In a surprise announcement, P&O Cruises Australia announced last week that Pacific Star has been sold to Pullmantur Cruises and will leave the fleet in March 2008.
This was a particular surprise because P&O is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc while Pullmantur is part of arch-rival Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Moreover, Carnival recently announced its intention to form a joint venture with Orizonia Corporacion, parent company of Iberojet Cruceros, Pullmantur’s main competition in Spain, buy 75% of Iberojet’s cruise business. So, in essence, Carnival has sold the ship to its future competition – something very unusual for the company.
To read the full press release from P&O Cruises Australia, see here.
