The arrival of Britain's finest: Four cruise ships set to dock in Palma

Top four to visit Palma over next month

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The pride of Britain's cruise ships will be visiting Palma over the next month bringing thousands of passengers and giving retailers and bars and restaurants in the city a lift. The four vessels, two from Cunard and two from P&O, are all undertaking Mediterranean cruises.

The first to visit will be the Cunard liner, Queen Victoria, on July 6. Queen Victoria undertook her maiden voyage, a 10-day cruise to northern Europe, on 11 December 2007. Following this and a cruise to the Canary Islands, Queen Victoria embarked on her first world cruise, circumnavigating the globe in 107 days. The first leg of this voyage was a tandem crossing of the Atlantic with Queen Elizabeth 2, to New York City, where the two ships met Queen Mary 2 near the Statue of Liberty on 13 January 2008, with a celebratory fireworks display, marking the first time three Cunard "Queens" had been present in the same location. Cunard declared that this would also be the only time the three ships would ever meet, owing to the QE2's impending retirement from service in late 2008, though the ships did meet again in Southampton on 22 April 2008, resulting from a change in Queen Elizabeth 2's schedule.

The second visitor will be Britain's biggest cruise ship, the P&O liner, Arvia on July 11. The ship was built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in Papenburg and left the shipyard on 5 November 2022. She was delivered on 9 December 2022 to P&O Cruises. Construction officially started in February 2021.

At about 184,700 gross tonnage Arvia is the largest ship to be commissioned for the British cruise market. She was floated out on 27 August 2022. Arvia's normal operating capacity is 5,200 passengers even though her maximum capacity if 3rd and 4th berths are used is 6,685 passengers.

The third will be another Cunard liner, the Queen Anne, which will visit Palma on July 21. On 3 June 2024 at Liverpool, Queen Anne was christened by Ngunan Adamu, Natalie Haywood, Jayne Casey, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Melanie C. The city of Liverpool was also announced to be the godmother of the ship. Cunard broke with their usual traditions by not selecting an individual to name the ship, and in keeping the godparent a secret until the day of the ceremony.

And finally on July 24 the P&O liner, Britannia will visit to port of Palma. Britannia features 13 bars as well as 13 restaurants and cafés. TV chef James Martin developed "The Cookery Club" on board Britannia. The venue features celebrity chefs/cooks such as Mary Berry, James Tanner, Antonio Carluccio, Paul Rankin and Pierre Koffman. Eric Lanlard has his own patisserie, Market Café, in the ship's atrium. He also created an upgraded afternoon tea service in the Epicurean restaurant. Atul Kochhar, of the Michelin-starred Benares restaurant in London, supervises menus in Sindhu (as also seen on fleetmates Ventura and Azura). Marco Pierre White creates menu items served in the main restaurants on gala nights. The ship has a 936-seat theatre.

Britannia has a total of 1,837 cabins with 27 of those being single cabins (inside and balcony), in addition to conventional inside and balcony cabins; 64 of the cabins are designated as suites. For the first time on a P&O Cruises ship, all outside cabins have balconies. Britannia has four pools including a dedicated pool for teenagers, and the Oasis Spa.

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