Carnival Spirit - why not P&O Australia?

[Aus Traveller]

Interesting info, Riffraff. Love your description - decorated in Carnival nausea :D. I'll have to look up some photos.

Hi Sandy,

Just think of the showlounge on the Pacific Sun. It has the same gold ruched curtain, the same garish carpet and the same giant seahorses that she had when we were on her in 2000 when she was the Carnival Jubilee.

[Sandielle]

Oh Aus T, I HAVE seen photos of that. :rolleyes: Enough said. :)

[AuzzieCruiser]

I'm jumping on Carnival Valor in just over 7 weeks and from what I've seen it is tacky and gaudy, but for the price I paid, I don't care. :) I'll just wear my sunnies 24/7 :p

[Sandielle]

I'm jumping on Carnival Valor in just over 7 weeks and from what I've seen it is tacky and gaudy, but for the price I paid, I don't care. :) I'll just wear my sunnies 24/7 :p

 

That's the spirit! The main thing is the cruising! :) And if you can get a bargain - great!

[Cruise ship fan]

Anyone who thinks Carnival is more classy then P&O are wrong. Carnival is the formula one hotel of cruising. Cheap. Their ship decor is over the top and in places just plain horrible. Mainly on the Spirit. Even there rooms are not as good as P&O's except for the balcony. P&O service is almost the same as Princess (most of the time). Also Carnival's shows SUCK just plain suck. They have only one costume change in all but one of their shows and a max of 4 props in those same shows.

[oysterfiend]

Anyone who thinks Carnival is more classy then P&O are wrong. Carnival is the formula one hotel of cruising. Cheap. Their ship decor is over the top and in places just plain horrible. Mainly on the Spirit. Even there rooms are not as good as P&O's except for the balcony. P&O service is almost the same as Princess (most of the time). Also Carnival's shows SUCK just plain suck. They have only one costume change in all but one of their shows and a max of 4 props in those same shows.

 

We can't afford a balcony on P&O but we sure can on Carnival.

Our first carnival cruise we weren't that crazy about it and enjoyed sailing on Princess better- but for bang for the buck you just can't beat it.

 

In a perfect world where money was no concern we would book Princess over Carnival but Carnival means we can sail more for less.

 

We personally liked the Spirit far more than Splendor as it seems smaller and easier to get around - plus in Alaska the cruising demographics were different.

 

I really don't care too much about the decor.

The Port stops are much the same if you are on Carnival or Princess but Carnival Shore Tours work out cheaper.

 

When we win Lotto we may sail Princess but for now Carnival is more affordable.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Carnival are certainly very good value. We had friends who booked a B2B on Carnival Freedom when it was launched , a few years ago , and cruised the Med from Rome back to Rome, with different ports of call on each cruise. The price of the 2 cruises , was the same as the return air flight to Rome......and they were in a balcony.

 

 

[AuzzieCruiser]

To me it is all about cost. Carnival was half the cost of Royal Caribbean, NCL, Princess (not that I like Princess) and HAL. Plus it was also cheaper to fly to Miami and cruise than stay in Chicago or Washington DC for a week when taking into account food etc.

[lolabunny77]

It doesn't fit in with P&O Australia's product range hence why it is separate and this is more aimed at younger non family people who wish to try something new.I looked for Christmas 2012 The Carnival Spirit 16 December departure versus Pacific Pearl and Pacific Jewel whose itineraries look identical to the cruises I did back in 2007 and 2010 on Pacific Dawn/Pacific Sun and there really isn't that much of a difference.About a Grand for Single Travellers and I loved the itinerary offered including Fiji which I have never been before so something new for all in addition to New Caledonia.You could do a lot worse for what Carnival is asking for a new experience.I have just been speaking to a cruise agent about this and they recommend it.

[oysterfiend]

$1000 is $1000 more for something else.

 

May not be as big a price difference as in the USA but still a saving.

 

We won't be sailing them down under as we have done islands twice,

 

but The Honolulu to Sydney is good value and if we'd done a similar cruise with any other cruise line we would not have been able to afford a balcony.

[lolabunny77]

My Travel Agent recommended this cruise liner for something different next year and I admit it does cost more than anything on P&O Pacific Pearl and Pacific Jewel I had a good look at their Christmas cruises and it was appealing.Wasn't too keen on doing similar trips to my 2007/2010 cruises and fitted the bill perfectly

[mezza]

all this speculation - I have been reading this stuff for months!!!! Each one trying to outdo the other in second guessing cruise industry tactics :rolleyes:. In case you hadnt noticed, there is a global financial crisis going on and everyone is fighting for $'s - which part of the globe will fill what ship?? Companies are not rushing downunder coz us ozzies are lovely people. After the latest stock market figures, I only hope that I can keep cruising and I dont really care what the name of the ship is, or what brand it is under. I only ask that whatever the ship is, it doesnt sink from a rust driven hole and i dont get off malnourished because the food is so atrocious - I have come close to experiencing both in australian waters! Let em all come here and let the heavens rain down the dollars so we can occupy them ;)

[carelle]

Even though it - Carnival -

is catering to mainstream American market it is better than P&O and cheaper,

and it will down under be altering its cruises to fit in with Kiwi and Aussie cruisers

 

 

I am planning to cruise from Hawaii on the Spirit next year for 20th wedding anniversary. Cant wait and hope we can get on board as cant afford deposit till next year- we are cruising on the Pearl in Oct with our children. I do hope we can sail together then.

[carelle]

all this speculation - I have been reading this stuff for months!!!! Each one trying to outdo the other in second guessing cruise industry tactics :rolleyes:. In case you hadnt noticed, there is a global financial crisis going on and everyone is fighting for $'s - which part of the globe will fill what ship?? Companies are not rushing downunder coz us ozzies are lovely people. After the latest stock market figures, I only hope that I can keep cruising and I dont really care what the name of the ship is, or what brand it is under. I only ask that whatever the ship is, it doesnt sink from a rust driven hole and i dont get off malnourished because the food is so atrocious - I have come close to experiencing both in australian waters! Let em all come here and let the heavens rain down the dollars so we can occupy them ;)

 

 

 

Here here- I totally agree- there are not many empty cabins on any ships out of australia - they would be mad not to capilise on the GFC. Only hope I can keep cruising too

[oysterfiend]

I am planning to cruise from Hawaii on the Spirit next year for 20th wedding anniversary. Cant wait and hope we can get on board as cant afford deposit till next year- we are cruising on the Pearl in Oct with our children. I do hope we can sail together then.

 

we have our Balcony cabin booked- and making a great trip of it with 7 nights on the big island and 6 nights on Oahu- total 13 nights in Hawaii

[Kiddoisme]

Hi there

 

I have just heard that Carnival Spirit is coming to Australia - but that the reason behind this is that they are going to re-brand her to a P&O ship and she will be the replacement ship for Pacific Sun?? Very disappointed! Has anyone heard anything about this? I am already booked on the first cruise on Spirit out of Sydney and love cruising with Carnival. Hope this is all just a rumour :(

[Aus Traveller]

Hi there

 

I have just heard that Carnival Spirit is coming to Australia - but that the reason behind this is that they are going to re-brand her to a P&O ship and she will be the replacement ship for Pacific Sun?? Very disappointed! Has anyone heard anything about this? I am already booked on the first cruise on Spirit out of Sydney and love cruising with Carnival. Hope this is all just a rumour :(

True - the Carnival Spirit is coming to Australia, but I do not believe there is any suggestion she will be re-branded as a P&O ship. If Carnival Cruiselines intended to do that, surely they would have done it at the start and not spent a lot of money promoting Carnival Spirit as a Carnival ship and also had the hoop-la of how they were changing her for the Australian market.

 

Anyway - why would you be disappointed if the ship was re-branded? I would probably prefer Carnival Spirit re-branded to P&O because I think P&O has a better product. I haven't been terribly impressed when cruising on Carnival out of the USA. :D

 

It will be interesting to see out the Carnival Spirit goes. For the Corporation, it probably makes sense to keep the ship under the Carnival brand and have a separate cruiseline that can be marketed separately from their other cruise lines.

[Wyuna1]

I agree .I'am sure they will keep it as a Carnival product to give the impression of greater choice and competition. The real competition will be which accountant at HO puts what amount and what market share into which column. Carnival, Princess, P&O or to a lesser extent Cunard. Solong as we continue to have an increased choice and the so called competition continues to provide affordable cruising in an every increasing market we will all benefit.

[newfarmers]

I doubt they are going to rebrand Spirit to P&O Oz considering the fancy Carnival ad I saw on tv for the first time last night.

 

If anything, I think the opposite is eventually going to be the case...

 

For many, P&O Oz is a brand that was irreparably damaged after the Diane Brimble case, whether that damage is valid or not.

[Cruise ship fan]

I doubt they are going to rebrand Spirit to P&O Oz considering the fancy Carnival ad I saw on tv for the first time last night.

 

If anything, I think the opposite is eventually going to be the case...

 

For many, P&O Oz is a brand that was irreparably damaged after the Diane Brimble case, whether that damage is valid or not.

 

The only reason that case could of damaged P&O is because the media made a storm out of it and made it sound like it was worse then it actually was, considering similar things happen all around the world. Plus if it did do any damage why has P&O now got 4 ships, soon to be 3 and when it happened it was only 2, much smaller ships.

 

Also there will be no name changing. I am guessing the main reason they did this was to attract overseas passengers to the market. P&O Australia is hardly known in America. When many Americans they look at the market and only see a few cruise lines they know, Princess and RC, and if they decide that they are not in their tastes the just don't bother as they don't recognise P&O or they believe it is the same as P&O UK like many people from the UK believed when Ocean Village closed down and sent there ships to P&O Aus.

 

You can just look at the US ships based in Australia and they carry a much larger percentage of Americans and even when its off peak season they have more then 50%.

[Kiddoisme]

Hey guys

 

Thanks for your comments. I think I had some very misguided information. I like the idea of Carnival as Spirit was the first ship I have been on in the US and then went back the following year and went on her again. Had such a brilliant time, you can imagine the excitement when I heard she was coming to Aus. In fact I tried to plan our wedding on board however there is so much confusion between the Aussie and the US companies that I have been told by the Aussie side that it is impossible. Not to worry, have planned the wedding anyway in Melbourne that morning and will be flying to Sydney to board the first cruise. So its like a sentimental thing. I cant slam P&O as I have never been on them, but I think that the Carnival brand will do well here, and probably attract a different market share.

[Debsta]

They are spending mega bucks in advertising as the Carnival Spirit. No way are they are going to instantly give her a makeover into P&O anything.