P&O BRITANNIA Registry

The new P&O ship BRITANNIA will be christened by the Queen, and she is also registered in Southampton. I wonder if this is temporary or permanent since all the other P&O ships are registered in Bermuda like Cunard? This means that weddings cannot be performed onboard BRITANNIA, which was the excuse for all the Cunard and P&O ships to be registered in Bermuda in the first place. It seems odd they would be ok with the newest and largest ship in the fleet to have a different registry, especially when you factor in the lost wedding revenue.

 

Anyway if a permanent change perhaps it will pave the way for Cunard registries to be reverted back to Southampton? Part of me does wonder if the registry was done to pacify the Queen who will christen the ship, then say a year or so down the line it will quietly change to Bermuda.

The new P&O ship BRITANNIA will be christened by the Queen, and she is also registered in Southampton. I wonder if this is temporary or permanent since all the other P&O ships are registered in Bermuda like Cunard?

Hi eroller,

I suspect it is temporary, given that the naming ceremony is taking place in Southampton... therefore a Southampton registered ship.

After a "decent interval" the registry will be brought into line with other ships in the P&O fleet.

On the other hand, given the name is "Britannia", maybe they intend to keep this one ship "British"? Who knows, they may have firm plans to keep her UK registered now, plans that future management will change.

Part of me does wonder if the registry was done to pacify the Queen who will christen the ship, then say a year or so down the line it will quietly change to Bermuda.

Well she is Queen of Bermuda as well as Queen of the UK, so naming a Bermudian-registered ship, as Head of State of that country, would I imagine, would make no difference to her (other than she can't/won't travel to Bermuda to do the naming).

 

(I would imagine however that she will have mixed emotions on the day, surely it will bring back memories of the last ship she named "Britannia", and how visibly upset she was when that ship left her service... )

 

No-one would be more surprised than me, if Cunard were to re-register their ships in Southampton (and no-one more pleased if they did).

 

Best wishes.

Edited March 5, 2015 by pepperrn

All you need to do is look in the P&O brochure. If (/when) they are offering weddings on board the ship she will need a non-UK registry.

 

Nothing is done to "pacify" the Queen. That's not her shtick. Although there's no tradition of naming foreign registered vessels in the UK so if some z-list celebrity was doing the gig it would still be a UK registry on the day.

 

No-one would be more pleased than me if Cunard were to re-register their ships in Liverpool. The traditional home of the Cunard line until recent times.

 

.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Chunky2219
typo

As all the other ships in the fleet are registered in Bermuda I think the new ship will be also quite soon.

 

David.

As all the other ships in the fleet are registered in Bermuda I think the new ship will be also quite soon.

 

David.

 

Hi David. Question: when you say that "all the other ships in the fleet are registered in Bermuda" -to what fleet are you referring? -S.

Hi David. Question: when you say that "all the other ships in the fleet are registered in Bermuda" -to what fleet are you referring? -S.

 

P&O, I thought that's what we were discussing.

 

David.

Quote

(I would imagine however that she will have mixed emotions on the day, surely it will bring back memories of the last ship she named "Britannia", and how visibly upset she was when that ship left her service... )

 

 

If any mixed emotions the Queen will have on naming this new ship It will be one of shock & horror. :)

Although she will never show her emotions of course. ;)

The horror of seeing something that has a vast behind and looks like a block of apartments. Ugly in my opinion.

I saw the Queen at close quarters the day she signed off QE2 in Southampton June 2008. No emotion shown there either she is better trained than to show her feelings thank goodness. I am sure she will be emotional inside about the loss of her beloved Britannia and now the same name on a floating block of flats is enough the best of women weep. :D

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If any mixed emotions the Queen will have on naming this new ship It will be one of shock & horror. :)

Although she will never show her emotions of course. ;)

The horror of seeing something that has a vast behind and looks like a block of apartments. Ugly in my opinion.

I saw the Queen at close quarters the day she signed off QE2 in Southampton June 2008. No emotion shown there either she is better trained than to show her feelings thank goodness. I am sure she will be emotional inside about the loss of her beloved Britannia and now the same name on a floating block of flats is enough the best of women weep. :D

 

Same applies to some extent with QM2. No one could call her beautiful, particularly compared with her predecessor.

 

We must wait and wait and wait to see the new Cunard ship.

 

David.

Have a look at this site in the report it states that the ship is registered in Southampton for Tax reasons, But I think that will soon change as the line will have to pay the staff the E.U. rate of Pay which is more than the other ships in the fleet. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/11839240.PHOTOS__Britannia_sailing_up_Southampton_Water/

Same applies to some extent with QM2. No one could call her beautiful, particularly compared with her predecessor.

 

We must wait and wait and wait to see the new Cunard ship.

 

David.

 

Although the QM2 is not beautiful, to my eye she is far more attractive than any other ship built in recent times. The higher-level promenade deck which allows three decks of cabins below and therefore fewer decks above makes her look less like a block of flats. The tiered stern decks, almost never seen on new ships, certainly helps the appearance.

 

Does anyone know if the port of registry of the Queen Elizabeth was Southampton for the naming ceremony by our Queen in 2010?

Looks to me like they may peel "Southampton" off on Wednesday, that or they've had a change of heart !

According to this review by Cruise Critic UK Editor Adam Coulter, the ship is registered in Bermuda: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=759

..Does anyone know if the port of registry of the Queen Elizabeth was Southampton for the naming ceremony by our Queen in 2010?

 

Both QE and QV were registered in Southampton when they entered service. All three ship registrations changed to Hamilton by the end of 2011, the last being QM2 when she entered drydock that year.

According to this review by Cruise Critic UK Editor Adam Coulter, the ship is registered in Bermuda: http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=759

 

But then we have this report posted yesterday (March 6th) "...The ship will stay in Southampton – where it is registered [emphasis mine]– for the week, setting sail for a two-week Maiden cruise around the Mediterranean".

--By Adam Coulter, UK Editor" copied from http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6227&sr=1&sd=2

 

:confused:

Edited March 7, 2015 by Salacia

It is nothing to do with emotion or sentiment but how the UK tax authority will treat income from the new vessel. The Daily Echo article confirms this fact.

 

If Carnival UK operates under the tonnage tax rules, they may have ascertained that the new ship has to be registered in an EU member state to allow its revenue to be caught under the less onerous tonnage tax regime as opposed to the more draconian UK corporation tax.

 

Loss of wedding revenue will be insignificant compared to the tax advantage gained.

 

There are limits attached to non-EU registered tonnage in respect qualifying for tonnage tax, hence this situation appears almost the opposite to the reflagging of the Cunard ships in 2011. Registration of Britannia in Bermuda may have breached the limit.

 

Tonnage tax is complicated but it is reasonable to conclude that the flagging decision is merely revenue related. The positive spin off is that it no doubt helps the marketing of the vessel as a British flagged ship for Britain for the time being.

 

The confusion over reporting I would put down to a late decision over flagging.

 

M-AR

Edited March 7, 2015 by Mid-Atlantic Ridge

P&O, Saga, Fred Olsen, and Cruise and Maritime are the major cruise lines serving The UK market. All, except for the one ship register away fron the UK, mostly in the Bahamas.

 

I don't think there is a chance the just one ship will retain registry here.

 

David.

Both QE and QV were registered in Southampton when they entered service. All three ship registrations changed to Hamilton by the end of 2011, the last being QM2 when she entered drydock that year.

 

Thanks for refreshing my memory. I had forgotten the year of the switch in registry. I do recall there was much discussion about it - on here and elsewhere. Cunard removed all negative comments from their Facebook page. As soon as a posting was made it was zapped.

U.K. Big Enough for Two New Cruise Ships, Carnival CEO Says

 

There's plenty of room in the United Kingdom for two brand new cruise ships. That's the message Carnival Corp. CEO Arnold Donald had for attendees at a press conference in Southampton ahead of the naming of P&O's newest ship Britannia tomorrow.

 

"There may be some people who experiment with both [ships], but I don't see them in competition. Britannia is cruising for U.K. people, Anthem is not that."

 

He added: "We welcome [Anthem] to the fray."

 

Anthem of the Seas, fleetmate to Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Sea, launches in Southampton in just over five weeks' time, on April 20.

 

The two will sail similar itineraries before Anthem repositions from Southampton to its permanent home in Bayonne, New Jersey in October.

 

Both have a lot of offer, but focus on different aspects of the cruising experience. Where Anthem has an emphasis on activities such as bumper cars, a roller disco, simulated sky-diving and a 360-degree capsule on top of the ship, :rolleyes: :D :o

Britannia, by contrast, has a Cookery Club, a Supper Club and a TV Studio.

 

Despite being ultimately U.S.-owned and built in Italy, it is designed for the U.K. market. Giving even more of a U.K. connection, due to European tonnage tax laws, Britannia is registered in Southampton, one of the few P&O Cruises ships to be so – the majority of the fleet is registered in Bermuda.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=6232

Quote

"Despite being ultimately U.S.-owned and built in Italy, it is designed for the U.K. market. Giving even more of a U.K. connection, due to European tonnage tax laws, Britannia is registered in Southampton, one of the few P&O Cruises ships to be so – the majority of the fleet is registered in Bermuda."

 

I find it rather strange to mention tonnage laws and the requirement to register in Europe. The tonnage is some 11,000 gross tons less than QM2, yet she is registered in Hamilton. Interestingly the length of Britannia is 50 feet less than QM2, speed is only 22knots and power is 84,000 hp compared to QM2's 157,000hp, yet the press and even this website are calling it the largest ship in the British Cruise market. Or is the size of the ship now based on how many passengers can be crammed in (Britannia approx. 900 more).

There seems to be a lot of "mis-information about". Any of our more learned contributors able to elaborate?

yet the press and even this website are calling it the largest ship in the British Cruise market. ?

 

Because the Cunard fleet (if you can call three ships a fleet) are not regarded as in the British market.

 

David.

So what market is Cunard in?

I would have thought all three of their ships frequent Southampton more than any other port?

What dictates which "market" a ship or cruise line is actually a part of?:confused:

So what market is Cunard in?

I would have thought all three of their ships frequent Southampton more than any other port?

 

P&O, Saga, Fred Olsen are lines that operate in the British market. You need only look at the P&O forum on CC to see that posters are pretty well exclusively British.

 

Cunard on the other hand market world wide, UK, USA, China, Japan, Australasia. So they would more accurately be called an international line.

 

David.

Thanks David - I understand now! :)