arxcards

The new P&O Australia ship that was swapped out became Carnival Panorama in 2019 at 134K. Still a bit big for the islands.

😂 Remember this one. P&O Cruises to Build New Cruise Ship for Australia | Carnival Corporation & plc Then the spin that made it seem that getting Dawn Princess into P&O colours and Carnival "upgrading" to Splendor was a better deal for us.

And that would keep Pacific Explorer as a P&O Australia ship till 2027. I am not sure what they have in mind for Grand but I can't see how 3 very similar ships sailing for P&O would make any sense ...... oh wait, Princess did that here already with Sun/Dawn/Sea. I would like to think that come 2027, one of those Dam vista ships would look great in P&O colours, Zuiderdam will be 25yrs old in 2027.

And they also get some free data about how much people are willing to spend to trade-up to those cabins, if only they were available. Personally, I think if you are entering an auction that you are bidding for something that is available, not for the right to secure something IF it becomes available.

Hi Chez, Interesting those itineraries are showing on T/A sites, but don't show on P&O. Before that confirms any rumour though, the following cruises ex-Freo are showing on P&O. Weird!! Pricing is good, but 2 expensive flights for us. If returning to Sydney or Brisbane, it would be a bit more do-able for us.

Paid shows in Black Circus were around before the pandemic, when Love Riot began in 2017. Purple Rabbit and Blanc de Blanc have continued on. It is all small change in the grand scheme of things, and more than 1/2 of the $20 odd dollars to see Hans the Entertainer in Black Circus last June went to Matt Gilbertson himself. We don't have FOMO, and hardly bother with most of the free shows either. If they cut those free shows, then that would be economising. Paid MDR steaks/Surf & Turf have been around on other cruise lines for more than 10 years, and everyone else has caught on, including Princess. All optional, so not big money spinners. If they just added $1 per alcoholic drink, that would do more for revenue than either of those other options.

For the ships, that is incorrect. P&O Australia is just branding. Carnival Australia needs to justify costs for the marketing and operation of their $AU "fleet" which also includes Carnival and Princess. If they are not profitably filling cruise ships, Carnival Corp simply wont send ships down here for Carnival Australia to operate. P&O Australia does not have shareholders. P&O Australia does not own or even lease Pacific Explorer. Each ship has individual ownership, usually made up of the corporate body and the financiers that bankrolled the construction. They are literally floating hotels, individually owned and group managed like a hotel chain. Profit aside, they have sufficient operating cashflow to maintain their ships. Yes, they can choose not to replace carpet as non-essential, but that is small budget stuff anyway. The big costs are below the waterline, and that is essential maintenance imposed by the industry. Then if the ship appears old, passengers will book something else - they can't afford not to do the non-essential stuff either.

They are pitching at a moving target, so the generational names are just a point in time and there is a lot of overlap. If you are currently age 50 - 60, all of the lines are targeting your wallet.

P&O Australia is branding. Cash comes from a bigger Carnival Corp pot. Her last drydock was just prior to the shutdown, so she has done only one year of active cruising. The whole point of maintenance drydocking is to do compliance inspections and repairs, as well as getting a nice new slippery hull that pays for itself through fuel economy. The compliance stuff can't be deferred, it is imposed. There is a big gap in Explorer's itineraries during Feb 2025. If she is still around, I believe that is when it will be.

Always a possibility, and the oldest Princess ship going to P&O is always plausible . However, these rumours are false much more often than they are true, especially coming out of P&O. Apart from a spruce-up, the ships already look old and tired before P&O get them. We have cruised on her as Dawn Princess and as Pacific Explorer. Yes, the cabin furniture is nearly identical, but I didn't spot any Princess carpet.

Correct, for all 3 options.

That is a good question that I don't have an confident answer for. Chances are that at sometime between now and the end of June, one of the itineraries will be advised that their cruise will be affected. It could also be done off Tauranga after arriving in New Zealand. Auckland hasn't had any hull restrictions on other affected ships, and that is the only NZ port until September. They have a cruise to nowhere ex-Auckland in August.

From days not that long ago, Carnival Australia (P&O, Carnival, Princess) added restrictions around schoolies to prevent a repeat of some problem cruises with underaged drinking. Prior to that, P&O used to promote schoolies cruises. I believe those restrictions have largely lifted, but they do still cap the number of under 18's across all cruises. The only concern there is that once the caps are full, you will no longer be able to book 17yo's. If other parents are thinking the same, those caps may also be close to full already. P&O has the best teen programs, but I sense your kids will probably just want to hang out together. Their teen club is still a great amenity. I would agree that Quantum also has more of a wow. Welcome to Cruise Critic. Not sure if your group is up to speed already, but anyone over 18 currently needs to be double jabbed. This may change by the time schoolies comes around, but it is currently in place until at least the end of August.

Well. From a friend aboard, it was too bumpy to scrape, so they went out to sea for a bit so they could open the casino.

Yes, about time our boffins started listening to visitors from other countries. 😉 It could be a big imposition though. It is a long way to fly, only to find out you are going to be denied boarding because of a positive RAT. So, not just about the photo but the actual test as well - a test that is no longer needed for most parts of the world.

I have had the same DL number for the past 40 odd years, and they only need to add in lots of 5 years to have a probable guess of the current expiry date.

Celebrity is quite different, but it is a nice difference. Eventually at the higher tiers, you can also carry your loyalty across between Royal & Celebrity too. Celebrity Edge is also a very different looking ship, so some new things to try. We were booked on Edge in March, but have reluctantly cancelled so we can start saving for a world cruise.

Like most of us, when booking the first it was going somewhere you wanted to go based on a cruise line brochure/web page or a friend's recommendation. From most I have chatted with over the years, if they enjoyed their first cruise, they tend to stick with the line/ship. If they hated it, they tend to end up hating everything cruising. My point is that once reaching a loyalty status, it is harder to change camps. For us, if we are travelling distance I have to weigh-up if free laundry makes it easier to travel light, or if all else is equal P&O is not going to give me free drinks each day and no longer a toss of a coin. In the grand scheme of things though, it is easy to become blinkered. I like Royal. I like others, some a little bit more. I think Radiance is an awesome ship, but Ovation not so much. Rhapsody was awesome till they added more cabins around the atrium. Royal's suites are much better bang for our buck than on others. We have also done a couple of music charters on Radiance, but rumours are CYC will be switching to Carnival Luminosa for late 2024. We have had a few average days on P&O, but also a couple of the best experiences. Itinerary and date first, then we look at the ship. If the ship is below par, at least we get the itinerary.

The state government authorities will need to drop requirements first. Going from what Carnival is currently requiring, it looks like that is the requirement till at least the end of August.

Loyalty is a strange thing. I would think that brand loyalty should come from loving their product, but now with commercialised loyalty schemes it seems loyalty can be bought with the ambition of achieving a few free drinks at the bar, or getting free mini-spirit bottles & free laundry. Try them all until you know what you love and what you don't. I have found there is no perfect cruise line for us, but cruising is cruising and most lines have things we like enjoy more on their ships than we do on others.

You would only be advised to change your license if they have informed you that hackers have that info. The photo isn't always required as a form of ID, so for those that are into spoofing identities, it is just another piece of the puzzle for them. It turns out my wife's passport is a false alarm, as it was used for identification with them back when she had a different number and expiry date. Government making a fortune? No, I don't think so. I figure there is a bit of a margin in issuing passports, but the cost of a drivers licence isn't much more than the cost of the system and staff needed to issue them. Anyone is welcome to contribute an answer to the OP's question, should there be any more info forthcoming.

No Australian port provides incentives to the cruise lines. All Australian ports have relatively high port charges. The cruise lines all pass the port charges onto their passengers, included in the fare (they show as an itemised part of your fare when you look at the breakdown). When you divide the port charges over 2 or 3 thousand passengers, it makes little difference from port to port.

+1 here too. Per capita at the time of the big pause, there were more Aussies cruising than any other nationality. It is also our rite of passage to travel the world, and not just look at local itineraries. If CLIA is saying we are recovering as good as any, then I say stats can be anything, but I would generally say we had a good first season back. Growth opportunities are there, but not fully realised yet. At the time of the shutdown Brisbane had one fulltime ship and one part time ship. This season had seen 2 full time and 2 part time, and more than double the capacity when you look at ship sizes. Amongst that, Aussie based Carnival ships are now open to the world for booking, and lots of Carnival loyal cruisers are looking at Oz for the first time. Not a big deal, well they are the biggest fleet and the biggest passenger base. We have 5 full time ships. Availability and pricing on those ships will tell you when the prime season is here. It is summer, which also coincides with the northern winter. Princess, HAL, Carnival & P&O all offered more capacity this past summer than ever before, but there are a few bumps looking forward: - the world is in slowdown mode after spending too much of our taxes to try to avoid a slowdown. For our summer seasons to be successful, we also need to attract passengers from other slowdown countries, - some respected industry folk here are becoming resigned to vaccine and pre-cruise testing being around for some time here. Potential passengers from home and away will not book until those restrictions are fully removed, - a lack of variety is apparent. Upgraded port facilities are behind schedule, and some of the islands are still reluctant to open up to strangers. We can't cruise there if they won't let us. Oh, plus rhino beetles and dirty hulls are new hurdles. Yes, cruise lines do spend too little time in port. That is a world wide thing though - more time at sea means slower speeds and fuel economy. Even the ultra traditional QM2 Transatlantic's used to be 5 nights and are now 7. I am looking forward to seeing Royal Princess and Celebrity Edge here next season. Some new ports would be nice, but I am happy to fly to see them. I would rather talk-up what I enjoy about cruising in Oz than to talk it down, as I reckon the local industry is doing pretty well with what they have to work with. I think we are lucky to be living and cruising from the lucky country. Many cruisers from around the world never get to experience a Sydney sailaway or sail-in.

The cruise lines have the advantage of floating them to a port that they can be most profitable. Holiday apartments and resorts don't have that luxury.