P&O Cruises 175 Years - The Grand Event.

Last Tuesday was a very busy day on Southampton Water.  There were seven cruise ships in port, a vintage paddle steamer, a steamship, a tall ship, ferry boats, tug boats, sightseeing boats, pleasure boats, yachts, cargo ships and a state-of-the-art warship.  For some it was business as usual, but most were there to mark the 175th Anniversary of P&O Cruises, The Grand Event 03 July 2012, bringing together the entire fleet of seven ships to their home port of Southampton for a day of celebrations.

Not that I could see the activities on board each of the seven ships, but I did hear tell of fabulous lunches, famous ballerinas, royalty, and some 30,000 people embarking and disembarking, swelling the population of Southampton almost to bursting.  It is true that Darcey Bussell greeted the fleet as they arrived and that HRH The Princess Royal reviewed the fleet and took the salute as they left.  It's also true that it was a very wet day in Southampton and the promised flypast of a seven-plane formation of the RAF Red Arrows was cancelled, due to the poor visibility and low cloud cover.

Without a doubt, it was a real thrill to see all those ships and, despite the mist and persistent rain, lots of people turned out with their umbrellas and waterproofs to watch as the seven ships left dock and processed down Southampton Water to a volley of fireworks and a cacophony of ships whistles.  I even managed to grab a few interesting photos throughout the day.  The picture at the top gives a feel for the smoky splendour of ships, water-spray and sparkling fireworks on Southampton Water, Hampshire, at 19:14 on Tuesday 3rd July 2012.  The picture at the bottom gives a close-up view of Ventura joining the procession at 18:41 on the same day.

To see more of my photos of The Grand Event, click on the link below.

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/26435138735/oceana-adonia-ventura-arcadia-aurora-oriana

To visit The Grand Event P&O website, click on the link below.

http://175.pocruises.com/celebrate.htm

NB: The list of big ships reads something like this: Oceana, Adonia, Azura, Oriana, Aurora, Arcadia and Ventura (the seven P&O ships); paddle steamer Balmoral; steam ship Shieldhall; tall ship Tenacious; air defence destroyer HMS Dragon; Trinity House flagship Patricia.