Very much British cruise line with more than 150 years old tradition in passenger vessels operation. Offering worldwide no repeating itineraries with vast number of ports. The company is catering mostly to British passengers, plus a considerable amount of Americans, Australians and New Zealanders, basically people loyal to traditional British cruising and manners. That fact should be considered by potential crew members, as well.  

Arthur Anderson, the founder of U.K.-based P&O Cruises, came up with the concept of cruising for pleasure about 170 years ago. The company began in the 1880s as a combination of Orient Line and North of Scotland, and was later taken over by P&O. In 1904, P&O offered its its inaugural cruise holiday tour - a first class-only cruise with shore excursions organized by Thomas Cook. The company thrived between the World Wars and beyond. Like most cruise lines, however, after the onset of the jet liner - which basically trumped the need for passengers to make a crossing in order to travel between the U.S. and Europe (and beyond) - P&O was forced to adapt. P&O abolished the multi-class system on its ships. It acquired Los Angeles-based Princess Cruises in 1974 and Sitmar Cruises in 1988, which P&O chose to merge. Even more expansion followed for its Princess Cruises subsidiary. The mid-1990s marked a time of radical change for P&O. The company introduced Oriana, its first purpose-built modern cruise ship (as opposed to ocean liner), followed by the near-identical Aurora. P&O Cruises benefited from sister cruise line Princess Cruises a few years later when that line's Sea Princess and Ocean Princess were transferred; they became known as Adonia and Oceana, respectively. In October 2000, the company underwent another major change: P&O's parent company was acquired by Carnival Corporation and is now known as P&O Princess Cruises. Beyond P&O Princess U.K., other cruise lines falling under the parent company's umbrella include P&O Cruises Australia; Swan Hellenic Cruises; Ocean Village Cruises; and the German A'Rosa Cruises. An appropriate short description of the company would be something like: old money plus new money and a lot of both...

Cruise ships and itineraries:

Azura: Bermuda registered, inauguration 2010, 116,000 gross tons, 3,092 passengers, 1,230 crew members. Itineraries: Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Baltic, Norwegian Fjords, Transatlantic/Caribbean out of Southampton, UK; Caribbean out of Barbados; Caribbean/Transatlantic out of Barbados.
Ventura: Bermuda registered, build 2008, 113,000 gross tons, 3,092 passengers, 1,230 crew members. Itineraries: Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Baltic, Norwegian Fjords, Transatlantic/Caribbean out of Southampton, UK; Caribbean out of Barbados and New Orleans, LA; Caribbean/Transatlantic out of Barbados.
Arcadia: Bermuda registered, built 2004, 86,799 gross tons, 1.952 passengers, 976 crew members. Itineraries: Transatlantic/Caribbean, Transatlantic/USA/Canada, Northern Europe/Iceland/Greenland, Baltic, Western Mediterranean, Canary Islands, out of Southampton, UK;
Aurora: Bermuda registered, built 2000, 76,152 gross tons, 1,878 passengers, 850 crew members. Itineraries: Mediterranean, Mediterranean/Black Sea, Canary Islands, Mediterranean/Middle East/India/Southeast Asia/Far East/ Australia out of Southampton, UK, Dubai, UAE, Mumbai, India; Far East and Australia out of Singapore and Hong Kong; Far East/ Australia/Southeast Asia/Indian Ocean/Africa out of Hong Kong; Africa out of Cape Town, RSA; Norwegian Fjords and Iceland, Baltic out of Southampton, UK; Caribbean, USA/Canada out of Southampton, UK; South America/Pacific/Australia out of Southampton, UK; South America/South Pacific/Australia out of Buenos Aires, Argentina and Valparaiso, Chile; Australia/New Zealand/ Hawaii out of Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand; Mexican Riviera/Panama Canal/Caribbean/Transatlantic out of San Fransisco, CA.
Oceana (formerly Ocean Princess): Bermuda registered, built 2000, 77,499 gross tons, 2,016 passengers, 889 crew members. Itineraries: Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Transatlantic/Caribbean out of Southampton, UK; Caribbean out of Barbados and Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale), FL; Caribbean/Panama Canal out of Barbados and Acapulco, Mexico; Caribbean/Transatlantic out of Barbados.
Oriana: Bermuda registered, built 1994, 69,153 gross tons, 1,822 passengers, 794 crew members. Itineraries: Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Transatlantic/Caribbean out of Southampton, UK; World cruise.
Artemis (Ex-Royal Princess): Bermuda registered, built 1984, 44,348 gross tons, 1.196 passengers, 537 crew members. Itineraries: Mediterranean, Canary Islands, Transatlantic/Caribbean/Norwegian Fjords, Baltic, Iceland, Asia/Far East out of Southampton, UK; Middle East/Asia/Far East out of Dubai, UAE, Mumbai, India, Singapore and Hong Kong; Africa out of Cape Town, RSA; Caribbean out of Barbados; Caribbean/Panama Canal out of Barbados, Aruba and Acapulco, Mexico; Caribbean/Amazon out of Barbados;