Pacific Explorer’s birthday turns into a riot

It’s only been a year, but P&O’s Pacific Explorer is already an established part of Australia’s thriving cruise scene.

And as the ship with one of the most risqué shows at sea, what better way to celebrate a birthday than bring its shapely dancers aboard so they can jump out of a three-metre birthday cake. The dancers were from the Explorer’s revamped production show, Love Riot, which kicked off on Monday when she departed Sydney and sailed to the South Pacific. Love Riot is a cabaret-style performance more commonly found in a spiegeltent than on a cruise ship. The show was created by Australian director Scott Maidment, the brains behind Madonna’s Rebel Heart tour. “Since we launched Pacific Explorer 12 months ago, we’ve entertained nearly 25,000 guests with our signature Love Riot performance. “The hilarious and high-energy circus-style production has proved so popular that we wanted to celebrate the ship’s first birthday with an exciting new cut of the show and a new line-up of international artists. “Love Riot is like no other entertainment at sea and is more in keeping with the spectacular aerial artistry found in major festivals around the world. “We wanted to challenge the conventional production shows found on cruise ships and offer our guests a premium experience that would really get people talking,’’ said Sture Myrmell, P&O Cruises President. To mark Pacific Explorer’s first birthday, P&O is offering one lucky person and a guest the chance to win a three-night cruise. Visit www.pocruises.com.au before July 20. In the past year. Explorer has taken more than 137,000 Australians on 61 cruises to 28 destinations. The ship has also played host to more than 45 comedians who told 10,000 jokes during 9000 minutes of comedy, served 50,000 pizzas at the pizzeria and 40,000 burgers at Luke’s grill founded by celebrity chef Luke Mangan.