Key shareholders in P&O Princess Cruises have signalled that they will delay a shareholder vote to approve its merger with Royal Caribbean Cruises after Carnival increased its hostile bid for Princess to £3.8bn (€6.2bn).

Princess directors have repeatedly rebuffed calls from Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator, to engage in merger talks. Princess has said that previous offers from Carnival have not been &quotsuperior in both value and deliverability&quot to their merger agreement with Caribbean, the world's second largest cruise operator.