Azamara Pursuit will sail her maiden voyage from Southampton following UK trade's “unprecedented support”.
The former P&O Cruises’ Adonia ship is set to be refitted in Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast Ireland. It is the first time Royal Caribbean has chosen an UK shipyard for such a project.
This means that Pursuit’s first 4 voyages will "touch the UK" and confirms the previous announcement that the ship will be christened in Southampton this summer.
According to Azamara’s president and chief executive Larry Pimentel, Pursuit was currently 40% booked by British customers and the decisions to refurbish and launch the vessel from the British Isles was “history in the making on many levels” for Azamara.
This spring, Pursuit will go into wet dock under the care of MJM Group in the Northern Irish capital. Work is due to be finished by the end of July. In Belfast, Azamara Pursuit will be refitted to look “almost identical” to her sister ships Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest.
The maiden voyage of Pursuit will then depart from Southampton on August 1, instead of Barcelona as it was previously announced, and sail to 8 Norwegian destinations.
The Azamara Pursuit ship will later depart from Southampton for her "Iceland-intensive" cruise on August 13 ahead of a christening sailing on August 28.