The Commodore of the global P&O Cruises' fleet, Steve Burgoine, is in Australia for another month completing a three-month tour of duty experiencing one of the world's fastest growing cruise markets.
Currently Master of the Sydney-based superliner Pacific Jewel, Commodore Burgoine will also spend time on Pacific Dawn and Pacific Sun prior to returning to the UK in June.
It is the first time the P&O Cruises Commodore has sailed on the Australian fleet, which will expand to four vessels when Pacific Pearl is launched in December with a glittering naming ceremony in Auckland.
Commodore Burgoine's time on Pacific Jewel has given him an insight into the dynamics of the rapidly expanding cruise market in Australia and New Zealand.
“I have really enjoyed experiencing the energy of the Australian cruise industry,” Commodore Burgoine said. “The passion for cruise holidays among Pacific Jewel's passengers leaves me in no doubt why this market is expanding so rapidly.”
As Commodore of the P&O UK and P&O Australia fleets, Steve Burgoine provides a strategic link between the fleets‟ Captains and their respective head offices. He has been Commodore of the global P&O Cruises‟ fleet for more than three years.
“With the market growing so quickly in Australia, it was thought high time for me to spend some time here as the Commodore of the global P&O Cruises‟ fleet,” Commodore Burgoine said.
“In my role, I look after the interests of all the ships and the Captains, as a spokesman for them, if you like, to feed their information back to the office so we all work as one big team. It's a matter of helping out where I can as this market goes from strength to strength.”
This is one of Commodore Burgoine's longest periods in Australia but he has been no stranger to this region during a 44-year career. When he first visited Sydney in 1967, ships were still carrying so called "Ten Pound Poms" in Australia's post war immigration boom.
“The last time I was here for any length of time was in the 1970s on the old Oriana and I was here again last year when we brought Arcadia to Australia,” Commodore Burgoine said.
“I know there has always been a passion for cruising in Australia. It wasn't quite as busy in the 1970s but all of that has changed and it has well and truly come back. So many people want to go cruising and at P&O Cruises we have the ships and the know-how to do it properly.”
Commodore Burgoine is clearly enjoying his time as Master of Pacific Jewel and has introduced an innovation he helped make a feature on the UK-based ships. On Pacific Jewel, it is called the "PJ Showcase" where passengers can ask the ship's officers and departmental heads about the ship's technical operations.
“I have really enjoyed giving our passengers an insight into what happens behind-the-scenes on board a superliner,” Commodore Burgoine said.