A SECOND cruise ship has joined the Aurora anchored off the Bournemouth coast – because there is not enough room at Southampton.

Residents were thrilled to see the Arcadia sail into Poole Bay where her sister ship, the Aurora, has been since midweek.

The cruise ship market has taken a battering throughout the coronavirus crisis, as well as the private yacht charter business.

Yesterday, P&O Cruises – the company which operates both vessels – said: “Our home port of Southampton, unfortunately in the current climate, does not have berth availability for all our ships.

“We are consequently working with other UK ports and authorities to berth and anchor our ships with Arcadia and Aurora currently anchored off the coast of Bournemouth.”

A number people popped to the seafront for a glimpse of the ships.

The 84,781 tonne Arcadia normally has a crew 866.

It can carry up to 2,094 passengers and is 289.9 metres long – just short of three football pitches.

Features onboard include exterior glass-fronted lifts, an expensive art collection with 3,000 works of art, a health spa and a three tier theatre.

P&O Cruises has scrapped all sailings until October 15, effectively writing off the summer season.

Thousands of people are employed within the industry, many of them based along the south coast.

Paul Ludlow, the president of P&O Cruises, said previously: “As a business our operational focus is not when can we resume sailing, but how can we develop a comprehensive restart protocol that will keep everyone on board, our crew and guests, safe and well and still give our guests an amazing holiday?”

As reported on the Daily Echo website earlier this week, one of the world’s biggest super-yachts arrived off in Weymouth Bay.

It arrived in Southampton on June 5 after a week-long voyage from Barcelona and has now dropped anchor off Weymouth.

The 156-metre Dilbar is said to be worth an eye-watering $650million.

Meanwhile, Poole Harbour has proved a popular port for luxury charter superyachts during the pandemic.

Both the £92million Elandess and the £100million Here Comes the Sun have taken refuge there.

Poole Harbour Commissioners have confirmed more charter superyachts could soon be coming to Poole as well. The vessels coming to Poole have been at sea for weeks.