Catching up with an old friend.

It’s been several months now since that last cruise disembarked and Ocean village is nothing more than a distant, but fond, memory.

For those of you who are clued up on your cruise news you’ll know that the Ocean village ships were ‘shipped off’ (pun intended), to P&O Australia to be rebranded, refurbished and then enjoy some sun in the Southern climes.
I thought it might be nice today to catch up with the old brand and see what the ships are up to.

P&O Australia have renamed them the Pacific Pearl and the Pacific Jewel and they have doubled in size the existing fleet of P&O Australia, joining the Pacific Dawn and Sun.

Ann Sherry, CEO of Carnival Australia said,

“It was a difficult decision but we chose Pacific Pearl as the name of our next superliner because it evokes these wonderful and tropical images of the places we visit.
Pearls are such beautiful jewels and are also synonymous with Australia and this region so it seemed a good fit for this next step in the growth of our business.
We know Pacific Pearl, along with her sister Pacific Jewel, will prove winners with Australians and New Zealanders alike given their superb features and their great size."

They’re just about finishing their refurbs now so I had a look at an upcoming itinerary for the Pacific Pearl to see what kind of cruises she would be offering;
Leaving Sydney she’ll sail to the Isle of Pines; Mystery Island; Villa; Luganville; Walla, Pentecost; Noumea before sailing back to Sydney.
Ignoring the fact that some of those destinations sound like they’ve been taken out of a Scooby Doo cartoon, (they’re all islands off the East Coast of Australia), it actually sounds a really interesting itinerary, better than the Western Med anyway.

So, are Ocean Village gone and forgotten or do people still have fond memories of them?
Who are you booking with now that they are gone?
And what do you think to them joining P&O Australia?
Let me know back here.

Happy Cruising.