Was the Golden originally destined for P&O

[ar1950]

While disembarking from our Golden Cruise last fall I noticed something that made me wonder if the the Golden Princess was originally suppose to be a P&O ship. Near the bow under the first life boat there was the P&O logo in bas-relief style on the hull.

 

Just wondering.

[godawgs2012]

I think that until Carnival bought Princess, all of their ships carried the P&O logo and once they were bought from P&O they were painted over. I could be wrong however.

[Astro Flyer]

I think that until Carnival bought Princess, all of their ships carried the P&O logo and once they were bought from P&O they were painted over. I could be wrong however.

That's true...it was P&O Princess before Princess became part of Carnival Corporation & why the P&O is still there but not painted.

[Kamloops50]

P&O owned Princess before Carnival bought both lines .

[Colo Cruiser]

All Princess ships during that time were marked and owned by P&O.

Edited January 15, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[ar1950]

OK, that makes sense. Thanks to everyone for the answer.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

The sunburst on the ships is a carry over from P&O days

 

same with cap badges etc

 

yours Shogun

[Brisbane41]

Yes as said P&O were the owners. Originally they were part of P&O ports and ferries and demerged from them in 2000 to form P&O Princess Cruises. Not long later they were in talks with Royal Caribbean for a merger with them when there was a hostile take-over attempt by Carnival that resulted in the merger and formation of Carnival PLC with dual structured share-holder bodies on the London and New York Stock Exchange. They have Headquarters in Miami and Southampton.

 

P&O was a very successful and large cruise line acquiring many lines and ships. They took control of Sitmar and many Princess ships were originally to be Sitmar Cruise Line ships like the original Crown and Regal Princess. P&O formed Ocean Village, owned Swan Hellenic, owned P&O Australia and had quite a respectable cruise line.

 

Interestingly a lot of ships have been shared between P&O and Princess. An early version of the Sea Princess (1979) ended up with P&O as Victoria and has now been sold on, the Royal Princess (1984) became Artemis with P&O and is now sold on, There was also a fourth Sun class ship with Princess called the Ocean Princess from 2000 to 2002 that transferred to P&O and became Oceana and is still in service today. The current Sea Princess with Princess went to P&O between 2003 and 2004 and sailed as the Adonia before being returned to Princess and resuming its original name.

[J-D]

And the penultimate identity for the current P&O Adonia was the former Royal Princess. She was built as R Eight for Renaissance and later was Minerva II for Swan Hellenic before becoming Royal Princess and later Adonia.

 

Interesting that most if not all Princess ships built after the 2003 takeover by Carnival (as well as those built before) were built with the P&O sunburst symbol on the bow.

 

There is an interesting book by Roger Cartwright (2009), P&O Princess/The cruise ships, that summarizes the history of the various related companies and of the individual ships.

 

John

Edited January 24, 2015 by J-D

[Tinknock50]

Yes as said P&O were the owners. Originally they were part of P&O ports and ferries and demerged from them in 2000 to form P&O Princess Cruises. Not long later they were in talks with Royal Caribbean for a merger with them when there was a hostile take-over attempt by Carnival that resulted in the merger and formation of Carnival PLC with dual structured share-holder bodies on the London and New York Stock Exchange. They have Headquarters in Miami and Southampton.

 

P&O was a very successful and large cruise line acquiring many lines and ships. They took control of Sitmar and many Princess ships were originally to be Sitmar Cruise Line ships like the original Crown and Regal Princess. P&O formed Ocean Village, owned Swan Hellenic, owned P&O Australia and had quite a respectable cruise line.

 

Interestingly a lot of ships have been shared between P&O and Princess. An early version of the Sea Princess (1979) ended up with P&O as Victoria and has now been sold on, the Royal Princess (1984) became Artemis with P&O and is now sold on, There was also a fourth Sun class ship with Princess called the Ocean Princess from 2000 to 2002 that transferred to P&O and became Oceana and is still in service today. The current Sea Princess with Princess went to P&O between 2003 and 2004 and sailed as the Adonia before being returned to Princess and resuming its original name.

 

I found it interesting that P&O stands for Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. Established 1840. The name reflected their primary market at the time.

:)