Azamara Pursuit – a sister ship to Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest – will be delivered in March 2018.

The ship’s décor will be “updated to match the brand’s upmarket position”, Azamara said, similar to the renovations recently introduced on Journey and Quest.

“We are pleased to expand our portfolio by 50%, allowing us to visit even more regions of the world through the acquisition of this sister ship,” said Larry Pimentel, president and chief executive of Azamara Club Cruises.

“Our loyal guests and travel partners have asked for this expansion for a long time; we are very pleased to deliver this to them.”

Information about deployment and itineraries for Azamara Pursuit will be available in October.

Elsewhere, P&O Cruises confirmed today that it has signed contracts for the sale of its 30,277-ton ship Adonia.

The sale will be completed in March 2018 and Adonia’s last cruise as a P&O Cruises ship will be D804 leaving Barbados on February 23 and ending in Barbados on March 9, 2018.

Guests booked on any Adonia cruises after March 2018 will be contacted directly either by P&O Cruises or their travel agent.

P&O Cruises senior vice-president Paul Ludlow said: “With almost six months until Adonia leaves the fleet, we will ensure that each of the cruises in her final season with us are extra special and celebratory.”

An Azamara spokesperson said she could not confirm where the new ship was coming from at this time, but confirmed it was an 8th R Class.