Glamorous 'launch' for Pacific Pearl
They were all there on Pacific Pearl last night – politicians, supercity worthies, media celebs, including those you’ll see in the Sunday paper gossip pages, and even select travel industry bods. They were on board to party at the official naming of the first superliner to ever home port here.
Wearing “summer chic”, they gathered on the top deck around the pools, drinking fancy cocktails and nibbling on the finest hors d’oeuvres, impeccably served to showcase the ship’s upscale offerings and capabilities.
P&O’s wharf-side Pacific Island Christmas Celebration party action was playing on the Big Screen and the ship’s Pacific Cirque performers showed their skills on the trapeze. Pacific Pearl officers in dress uniform lined the stairs on either side of the stage as Carnival Australia CEO Ann Sherry spoke of the huge task undertaken by 1800 workers to convert and
refurbish the ship in the weeks prior to its arrival in Auckland. She said P&O Cruises was very excited to bring their newest superliner to Auckland. “It really is a mark of how much the cruise industry has grown in this country over the past few years,” she added.
Godmother Barbara Kendall MBE then wowed the crowd by naming the ship, all the while spotlit seated high above the deck on a trapeze. The ship’s fog horn let loose a mighty blast and the fireworks burst above the harbour. The hundreds of guests were then free to roam the ship, and all seemed mightily impressed.
