P&O or Carnival Australia ?

[JanDom]

Hello,

I already postet it on the P&O thread, but maybe this is the Forum to ask our question :D

 

We are a couple from Germany and are thinking of visiting Australia next year. We love cruising and already went with Carnival, NCL, RCCL, Celebrity and Holland America (and AIDA if anybody knows this German Cruiseline :)).

 

We are now thinking which cruise line will be the better choice for a cruise leaving Australia. Can anybody tell anything about this cruiselines ?

 

Here in Germany we do not get any good informations about both lines and we have to book both cruises at the internet at their pages.

 

We are in the middle 30th.

 

Thank you so much

 

Greets

Janine

[CruiserBruce]

You left out the cruise line that has perhaps the largest year around Australia presence...Princess.

[cassamanda]

Also dont forget Royal Caribbean and Celebrity

[JanDom]

Oh I am sorry. We thought of going there at late April.

 

Most of the cruise lines like RCCL, X and HAL has their ships there only in our winter month, or in the Australian summer from October / November till the beginning of April. So there won't be much cruise ships expect of I think one or two princess ships, the Carnival spirit and the 5 ships of P&O

 

We would like to go to the pacific islands, We have never been at this part of the world so we don't know which islands there are more beautiful then the others.

P&O is going to Fischi, the Spirit is going to New Caledonia...

 

Thanky :)

Janine

[The_Big_M]

That's actually an excellent time to go there.

 

As for which is better, Noumea is the most developed/city like destination. The other ports usually visited there are more relaxing "beach" sort of island destinations.

 

Fiji is more populated, relatively less developed, and generally gets more tourism as it's still scenic and has more resorts, flights and connections.

 

For me, I prefer the South Pacific ones as they are more serene. But each preference is different and it's not that either is a bad choice.

[JanDom]

Actually here are the stops of the ships

 

Carnival Spirit :

(leaving from Sydney)

Lifou Isle

Mystery Island

Mare

Noumea

 

P&O Dawn

(leaving from Brisbane)

Isle of Pines

Suva

Port Denerau

Vila

Pentecost

[JanDom]

In Germany it is hard to find informations about these stops.

I ordered a book in English so hopefully it will help a little bit.

 

So I am happy about evertything you can tell me :D

[kuldalai]

P & O Australia is the »pits» all the old hand me down boats from elsewhere in the Carnival Group re badged. Other lines offer a much better cruise experience.

[bigdavefc]

We have sailed on carnival spirit and absolutely loved it. To make things even better, it has just had a dry dock where it has been given a freshen up and improvements have been made. We haven't been on P&o but family has and they said the ships were older, smaller and not as nice.

 

In terms of the south pacific area, we much preferred New Caledonia (Noumea, Lifou and Isle of pines) than we did Fiji. We loved it so much we are going back that way with Carnival to do Vanuatu and New Caledonia next year.

 

Good luck with whatever you choose.

[Foxlins]

I would pick Carnival as well. For both the Itinerary and the ship.

 

Whichever way you go, you are in for a treat, the South Pacific is a beautiful area.

[stingau]

I would firstly choose princess then carnival. I would avoid P&O at all costs.

Maybe it was just our bad experience but they would be one of the most dishonest companies to deal with.

[cruiselover53]

If you want to see something really remarkable go to Pentecost Island.This is where they do the land diving.

 

http://www.vanuatu.travel/index.php/fr/discover-the-islands/pentecost-and-maewo

 

You won't see this anywhere else in the world.They only do it for a few weeks each year.The ship only stops there when the islanders are doing it.

[bazzaw]

My wife and I have traveled a lot - all over the World. When we find ourselves going to a particular place that we don't know much about - I do a Google IMAGES search on each place. These image searches tend to come up with the most commonly taken photos - ie the most famous sights at that place

 

so, for example, Lifou comes up with https://goo.gl/vawX2H Look here for Isle of Pines https://goo.gl/yIv6TE ETc, Etc

[Missy14]

Hello,

I already postet it on the P&O thread, but maybe this is the Forum to ask our question :D

 

We are a couple from Germany and are thinking of visiting Australia next year. We love cruising and already went with Carnival, NCL, RCCL, Celebrity and Holland America (and AIDA if anybody knows this German Cruiseline :)).

 

We are now thinking which cruise line will be the better choice for a cruise leaving Australia. Can anybody tell anything about this cruiselines ?

 

Here in Germany we do not get any good informations about both lines and we have to book both cruises at the internet at their pages.

 

We are in the middle 30th.

 

Thank you so much

 

Greets

Janine

As stated by others the cheapest is P&O here and from what I hear they are your budget cruise line, if that is what you are happy to use to get to certain places then use them. One of their ships is fairly new so it have a higher standard. Don't know from my personal experience. Check out the ship reviews online. Have sailed Royal Caribbean and Princess here and they are a much better standard. As you are thinking of coming in April 2016 have you considered the repositioning cruises out of Sydney to Honolulu with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, not sure if Princess is going that direction next year. It is about 16-17 days and then onto to America and Canada. Missy14

[Hobart18]

Hello,

I already postet it on the P&O thread, but maybe this is the Forum to ask our question :D

 

We are a couple from Germany and are thinking of visiting Australia next year. We love cruising and already went with Carnival, NCL, RCCL, Celebrity and Holland America (and AIDA if anybody knows this German Cruiseline :)).

 

We are now thinking which cruise line will be the better choice for a cruise leaving Australia. Can anybody tell anything about this cruiselines ?

 

Here in Germany we do not get any good informations about both lines and we have to book both cruises at the internet at their pages.

 

We are in the middle 30th.

 

Thank you so much

 

Greets

Janine

 

 

Hi Janine,

I have just been doing a little research for you.

Are you going to cruise from Australia to the Pacific Islands?, if so I have found the following cruises for you around the time of year you require.

I am a little bit biased but Princess is a really good cruise line to go with.

We have a new cruise ship coming to Australia in October, she is setting off from San Fransisco tomorrow to sail at least till 2019 around Australia/NewZealand, Pacific Island and Asia. She is a newly refurbished ship.

If you want to check her out you can look at Sheeba's fabulous video she made 2105 Full Tour Golden Princess, it is about 23 minutes. This is a You Tube presentation, well worth watching.

 

Here are the dates for the ships -

Golden Princess -

05/4/2016 - 14 Nights Fiji and South Pacific Melbourne/Melbourne

21/4/2016 - 13 Nights Fiji South Pacific Sydney/Sydney

04/5/2016 - 15 Nights Papua New Guinea/South Pacific Sydney/Sydney

Dawn Princess -

05/5/2016 - 14 Nights Fiji/South Pacific - Sydney/Sydney

Carnival Spirit -

27/3/2016 -11 Days South Pacific - Sydney/Sydney

07/4/2016 - 8 Days South Pacific - Sydney/Sydney

15/4/2016 - 10 Days South Pacific - Sydney/Sydney

25/4/2016 - 8 Days South Pacific - Sydney/Sydney

Carnival Legend -

26/3/2016 - 10 Days Pacific Islands - Sydney/Sydney

10/4/2016 - 8 Days Pacific Islands - Sydney/Sydney

 

I wouldn't go on P & O as stated before these are all very old ships and mainly cater for the younger generation ie teenagers/mid 20s

Carnival is also for the younger generation as well and the older generation, the Spirit rides well. I haven't been on either Celebrity or Royal Carribbean. I do know that Princess is highly regarded down under her is Oz and New Zealand. I hope this helps you.

 

Regards :):)

[JanDom]

Thank you so much for your research.

If we compare the cruises, the cruises are very different to each other (we have to pay the Euro fares ...).

You won't get a balcony cabin on princess under 2600 € per person ...

The Carnival Spirit a balcony cabin will only be 1300 €.

 

We also have to pay the long flights, this is why we are comparing prices a litte bit, so this is why we ask about the spirit.

 

If the Spirit is almost the same then RCCL and Princess is, then we have to ask ourselves what to do ....

 

Greets

Janine

[peter.kath@hotmail.com]

We have just returned from our 1st cruise on the Carnival Spirit from Singapore to Sydney and although we had a fantastic time we found the ship a bit busy for us. We have cruised about 10 times with P & O on the Dawn and the Jewel and although are not flash we have always enjoyed them. We have cruised the last 3 years on the Dawn on a similar itinerary mainly to see the land diving on Pentecost. The first visit was astounding, the second time missed port due to bad weather and last year not as good but still enjoyable. We love Fiji and our next cruise is on the P & O Pacific Aria on the 4th March Noumea, Nuku'alofa, Vavau, Suva,Port Denarau and Vila and we can't wait for our first visit to Tonga.

[JanDom]

You will Love this ship- it is one of the HAL ships coming in November , Right ?

We sailed the Statendam in May and loved the sized, and Even it is older, it is very nice !!!

 

Greets

Janine

[gogo65]

We have done RCCL, celebrity, p&o and carnival. Sorry to say carnival is at the bottom of my list, besides the adult pool area, there was nothing that stood out. Service was poor, food was poor and the furnishings are downright ugly.

If you don't mind the smaller ship, with less amenities then I'd pick p& o and doing Pentecost would be something special.

I'm sure you'll enjoy regardless!

[Suzbluz]

I would be happy with either. I haven't been on the Dawn but have done the Jewel and I really liked P&O. I have done Carnival Spirit too and it was also great. We are in our 40s and travel with a 14 year old boy. I don't think there is that much difference really, although the Spirit will be bigger. Of the two I would do the Fiji one because I like the itinerary. I loved Fiji because I like to do and see new things, I am not really one to lie on the beach but if you like snorkeling and relaxing on a beach those small islands like Lifou and Isle of Pines are magnificent. Of all those stops, Isle of the Pines is the most beautiful in my opinion although I haven't been to Pentacost. If you want to do a more cultural/tour based itinerary then the Fiji one would be better. The cruises will be full of Australians and some of us can be quite loud even to those Australians like my family who are much quieter, so be prepared for that but with an open mind and relaxed attitude you will have heaps of fun. Good luck choosing!

[JanDom]

Some weeks ago, we decided the flights will be too long. But cause we can't forget that we maybe have the chance to go to the Pacific Islands and Australia, we are thinking of going again.

We maybe will go over the emirates to stop there after 7 hours and have then another 7hours flight to Singapore. Stay there for a night and a day and then going over to Australia...

 

We are now thinking about these trips :

 

Pacific Aria :

Sydney - Noumea - Mystery Island - Port Vila - Lifou - Isle of Pines - Sydney

 

Pacific Jewel :

Sydney - Isle of Pines - Mystery Island - Port Vila - Champagne Bay - Santo - Sydney

 

Pacific Eden :

Fremantle - Komodo Island - Makassar - Lombok - Probolinggo - Bali - Fremantle

 

any suggestions for us ?

 

Thank you

 

Greets

Janine

[Suzbluz]

Hi Janine

 

You are right, flights from Europe are incredibly long. If it was me I would do it with one stopover but we Australians are used to long travel times to get anywhere!

 

I would choose one of the Sydney cruises. Perth/Fremantle are very isolated over there and a long, long way from anything else. If you fly into Sydney you are short flights away from Brisbane or Melbourne and a three hour drive from Canberra but in Perth you are a four hour flight away from any of the eastern cities. I haven't been to any of the stops on that cruise except Bali so from that perspective I cant really help sorry.

 

Both the other cruises look lovely. Of the two I would choose the Jewel because I haven't been to Champagne Bay or Santo and Santo is apparently beautiful. They filmed Blue Lagoon there, you would be too young to remember that movie but if you ever see it, that is where it was.

 

Noumea - Nice, lots of excursions available, went there on two cruises. We did tchou tchou train, good introduction to Noumea. Next time would do Amadee Island. Shops not open 7 days, I think they close Sundays but even then there are things to do. French speaking, expensive but you don't have to shop.

 

Mystery Island - good for swimming/lying on beach. Uninhabited but locals sail over and offer tours and trinkets. Tours are same as offered on ship but less expensive.

 

Port Vila - Not all shops open 7 days but plenty of tours to do. If you go here, seek some advice about the taxi drivers at the port. Cheap duty free alcohol.

 

Lifou and Isle of Pines - amazing snorkeling but not much else. Really pretty though! Isle of Pines is my favourite of the small islands.

 

And of course there is Sydney where there is heaps to do. Jewel is a bigger ship but not as big as Carnival Spirit and as I said, I liked it.

 

Cruising the islands is a really inexpensive way to see several different places. It is a different experience for everyone. I love the port days and my partner and son love the sea days better but there is something for everyone and you will be as busy or not as you choose to be. Now I want to book another cruise!

[MicCanberra]

Just to let you know, the Pacific Aria and the Pacific Eden are new to P&O but were (currently being converted/refurbished) HAL's Ryndam and Statendam.:D

[JanDom]

Just to let you know, the Pacific Aria and the Pacific Eden are new to P&O but were (currently being converted/refurbished) HAL's Ryndam and Statendam.:D

 

Thank you,

we sailed on Statendam in May :)

So we would know the outside of the ships ...

inside they have new colours, new Restaurants, new styles --

but we loved the Statendam :)

[JanDom]

@SuzBluz

 

Thank you so much for your answer.

The tours from Sydney are my favourite too. The only good thing on Perth will be a shorter flight I think.

Because the other cruises from Sydney will be a little bit shorter we will have some more time going to visit Australia.

 

Do you have advices what to do for a week there ?

Going to Ayers Rock ? The Great Barrier Reef ?

 

Thank you so much :D