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P&O Australia will oficially cease operating and dissolve in March 2025. The cruise line’s three ship fleet will be split, with Pacific Explorer leaving Australia, and Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter continuing on locally with Carnival Cruise Line. Both ships will transition to Carnival branding and technology in March 2025, before setting sail on March 29th with their new flag colours.
Carnival Encounter and Carnival Luminosa will sail from Brisbane (Luminosa on a seasonal basis) and Carnival Adventure and Carnival Splendor will sail from Sydney.
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Will be interesting what these old P&O Grand class ships look like in the Carnival livery
P&O once was enough
First ever cruise Fair star 1985, going on cruise number 55 January 2025 on Celebrity Edge.Thank you P&O.
It's an ongoing problem with Australia. Cruise lines make a fortune sailing ships out of the US and Northern Hemisphere with ports of call close at hand lots of facilities. Meanwhile Australia is becoming an increasingly costly/unprofitable place to operate from. We should remember that P&O was never Australian it was just a brand sold off to locals as somehow ours when it wasn't.. So, a lot of unfounded nostalgia. As for the future I doubt Carnival will do much that is different. Their three ships will consist of two already old and tired ex-Princess ships with cabins that are in need of a major refurb and the hideous (also old) Splendor. Australia seems to be a place where ships come to die. I have watched pricing on local cruises rise substantially compared with cruises out of other countries. I fear Royal Caribbean and Carnival are losing interest in the whole Australian operation.
Yes p&o was our first ever cruise we sailed on
. It was on the pacific explorer back on 31 may 2022 ❤❤ we are booked on explorer in November for a 3 night 80s cruise. ❤❤ We are going to try to join you on your group cruise next year ❤❤ we just have to try to save up to pay the deposit. But we're very serious considering joining you ❤❤
Very sad and the gobbledegoop from Carnival is all from fairy land . All ships in Aus are full for years ahead and things like the Red Sea and other conflicts dont really effect Aus despite what Mr Carnival says. Most ships do the trans pacific from alask to aus. P&O never leave Aus. Just greed
My wife and I found the cruise bug in December 2019 on Pacific Explorer just before COVID 19 hit. We were absolutely spoiled and when we later went on Adventure in a Byron Bay mini suite we were very disappointed and missed Explorer. No competition is such a bad idea and with everyone dropping out fast it almost seems like the impending death of cruising in Australia and NZ. Hopefully something turns around soon. But Adrian, we know this is a big blow to you personally as well as your livelihood and we hope you're looking after yourself, your eyes don't look quite right.
Went once . Never again . Food was terrible in the buffet . Always worked out cheaper to do a princess cruise with a package . The P&O bill at the end of the cruise was ridiculous , where on princess we had Nothing to pay .
Im very sad to see them go. I've sailed on every P&O ship since the original Oriana. Cruising in the 1980s really was the best. The old Take Me Away P&O ads still bring a tear to my eye. Over the years, the product has been dumbed down from what it once was but I will still miss Explorer . RiP P&O 😢
Personally, I could not care less. I Sailed on 2 P&O cruises in 2023, the first since covid hit. I noticed a huge deterioration in service, more specifically in entertainment. After our last cruise in October 2023, I swore I would never again sail on P & O, even though I had previously done at least 10 cruises with her. A few weeks later I sailed on Royal Princess. I paid virtually the same amount of money for a balcony cabin, but the difference in cruises was astronomical. Princess just shat all over P & O , in terms of value for money. I think that becoming a carnival line the ships may now just be able to compete with other cruise ships coming to Australia. If not then I will wait each year for the summer season and sail on Princess, RC, celebrity or holland America.
Great info thanks Adrian. Good news for us Qlders that we will have Carnival Encounter all year, plus Luminosa over summer months. Having a loyalty program is good and hopefully both ships will have free pizza (as Luminosa currently does). Do solo passengers earn double loyalty points on Carnival?
As sad as it is, I'm not surprised P&O Australia is disappearing, they keep advertising cheap cruises all the time, and I have a feeling it's because noone ever sailed with them or they couldn't fill ships. I feel like a huge part is because they've been using older ships for like the past 20 or so years and there were never any newly build ships specifically made for them. People want to try new things… that's just my take though.
Excellent video Mate well said…
Thanks 👍
Thank you Adrian for a comprehensive and informative update on the demise of P&O Australia ( From an Australian's perspective ) it is sad for Australia and New Zealand . Like you I had my first cruising experience on P&O Australia, P&O Oriana in 1982 and fortunately I have 3 more cruises to enjoy with P&O Australia. In 28 cruises with P&O Australia so far I have found the food to be fine, the service by the crew , excellent and their entertainment World Class. Like all cruise lines P&O Australia wasn't, perfect but introduced me to cruising and provided me with wonderful memories and as with everytime I begin another cruise , Like being with family. My all time favourite P&O ship , Pacific Explorer.
I said I would never never go on a cruise. My first cruise was with P&O and I was hooked. I loved the beautiful big dining room experience and all over the ship you were made to feel like a friend and a guest. On 2/March 2024 I did a cruise from Singapore to Sydney on Pacific Adventure. What a big disappointment. No glamorous Large dining. I felt I was just a person that they had to feed. It was so obvious the object was to extract as much money out of us as possible.
Carnival's claims are rubish as regards the Australian market not being able to support an indigenous cruise brand. I believe that Carnival just wants to grow their own brand which is why they are taking ships from Costa and now they want two more from P&O! If Carnival Splendour is anything to go by, then this is not a change for the better. Lots of cruise brands operate here and pay the same fees, so I don't think operating costs are really the problem. As regards food; my cruise on Pacific Explorer in July 2022, offered 3 included restaurants with very good variety and quality. As to $9 per day; there is such a thing as economy of scale. Why are we putting up with this? We protect everyone's culture but our own. Carnival do not have a 90-year history of commitment to Australia. They would disappear overnight if they could make more money elsewhere. Virgin Voyages didn't last very long now, did they? I PROPOSE THAT WE BUY THE P&O – AUSTRALIA BRAND FROM CARNIVAL – INCLUDING PACIFIC EXPLORER! Culturally, Carnival is not as good a fit for Australia as P&O is. Waiters dancing on tables (thus interrupting dinner conversation) is hardly a great leap forward, and it's only the guys! If we must have this, why6 not the girls too? It seems like a case of reverse sexism to me! If you prefer a dinner service where you are given just one knife and one fork which you must hold onto between courses as I did on Carnival Splendour in August 2023, the n back Carnival. The food was not as good and American business culture leaves so much to be desired on so many levels. Would I sail Carnival again? Maybe, but it would be my last resort rather than my first choice! GOD HELP THE CREW THAT END UP WITH CARNIVAL! Don't just accept this meekly as most seem to; RESIST IT!🚢
We need MCS over here more than ever, now 😢. We didn't have enough variety as it was!
Well Adrian thanks for a comprehensive analysis of the P&O s demise, my first cruise was with Pacific Sun my family fell instantly in love with cruising,like you I’ve noticed a change in the brand over the years and not for the best unfortunately.
I feel big mistake by carnival
I understand cost but brand base for over 90 years is very important to customers
Look at carnival they want to be the biggest one in market
They took three ships from costa and add them to carnival
You have msc and royal Caribbean with new ships and growing
They should pull the carnival ship and let p and o handle the market
Hi Adrian. I was thinking about the Adventure and Encounter, and thinking about them getting either a Whale Tail, or a Straight Stack ala Luminosa. And their repainting RWB, and becoming mainstream Carnival ships, ala Australia. I don't imagine Carnival shuttling North Americans (the binge and puke crowd) down under. I don't think that the greater base of Carnivaler(s) will want to take a very long transpacific flight. Hopefully, the ships will become "Cruising Australian style." A third concept of cruising.
Although not my favourite cruise line I will miss them. They gave a low cost option year round, great for a long weekend comedy cruise like I just came off Pacific Adventure last Monday. You’re right though that lack of competition will lead to higher prices. Lately they have reminded me of Jetstar or Ryan air 😂
they were my first cruise experience and I loved it on Pacific Dawn in 2017. I think it's a real shame that they won't be able to continue as a brand in Australia considering their long history here
Could you please give me the information about the February cruise
Thank you
Yonie😢
Such a shame. Profit over people as usual these days.
I feel much the same as you, Adrian. A cheaper cruise line for Australia, but the last couple of cruises with so much nickel and diming was…meh. I remember saying to my husband that it was time to go back to Princess (now Elite, due to a few shorter P&O cruises!) and also try lines like Celebrity, Holland America and Azamara. Maybe Norwegian too? I never sailed on P&O in the early days, but my sisters-in-law worked on the Fairstar when it was run by Sitmar. I also remember the alternative name for the Fairstar and the sad times with Dianne Brimble in the early 2000s – P&O to their credit worked hard to turn around the party ship reputation. I did enjoy both the Aria and Eden when they were sailing. I also hope Carnival (or Princess) pick up the Australian Open cruises, which are a really fun way to go to the tennis. Mmm, we weren't going to go in 2025, but maybe we should, just in case!
We are on the 2nd the last cruise to PNG on Feb 19th. The P&O app is diabolical so lets hope the Carnival one is an upgrade!!
Thanks for the update, Disappointed with the comment in regards to the Byron Club, we specifically paid extra to have this, in particular access to a breakfast location not in the general area. I hope Carnival takes into account the extra $ and if they abolish Byron Club what are they giving us in return for the extra $. We are booked on the Adventure cruise that leaves 29 March so the first outing. Assuming all the upgrades to tech go smoothly and the ship is actually ready on time and working without too many glitches. We've been planning this for over a year for my Son-in-laws 40th so will be super disappointed if it is messed up.
Well!! Looks like a land holiday for New Zealand …
P&O of more recent times attracted low level riff raff. No great loss.
Was that photo of the person in the white jacket you Adrian?
We have a cruise on crown Princess in may 2025 and would have a low status onboard after doing 11 nights on p&o. I'm wondering if when we do our cruise if we will still get the status match onboard our princess cruise.. As p&o aus will definitely be no more by then
$9 per person. Wow we can't even cook an evening meal for that price, let alone an entire day
When I sailed with P&O in 1980 all was included, only shore excursions were not included. It was amazing that laundry and even you shoes were cleaned.