CruiseAdict218

8 hours ago, tidecat said:

It was actually Carnival Panorama that was supposed to be for P&O Australia. Carnival Splendor was originally ordered as a sister to Costa Concordia.

Funny thing about that, they almost traded Panorama for Splendor but then ended up giving them Golden Princess/Pacific Adventure. Full circle now with Adventure joining the Carnival brand. 

5 hours ago, jsglow said:

Correct and an interesting observation. Even BEFORE Covid there were chinks in the P&O Aus armour. And someone mentioned New Zealand restrictions. The reality is that despite the fact that it was a 90+ year old line, it simply didn't offer the growth opportunities and economies of scale that Carnival does. Somewhere along the line Corp realized that a 2-3 ship cruise line on a going forward basis made zero sense. So for essentially no money except the cost of paint, they get to eliminate an entire back room and dismantle a complete advertising budget. I genuinely believe Costa is next, especially if 'Carnival Italian style' is successful. We loved Venezia; a wonderful adaptation of the standard Carnival product. 

I think Carnival Italian Style has proven successful but it works well with the way Venezia/Firenze were designed, would the concept work with their older fleet? Or split it and convert some to Carnival ships and move the newer ones into the subcategory.

Anything is possible now and I think we will see more quirky ship shuffling in the future. 

I think very minor changes will take place, according to this written article I found from the Australia forum, 

“Apart from a new paint job, signage and technology upgrades to include a passenger messaging and booking tool, HubApp, no hardware changes are envisaged. Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter will retain their current restaurants, public rooms and attractions, when the integration takes place. The technology enhancement will see the two ships taken out of service in mid-March next year resulting in the cancellation of four Adventure itineraries ex-Sydney and three Encounter cruises, ex-Brisbane. On their return to service they’ll be operated by Carnival Cruise Line.” 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/p-o-cruises-australia-closure-what-does-it-mean-for-cruisers

But as stated above, March is a long way off, or more changes will be made when they cycle through their next dry docks? Adventure just had one, not sure when Encounter is due again. 

45 minutes ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

Take a look at this:

 

Adventure can fit under the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which has a clearance of 160 feet. If Encounter can do the same, then Carnival just got two more ships for the 3 height restricted ports while increasing capacity.

 

Of course, if they did that, it wouldn't be without sending other ships to take their place in Australia.

I believe this is specific to Adventure, Encounter does not have a modified funnel. But something interesting to keep in mind. 

5 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Swap out Stumpy for Star Princess.  Stumpy is five years newer…. EM

Would love for this! 
 

3 hours ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

My favorite account over on Instagram goodship_cruising gives us our best rendering of what they will most likely look like. He had a little fun and added “Carnival Fun Down Under” onto the hull similar to the Italian style ships. I do not believe they will have this kind of branding, as they are intended to be “full” transfers like Luminosa. 

 

I really did not expect to like this transfer at all, but it’s really growing on me. This really doesn’t look that bad. 

The pair will look great in Carnival colors, with any interior changes being mixed like Luminosa, some will change and some probably won’t. 

7 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Don't get too excited, we're trying to hang onto them Down Under!

While the ships are expected to stay in the region, once they are in Carnival branding, they can be swapped more easily with other ships in the fleet, large or smaller. Which would give the region more refreshed options in the future. 

5 hours ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

Wonder how they will turn them into Carnival ships and how the funnels will be retrofitted. 

Not my photo, found it else where (not an official rendering either) but will give you an idea of at least what the rear will look like, curious if they will do a special livery for the bow like Venezia/Firenze.

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

I reckon you will get one after the dust has settled, the former Star Princess.

 

Pacific Adventure (Golden) has had the exhaust cowl modified so that it can transit under the Sydney harbour bridge to access the 2nd cruise terminal at White Bay. Over the summer. the main terminal at Circular Quay is 100% booked, and that reduced height gives them a key benefit of accessing the under-utilized terminal. 

 

As with the former Golden & Star Princess', P&O Australia has been fed cast-off ships going way back. Prior to the 3 current ships, Statendam, Ryndam, Crown Princess, Regal Princess, Arcadia, Tropicale, Jubilee. I wonder what they are going to do with their leftover ships now. Wouldn't it be somewhat of an insult to be sending tired 20-year-old Princess/HAL ships to be rebranded as Carnival?

Though according to the announcement they are expected to stay in the region, I would love to see a Carnival-ized Grand Class ship in the states in the future, one of my favorite classes.

1 hour ago, Beezo said:

Completely agree. It was an easy way to exit a ship from a mainline fleet but also maintain revenue. Also kept them from creating additional competition. 
 

I think we could easily see ships head to the scrappers.

We will get an idea when we find out with what they plan to do with Pacific Explorer whether it be scrapped or sold to another operator. Two of her sisters are in service and one is still laid up.

22 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Actually quite exciting. For reference, the two ships Carnival is getting are the former Golden Princess and Star Princess; Grand Class ships that were built in 2000-01. I've personally sailed Golden to Alaska and she's a spectacular long distance cruiser. I particularly loved the high mounted aft bar/nightclub where you can oversee the entire length of the ship plus all the surrounding beauty of the nearby scenery as you pass by. It was truly the perfect  Alaska platform. There were mods made to her upon transfer to P&O Aus. back about 2019 to make her a tad more 'family friendly' (I think water slides and some family staterooms were added) but she is a wonderful ship approximating 109k tons for 2600 passengers. Star Princess is her slightly younger sister. 

I sailed on Golden as well to Alaska, she was one of my favorite ships. It’s going to be interesting to see her and her sister turned into Carnival ships. 

2 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

Good question? 🤔 Pacific Encounter is the former Star Princess & Pacific Adventure was Golden Princess but I am not aware of the other ships in P&O Australia’s fleet.

 

My perception of P&O Australia as a step up from Carnival Cruise’s party ships.

 

Pacific Explorer is the former Dawn Princess which will exit the fleet entirely. Adventure and Encounter being former Princess ships, am surprised they will be operated by Carnival. 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/carnival-corporation-strategically-align-portfolio-and-absorb-po

This is a very interesting development. Thoughts?

Carnival Corporation today announced that in March 2025, the company will sunset the P&O Cruises Australia brand and fold the Australia operations into Carnival Cruise Line, according to a press release.

The Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure ships will be rebranded and operated by Carnival Cruise Line brand while the Pacific Explorer will exit the fleet in February of 2025, the company said.

This change is the latest in a series of what Carnival said were strategic moves designed to increase guest capacity for Carnival Cruise Line, the company’s flagship brand and the highest-returning brand in Carnival Corporation’s global portfolio, the company said.

This will result in the addition of eight new ships to Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet since 2021, including the shift of three vessels from sister brand Costa Cruises. In addition, the company recently placed its first new ship order in half a decade for two new Excel-class cruise ships to join Carnival Cruise Line in 2027 and 2028.

“Despite increasing Carnival Cruise Line’s capacity by almost 25% since 2019 including transferring three ships from Costa Cruises, guest demand remains incredibly strong so we’re leveraging our scale in an even more meaningful way by absorbing an entire brand into the world’s most popular cruise line,” said Josh Weinstein, chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation.

“In 2019, Carnival Cruise Line was 29% of our total capacity, and when we complete this move early next year, Carnival Cruise Line – our highest-returning brand – will make up approximately 35% of our total global capacity. While our company’s overall growth between 2019 – 2028 is projected to be less than 2% (CAGR), the majority will be for Carnival Cruise Line, which will grow by approximately 50% over that time period.”

In addition to further optimizing the composition of Carnival Corporation’s global brand portfolio, the realignment will strengthen the company’s performance in the South Pacific through numerous operational efficiencies, the company said in a statement.

“P&O Cruises Australia is a storied brand with an amazing team, and we are extremely proud of everything we have accomplished together in Australia and the broader region,” said Weinstein. “However, given the strategic reality of the South Pacific’s small population and significantly higher operating and regulatory costs, we’re adjusting our approach to give us the efficiencies we need to continue delivering an incredible cruise experience year-round to our guests in the region. Carnival Corporation & plc remains committed to Australia and we will continue to be the largest cruise operator in the region with 19 ships calling on 78 destinations and representing almost 60% of the market.”

For P&O Australia, current itineraries will operate business as usual, and guests will be notified in the coming days of any changes to future bookings as a result of this announcement.

When the transition is complete next year, Carnival Cruise Line will have four ships in the market, including Sydney-based Carnival Splendor and Carnival Luminosa sailing seasonally from Brisbane, in addition to their new sister ships Encounter and Adventure.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/06/carnival-cruise-line-to-absorb-po-australia-in-2025/

I like the slight differences in the some of the eateries verses Venezia, great photos  all around! 

1 hour ago, Butterbean1000 said:

Maybe the blue card had FTTF.

I believe FTTF isn’t offered right away on new ships for X amount of time but I could be wrong 
 

But to the OP: The quirky Sun deck design wasn’t by choice for Carnival, think that’s just how it was designed with the sliding dome roof for its previous life. 
 

Don’t think Venezia had any special activities to mark it as an inaugural either. All in all, would you sail on the ship again down the road? 

I would also say Firenze, I've sailed on Venezia 3 times already and I quite enjoyed the ship and it being different from the rest. 

4 hours ago, shof515 said:

its nice to finally use up that space. when i was on the sister ship, venezia that food station inside the ocean plaza/gondola lounge was empty and not being used. the only time they used it was during bad weather that prevented la strada grill being outside

I thought that was for the Terrazza brunch which is why it always looked empty. 
 

Though definitely not Italian still sounds like a good spot to get a snack. 

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

Carnival is never going to build another Spirit class ship. If Costa has any let they may transfer another one but there will never be another one built, at least not for Carnival.

They have one left, Luminosa’s sister but that usually covers their world cruise run.
 

Ideally they could take two from AIDA which are similar size to the Fantasy class with more balcony options and order them another Excel to cover the berth loss and then some. 

43 minutes ago, 787cruiser said:

Im not saying an Excel wouldn't work in NYC. Im saying it won't replace a Venice class ship there. As long as the Venice class is in the Carnival fleet they will stay in NYC and on the west coast.

Yeah I see what you’re saying, I would just hope to have it for at least a one off summer season or if one of the new ones wants to debut here then head to Florida. 

30 minutes ago, 787cruiser said:

Unless Carnival transfers Venezia and Firenze back to Costa come 27/28 I also can't seen an Excel going to NYC. Those 2 ships won't really work anywhere else than where they currently are, well perhaps Virginia?

 

They can easily do a 7/8 day run to the Bahamas and even Canada. Mardi Grad was supposed to do a one off Canada cruise before going to Florida. 

36 minutes ago, jedi bobs said:

My guess is that NOLA will get Mardi Gras or Vista,  while Valor or Glory goes to Mobile full time, Spirit goes to San Juan part time.  Magic moves to Ft Lauderdale, and New ship takes it's place.

\As for names I'm guessing Holiday, and Festaval.

Magic or Vista would probably be bumped to NOLA, Mardi Gras or Celebration would probably move to a shorter run 3/4 day (I would think).
 

If they toy with bringing one up to NYC for a summer season, that bumps Venezia else where. 

11 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

Personally I think we’re not close to anything like that. I think they will Sunshine the spirit class ships first. Carnival’s ability to serve so many ports is a brand differentiator and bigger ships will take that away.

Wouldn’t that have taken place by now? All 4 are getting lengthy dry docks, with them rotating to Europe. They are past the age, the Destiny/Triumph Class got their respective makeovers. 

Oh wow, I wonder why it wasn’t ordered jointly with #4, regardless that’s pretty exciting. 

We also recently booked Luminosa for Alaska, we got a nice deal on an inside cabin (deck 1 and seemed bigger than the usual inside cabins) and went with it. We figured we would save the extra and put it towards excursions. 

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

I see the dates are all wrong. Icon just started jan 2024, this year. Star august 2025. 

 

Your link says

 

"The ship will join its two sister ships – to be delivered in 2022 and 2024, respectively."

 

icon class and oasis class are built in different ship yards. Since they are still building star, I havent seen any news when a 3rd icon class will be built, but assume after star. 

 

7th oasis class will start after utopia. It could be close which class a yet unnamed and not yet started ship will be finished. I am sure people were surprised with the announcement of a 7th oasis class and not a word lately about a 3rd icon class. We will see which finished first.

Dates probably would be wrong because the articles were posted pre-Covid so everything would be pushed back. 
 

But tidecat posted a link the steel cutting already began and the second link I posted was the credit agreement for Icon 3. It’s certainly possible for Icon 3 to be pushed a bit towards 2027 but would still be before Oasis 7. 

2 hours ago, tidecat said:

I had not seen the news on AIDA but it seems like it would take the Sphinx class off the table for Carnival Cruise Line. The Icarus class may still be on table given their refurbishment dates haven't been set.

 

It may be more cost effective to keep Elation and Paradise as far out as 2037 (age 39). If the Spirit class can hang around to age 39, it would be 2040 before Carnival would have to exit one of Jacksonville, Baltimore, or Tampa, and 2048 before they would lose all three ports.

Refurbishment is set for late 2025-2026

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/02/aida-announces-aida-evolution-drydock-upgrade-program/

I guess it will really depend on the conditions each of these ships are in, if they can make it to 39-40 years old. 

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Name it. They already announced a "yet unnamed new oasis ship" not a 3rd icon ship. Everyone was surprised including me it wasnt another icon ship. Maybe it's the LNG fuel? Idk but another oasis build has been announced, not another icon build. 

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Royal-Caribbean-orders-seventh-Oasis-class-ship

 

Also hearing those 3 and 4 pax cabins are sometimes going for less than 2 pax cabins on icon. Maybe they added too many extra 3 and 4 pax cabins for supply and demand. I will pass. A ship designed to hold even more families and kids isnt aimed at me as a solo. I have wonder and utopia booked. Not star.

Royal Caribbean was in talks for Oasis 7 but was put aside when the pandemic hit but anyway, Icon 3 was ordered back in 2019…

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2019/07/royal-caribbean-inks-deal-for-third-icon-class-ship-for-2025-delivery/

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/884887/000110465919075059/tm1926679d1_ex10-1.htm

https://maritime-executive.com/article/royal-caribbean-orders-third-icon-class-ship

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I wouldnt count on smaller builds from rcl either. Looking or thinking about something said in answer to a question, didnt rule it out, but then announced another as yet unnamed oasis class ship next to be built. 

 

Seems icon class is very expensive to build, quite a bit more than oasis class. Icon and star are the only announced icon class ships. Utopia is coming and after star will be another oasis class they said recently. I was shocked how much more expensive than oasis class.

 

Recent itineraries show rcl is moving to do big ships on shorter routes. Wonder currently the newest oasis class being moved to s. Florida to do 3 and 4 days. Other short routes announced. Huge disappointment. People are looking at carnival lol for another line.

Actually a third icon will come out before Oasis #7. 
 

17 hours ago, tidecat said:

Elation already has a drydock scheduled for 2026, and presumably Paradise will shortly follow. Those ships should be in the fleet until at least 2028, if not 2029.

 

The Spirit class was built entirely after 2000, those will be with us well into the next decade. Luminosa should continue into the early 2040s.

 

I suspect the ultimate fate of Tampa, Jacksonville, and Baltimore will lie with more upmarket lines that have smaller ships, like Holland America and Seabourn. The masses will continue sailing from Port Canaveral, Miami, and Galveston.

 

I also think Carnival Cruise Line may pick off some AIDA ships, which may buy the height-restricted ports some time. That would still be a few years down the road if it happens, though.

I don’t think it would make much sense to leave those height restricted ports. Plus, AIDA just announced those smaller ships are getting a total refurbishment.

4 minutes ago, bstel said:

so why did they lump in the Luminosa with the Spirit class, but not lump in the Venezia/Firenze with the Vista class?

Marketing reasons more or less since Venezia/Firenze were brought in under a joint concept of the Carnival Fun Italian Style, though regardless they are Vista Class ships 

Luminosa joined as a regular Carnival ship, it is technically a Spirit Class but shares similar features of Holland America’s Vista Class.