P&O Princess shareholders are likely to learn this week whether two deals involving rival cruise operators Royal Caribbean and Carnival have been cleared or blocked by the US competition regulator, reports the Financial Times.

The Federal Trades Commission meets on Tuesday (24 September) when it will rule on P&O Princess' proposed merger with Royal Caribbean.

It will also decide whether to allow Carnival's £3.4bn hostile bid for P&O to proceed.

Either deal would give the remaining two companies more than two-thirds of North American cruise capacity. A decision is expected to be announced later in the week - it is thought likely both deals will be cleared.

If they receive clearance, P&O is likely to announce an extraordinary meeting, which should be held two to three weeks after the FTC decision.