Bad news for those who have booked a New Year’s cruise on board P&O Adonia: the company has decided to cancel the trip in order to carry out what has been described as “essential maintenance.”

The 30,000 passenger liner has been cruising the waters of the Mediterranean since the beginning of autumn. She was booked for an 11-day cruise from Naples to Southampton on the 3rd January.

Instead she will now spend that period in the dry dock at Falmouth in Cornwall. After the maintenance has been completed, she embarks on a marathon South American Adventure that will last no less than 88 days. The journey will take her through the Panama Canal and around Cape Horn.

Hundreds of passengers received the bad news today. They were given a full refund and offered a 25% discount on any future cruise reservation. It should not be too difficult for these unfortunate cruise lovers to find a replacement cruise at such short notice – several cruise lines still have tickets available on similar cruises.

A company spokesperson confirmed on Friday that “P&O Cruises needs to carry out some essential maintenance work to Adonia, and has therefore taken the regrettable but unavoidable decision to cancel a 10 night Western Mediterranean cruise departing January 3, 2012.”

She was unclear about the exact nature of the “essential maintenance” in question.

Adonia joined the P&O fleet eight months ago after spending two weeks in a Grand Bahama dry dock. She was built in 2001 for Renaissance Cruises and previously sailed under the names Royal Princess and Minerva II.