P&O Cruises has launched an advertising campaign to make clear that it is not related to the ferry company which sacked 800 staff.

The cruise company has not been in the same ownership as P&O Ferries for 22 years and has been part of Southampton-based Carnival Corporation since 2003.

But it has taken a hit since P&O Ferries laid off 800 staff with no notice on March 17.

P&O Cruises has taken out full-page adverts in several national newspapers and made a short film used on social media and as an advert on YouTube.

The film carries the slogan “Proudly part of Carnival Corporation & PLC” and says: “We’ve had a lot of messages during the past week. Some people confused us with another company. Our names may both begin with P&O but that’s where the similarity ends."

It tells viewers about P&O Cruises’ six ships, with Arvia due to join the fleet in December this year.

Public perception of P&O Cruises has plummeted since the P&O Ferries controversy, according to industry publication Marketing Week.

It reported that YouGov’s BrandIndex – which measures consumers’ perception of a brand name – had fallen from 6.4 on March 14 to minus 12.4 on March 27 for P&O Cruises.

A spokesperson for P&O Cruises said: "We wanted to clarify any possible confusion in the mind of the public and media.

“We are P&O Cruises and we are part of the world’s largest leisure travel organisation which is Carnival Corporation & plc and we have been for 20 years.

“We are the market leading cruise line in the UK with six ships sailing primarily from our home port of Southampton and also from Barbados in the winter with two ships and in Tenerife and Malta for Canary Islands/Med/Greek islands fly/cruise holidays.”

Asked whether the company would consider its changing its name over the confusion, a spokesperson said: "We and our amazing crew are very proud of our name and over 180 years of heritage and the holidays and service we provide."

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced plans for a “package of measures” to “block” P&O Ferries’ plan to replace 800 seafarers with agency workers paid below the UK’s minimum wage.

In a letter to P&O Ferries’ chief executive, Peter Hebblethwaite, Mr Shapps wrote: “I will be bringing a comprehensive package of measures to Parliament to ensure that seafarers are protected against these types of actions in the way that Parliament and this government already intended.

“Through that package, I intend to block the outcome that P&O Ferries has pursued, including paying workers less than the minimum wage.”

P&O Ferries was bought in 2006 by DP World, the Dubai-headquartered business which runs Southampton’s container port.

Its UK commercial director, Aart Hillie Ris Lambers, has resigned from the board of the Solent Freeport project over the backlash.