; that just demonstrates how special today was.”, says Carnival Australia Events Director Greg Dehn. Both Holland America as well as P&O Cruises belong to Carnival Corporation.