P&O Cruises, the Sydney based contemporary market unit in Carnival Corporation & plc group, received 84% more bookings in the first week of January than in the same period last year, the company said in a statement.

“In addition, Thursday 7 January was its biggest booking day ever, with holidaymakers keen to make the most of the cruise line’s latest 24-hour sale,” the company added.

P&O Cruises Australia President Sture Myrmell said the cruise line’s latest ships, Pacific Eden and Pacific Aria, were in hot demand, with past guests and new cruisers all eager to get onboard and experience the new look and feel of P&O’s product.

“We’ve been selling our expanded five-ship fleet for more than 12 months, but the bookings for Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden are really pouring in now that the ships are here and people can see for themselves how impressive they are,”Mrymell said.

The two ships were transferred from sister company Holland America Line and underwent a refit before they were reintroduced in Australia.

“In 2016, P&O will welcome more than 420,000 passengers onboard our five ships – reinforcing our position as Australia’s leading home cruise brand. Our 2016 inventory is filling up fast, so travellers should move quickly if they want to cruise this year.”

Myrmell said the cruise line had plenty more excitement in store for its agent partners and guests. “We can’t wait to take the next steps in the evolution of our brand with the addition of Pacific Explorer next year and our brand new ship in 2019, as well as the debut of a raft of new ports and itineraries. There’s going to be lots of great cruise news to share over the coming months.”