Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) the UK based destination focused cruise line, has chosen the names for the two ships it has acquired from P&O Cruises Australia.

The present day Pacific Dawn, which will be operated on the UK market from the spring of 2021, will be called Amy Johnson to honour an aviator.

“Amy Johnson (1903-1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. In 1931, aged just 27, Johnson set off from Croydon, Surrey to Darwin, Northern Territory,” the company said in a statement.

She went on to set many records including; the first woman to fly from London to Moscow in one day, setting record flying times from Britain to Japan and Cape Town and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club. During WWII, Johnson joined the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA), CMV continued.

Pacific Aria , which will sail under the TransOcean Kreuzfahrten brand on the German market,  will be renamed, Ida Pfeiffer.

“Ida Pfeiffer (1797-1858) was an Austrian explorer, travel writer, and ethnographer. Aged 45, Pfeiffer set off on her own to the Holy Land with the aim of completing a pilgrimage. Future trips were funded through her writings.  She set off on ‘A Lady’s Voyage Round the World’ in 1846 travelling to South America, China, the South Sea Islands, India, Persia, Russia, Turkey, Greece and Italy. The first journey, and its book, was such a success Pfeiffer undertook ‘A Lady’s Second Journey Round the World’ in 1851 returning in 1855,” CMV said.