All aboard to salute the P&O shipping spectacular "A lot of people don't even know what the P and O stand for," says Sassoli-Walker. "Peninsular and Oriental," he explains, "were the first routes the ships took when they were awarded contracts to deliver the Royal Mail [to the Iberian Peninsula and Egypt]." When P&O, then the Peninsular Steam Navigation company, was founded by Scottish sailor Arthur Anderson and ship broker Brodie McGhie Willcox in London in 1837, it was a trade fleet, carrying everything from post to tea leaves to and from Britain. In 1844, in a bid to get more custom, the writer William Thackeray was invited on a trip around the Mediterranean in exchange for a magazine review - and "cruising" was born. "It was very much for the upper classes," says Poole. People were interested in sailing for pleasure, but you had to have money and time. P&O's first cruise ship, Vectis, was built in 1904, and after cruising was recommended in the British Medical Journal for its health benefits, thousands of people signed up to see the world. Anderson and Willcox ensured hearty meals, comfortable surroundings and Sunday church services. In 1926, the Viceroy of India became the first ship to have an indoor swimming pool, live entertainment and deck games. But P&O's history isn't solely one of glamour; its vessels played a part in British conflicts. Florence Nightingale travelled on Vectis during the Crimean War in 1854, and ships were lost in the two world wars. But it was the P&O ship Canberra's role in the Falklands that marked its grandest moment. Jan Bacon and Tina Watkins, then 23 and 31, were bar stewardesses on Canberra when it was requisitioned in 1982. They were among the 15 female members in a staff of 250 who volunteered to remain on board when the ship served as a recuperation centre for soldiers in San Carlos Bay, Argentina. "We didn't know we were going to war - we thought we were dropping off troops," remembers Bacon, who manages a restaurant on Aurora. Canberra also transported 8,000 prisoners of war to Argentina. "That was really eerie," recalls Watkins, who received a campaign service medal for her work. The ship returned to Southampton, where it was met by 30,000 cheering spectators. On board one of P&O's newest ships, war seems a world away. Aurora has its own spa, golfing area and Marco Pierre White restaurant. Its itineraries have names like "Mediterranean Magic" and "Caribbean Dream," and its passengers have an average age of 58. The company consistently reminds customers of its heritage. "We don't like to think of ourselves as floating resorts," Marlow says. P&O is more than just a fancy hotel on water. Sure enough, the ship is a museum of maritime memorabilia. There is a 19th-century compass in the Crow's Nest bar and plaques along a corridor marking ports where the Aurora has docked. But P&O is hardly stuck in the past: in 2015, the company plans to build its biggest (141,000-ton) cruise liner to date, the name of which will be announced next year. "The industry has learnt a lot from events like the Costa Concordia disaster," says Marlow. Cruising is a growth industry [with 1.65 million British passengers a year], because it offers value-for-money and quality. As we disembark Aurora, Sassoli-Walker has the last word. At the end of the day, it's just a lump of metal - but one with a very special past.