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Queen Elizabeth names P&O line’s luxury cruise ship Britannia in England

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Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday officially named the Britannia, the newest luxury ship in the British-based P&O Cruises fleet. Prince Philip also attended the ceremony on the docks in Southampton, England.

The Britannia bears a union jack design on its bow and takes the name of the queen’s former royal yacht, which was decommissioned in 1997, the BBC reports.

During the festivities, the queen, 88, was given a tour of the ship that holds 3,657 passengers and has 15 passenger decks. It will sail to the fjords of Norway, the Canary Islands and the Baltic Sea during its maiden year and also offer shorter “round-Britain” cruises too.

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P&O Cruises is owned by Carnival Corp., which also owns Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa, Princess Cruises, Holland America, AIDA Cruises, Cunard, Seabourn and P&O Australia.

Next up from the corporation comes the AIDAprima, which is scheduled to launch in fall, according to a statement from Carnival Corp.

The company says it has added 30 new ships to its global fleet since 2007.

The AIDAprima, which holds 3,300 passengers, is scheduled to launch in the fall. It will start service with a 50-day sailing from Yokohama, Japan, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. AIDAprima will homeport in Hamburg, Germany, starting in spring 2016.

So what else is Carnival Corp. working on ship-wise?

In the next three years, Holland America, Carnival and Seabourn will each add two ships, and Princess will add one. On deck for 2016: the Carnival Vista, which will be the largest in the fleet, and the ms Koningsdam for Holland America.

Next year the AIDAprima will gain a sister ship, and Seabourn will debut it biggest and newest luxury ship. Princess also is building a new ship scheduled to debut in 2017.

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