arxcards

You are not alone. When Pacific Explorer leaves, Cairns & Auckland both lose their ship as well, and Melbourne will be reliant on NCL coming back to have a home ported ship. Yes, it stinks all round.

Pretty tough to retrofit the whale tail onto an old Princess cowl. Especially with Adventure, as there is no way it will go under the bridge with one. Carnival did sign-off on a newbuild for Australia, but then reneged. Announced in late 2015, a year later they decided we would like it better if they sent us Splendor instead, and our newbuild became Carnival Panorama. It will take more than a Carnival Miracle to get a newer ship here, but they do have the chance to rotate some when Adventure & Encounter retire. That is a few years away though.

The two current ships, sure. Maybe some more Carnivation at the next dry dock. That is the wedge though, and subsequent ships will arrive as Carnival spec ships. P&O on their site: In early 2025 P&O Cruises Australia brand will be sunset and its operations integrated into sister line, Carnival Cruise Line. As a result, all itineraries on Pacific Explorer scheduled to sail after 2nd March 2025 are being cancelled. If you are booked on one of these itineraries you will be contacted by Guest Services in the coming days with refund details. We apologise that this change has been necessary. If you are booked to cruise before this date, your itinerary is unaffected and we look forward to welcoming you onboard soon. We are all immensely proud of P&O Cruises Australia’s 90-year heritage of dedicated operations in the region and Carnival Cruise Line are honored to carry forward its storied legacy and continue to deliver the same onboard experiences and itineraries with the benefit of Carnival Cruise Line HUB app and loyalty program.  Thank you for your support of P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Cruise Line. How that fits is hard to envisage. Will it mean that Adventure & Encounter are separated from the US market, from those passengers expecting a Carnival product when they book their Australian cruise. Over time, they can't continue to have two Carnival ships in a port that offer totally different franchises on their ships.

I think one of the Brisbane ships will be a floater - perhaps literally 😉 A bit like Explorer, Brisbane for the summer, then Freo, Cairns, Auckland. Hey, maybe even Melbourne will get a turn.

It would be great, but for that to happen they would likely disappear from Captains Circle at the same time. There would be quite a few elites that have their bubble popped, and much less demand on the laundry. There is a "Find my VIFP number link" on this page, and it is as easy as name & DOB. VIFP Club Member Cruise Deals - Learn More At Carnival I haven't ever needed to quote it during booking.

I was thinking the same. Based on the past Jubilee, we won't see the new Jubilee until 2042. For now, I guess it will be Carnival Adventure & Carnival Encounter joining Carnival Splendor & Carnival Luminosa.

In the early era post-covid, they were very sensitive about paper menus, as were P&O. I had the Hub app, and previewed some menus on it, but we had printed menus handed to us by default on Splendor in December.

Carnival branding should equal Carnival product, but it would have to be ad hock until they can cycle through a drydock. I wonder what they will do with all those milk bottles from the Waterfront? The stuff I am wagging my tail about: The opportunity to have a bit more variety of ship cycling through the Australian ports, not a cast-off sent for their final 5 to 10 years of service. That should end up with another ship to replace Explorer - eventually. Yes, eggs benny would be nice, as well as sea day brunch. The stuff I have fingers crossed for: VIFP credits for past P&O cruises - hey, I can dream. They could be stingy, but they also need to attract rusted-on P&O cruisers to embrace Carnival instead of jumping ship. Disappointed: There will no longer be a choice during winter cruising here. While it is false competition, it also holds the prices down a bit too. 94 years of a local connection is gone, as well as a Sitmar legacy. True, it is local in brand only, but it isn't Carnival Australia replacing P&O Australia. Fahrenheit 555 is nice enough, but a shame if Luke Mangan is gone.

I thought it was a strange arrangement for Carnival to send Spirit here to compete with P&O's Pacific Jewel in the first place. As soon as they were competing, I suspected P&O was to become Carnivoz within a couple of years.

Nailed it! This could have happened any time in the past 10 years. The costs of running two competing operations in North Sydney must be the only thing that isn't low budget, and it was just a matter of time till that was seen as low hanging fruit.

Blessed are the cheesemakers

For all the links, here is the one that says the same stuff from the horses mouth. Carnival Corporation to Strategically Align Portfolio and Absorb P&O Cruises Australia into Carnival Cruise Line | Carnival Corporation & plc @Sparky74 1) Yes. Not commit, but they will have a ship there year round. Also a summer ship that may run longer into the shoulder season, then getting about the country. Read this as a ship, like Luminosa, being here full time to replace Pacific Explorer. 2) Carnival cruises will not count towards Princess Captains circle. The other part of the question is whether past P&O cruises are still going to be honoured by Princess Captains Circle, and/or will past P&O cruises now be recognised towards VIFP status instead? 3) Carnival pricing. After all, they need to pay for the pizza, burgers, eggs benny somehow. 😉 4) Same ships, for now. It would be nice to see a bit of a rotation with other ships of the fleet. 5) Eggs Benny on the ceilings 6) Carnival also caters for luddites 7) Carnival branding = Carnival spec Now, I do wonder if Luke Mangan will get the opportunity to move over to at least the local Carnival ships, or whether it is a Carnival steakhouse? He has been promoting new ventures, so I think I have a hunch on that too.

Currently, P&O Australia cruises qualify towards Princess Captains Circle. That will change to VIFP, but I am curious whether my past P&O Australia cruises will now count towards VIFP status instead?? The cost of maintaining local Australian offices for both P&O and Carnival worked well enough when everything was going gangbusters down here, but now they are competing for each other's passengers in a limited market, while serving the same shareholders. This move was always just a matter of time. P&O Australia ships are always hand me downs, dominated by Princess. Apart from the three current ships mentioned, the original Crown & Regal Princess' spent many years cruising here for P&O Australia. Not exclusively Princess though - they have had past Carnival & HAL ships in their fleet as well. The brand is much more of an Australian version of Carnival. A few decades ago, they were arguing about who had the legal right to call their ships "the fun ships".

Coz I will sleep till at least 8am if I didn't have it.

Coming home isn't an option for us. I am now doing some homework towards getting a credit card with travel insurance included. Hopefully I will find a decent option in time to pay for flights and 2nd deposit for our 1/2 world. By the time I pay for the required portion of the travel, those 1% card fees and annual fees will go a long way toward paying for a policy Single trip insurance for 75 days is almost double the price of an annual policy with a 45-day trip limit.

It would be easy to misunderstand, considering my lack of detail.

Someone did a number 3

My inspiration is a 4:10am alarm, followed by turning on a pre-dawn light bulb to prevent tripping over in the dark.

Jinek Bay? Same for us too, up till around 2010ish. Something about 500 people wearing generic sunscreen while snorkeling in the bay 4 to 5 times a week, contributed to it being trashed. I was referring to Conflict Islands per the PNG live topic, that their snorkeling area will not become over-loved, as claimed. Unlike Lifou, they had taken steps to protect the pristine parts of their reef prior to the first ship arriving. There are plenty of areas that are semi-interesting that can be accessed freely, but these never were anything special. The best reef to snorkel/scuba at Conflict Island has only been available for a fee - initially by purchasing at the Island, but now via a "shore tour".

The prices may have dropped a little, perhaps as VIFP status. 4 x insides 1 x oceanview 9 x balconies

Unless I can find another provider with a more generous policy, the ones I have been looking at are 45 & 60 days max trip. We will be away from home for 75+

HAL does Christmas very well.

There are around a dozen of the original Dawn Princess quad balconies, which are still pullman beds. I would avoid those P&O added (as pictured) bunks like the plague.

It includes 3 days ashore the US which adds a significant premium to the insurance for our whole 2 1/2 month trip.

This is a hit & miss protocol provided by Border Force, and sometimes out of control of P&O. Maybe not, but I will give them benefit of doubt. For your 1st leg, it was on O/S cruise. Your 2nd leg is domestic. Between those legs, you need to arrive through customs with an arrival card and all of your belongings as if you are leaving the ship. Reason being, is there would be no so scrutiny upon arrival in Brisbane at the end of your 2nd leg.