Arcadia History

• The name Arcadia is woven into the history of the cruise industry. Four P&O ships have carried the name during the past 130 years, from the era of steamers through to the superliners of the 21st century.
• The first Arcadia was launched by P&O on 17 December 1887 to coincide with Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. Built at a cost of £186,216, it was one of four new steamers built for the company’s premier Royal Mail service – Victoria, Britannia, Oceania and Arcadia.
• At that time, vessels carrying the mail also carried passengers. The first Arcadia was 6,603 gross tonnes and carried 250 First and 159 Second Class passengers. She made 45 return voyages to Australia until she was retired in 1915.
• The second Arcadia was launched in 1953 and was beloved by many Australians, who sailed on her either as ‘Ten Pound Poms’, travellers or cruise passengers. The ‘Ten Pound Pom’ scheme was one of the greatest planned migrations of the 20th century and saw more than one million Britons migrate to Australia in the 1950s and 60s.
• In her 25 years of sailing, the second Arcadia carried 430,000 passengers and steamed 2.5 million miles. Built at a cost of £6.7 million, she was 29,734 gross tonnes and carried 670 First and 735 Tourist Class passengers.
• In response to changing social standards the second Arcadia was refitted in 1973 to carry 1350 passengers in one class only.
• In 1975 Arcadia became the first P&O ship to be based permanently in Australia, sailing on 117 cruises from Sydney before leaving the line’s fleet in 1978.
• In 1997, P&O Cruises UK acquired Sea Princess, which it renamed Arcadia. At 63,000 tonnes she carried 1600 passengers and operated under the name Arcadia until 2003 when she left the fleet.
• When P&O cruises launched a gleaming new superliner in 2005 it seemed natural that this vessel should become the fourth Arcadia. Built by the famous Fincantieri shipyard at a cost of £200 million, the newest Arcadia is 83,781 gross tonnes and carries 1950 passengers.
• Tailor made for couples, the child-free ship boasts 11 passenger decks – a far cry from the three decks and coal-fired engines of the first Arcadia way back in 1887.
• Arcadia joins two other P&O Cruises’ superliners on the 2009 world voyage circuit, Aurora and Oriana, with all three visiting Australia during February and March this year.

Images courtesy of Rob Henderson/Doug Cremer Heritage Collection

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