Both Oriana and Oceana will use Southampton as a home base throughout the winter of 2012/13, thereby effectively doubling P&O Cruises’ capacity in the region. Cruises will vary between two and 35 nights in duration.

This will be the second year the Oceana cruises from Southampton, but the first time she offers cruise lovers a choice of two short cruise holidays during the winter season: one over Christmas and one over New Year.

In total Oriana will depart on seven cruises from Southampton next winter, including an 11-day Baltic cruise departing in December and visiting evergreen Christmas market destinations such as Hamburg and Copenhagen. In January she will leave on a 13-day cruise to the Canary Islands that will dock at exciting ports such as Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Casablanca (in Morocco).

Carlow Marlow, the Managing Director of P&O Cruises, said “P&O Cruises already offers the greatest choice of ex-UK cruises and next winter will have 39 roundtrip cruises from Southampton from October to April.”

She added that an increasing number of people loved winter cruising, but they do not always like the idea of a fly-cruise package. The additional cruises from Southampton were created with them in mind.

If a mere 35-night cruise is too much of a mini-holiday for you, P&O Cruises also offers no less than four world cruises during the winter months between January and April 2012 – all departing from Southampton. This includes Azura’s inaugural world cruise.