Carnival Cruise Line to Absorb P&O Australia

[resordanis]

2 hours ago, rkmw said:

My Princess and p&o number is different to Carnival 

Mine too Bob

[NSWP]

But what will happen to the P&O CRUISELINGS ?  Will they become an extinct race?

[Sparky74]

9 hours ago, dizzy1948 said:

Mmm............................can't see nothing for us poor West Australians 

My booking of home port cruises (Fremantle) is like knitting - Knit one - purl one or.....miss one take one. This has been our cruising experience over the past few years. 😒 Ah well - 

DW & I move every couple of years. We get transferred and have to go wherever we’re sent. 🤷‍♂️
It’s been great living within 3 hours drive of Brisbane. We’ve been here 4 years now so I’m starting to get nervous.
If we end up in WA then I guess it will mean flying to a cruise port. 

[arxcards]

9 hours ago, Witchymob said:

Looks like we are back to being the forgotten people of the cruise world.  It was great when Princess came to WA for winter seasons from 2008 onwards and we cruised every year until 2018, then there was no cruise in 2019 the covid and now it seems it is back to looking for international lines stopping on their World cruises to pick up a sector maybe,if we are prepared to fly, which I probably am not. I do miss cruising there really is no holiday quite like it and the caravan is a poor second.

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.

[arxcards]

8 hours ago, reeves35 said:

From a marketing point of view, I would have to question how Carnival has handled this announcement.  Surely, they would have foreseen that not everyone would be thrilled by the announcement so it is puzzling that there was nothing new or interesting contained with it. 

 

A smarter move may have been to combine the closure (and Explorer retirement) announcement with something upbeat and positive like a fleet addition, a special series of farewell sailings...anything!  Instead, all we got was a dry piece of PR babble obviously written by a marketing department operative in Miami who probably hadn't heard of P&O Australia until being asked to write the press release. 

I agree.

There was also no control over the announcement. No spokesperson from Carnival Australia, P&O Australia or even from head office. Hence, nobody to spin their proposed "good news" and answer questions, which was left to those few special influencers that are lamenting the loss of their free P&O cruises. The void of info led to much of the detail being misreported, so it would seem that they didn't expect this to be the lead story on our 6pm TV news.

 

With that P&O Australia influence leaving, does our market remain significant enough for Carnival/Princess to retain our $AU onboard currency?

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Our loyalty number is the same on Princess, Carnival, and Cunard. We haven't cruised P&O.

Ours is the same for P&O, Princess, Cunard, HAL - but we have different numbers for Carnival. They should have known who we were, as Carnival was the last of the 5 that we cruised on.

Edited June 4 by arxcards
I forgot about the dam ships

[BourbonLover]

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

But what will happen to the P&O CRUISELINGS ?  Will they become an extinct race?

All I know is that I booked a few months ago on Pacific Adventure, and now I'll be sailing on Carnival Adventure. Same ship, same itinerary. As an older cruiser, I just hope that they don't start pushing the young party cruise atmosphere too hard.

Edited June 4 by BourbonLover

[bazzaw]

Don't care too much about all this - we have just about exhausted our cruising in Aussie waters. 

[arxcards]

For those interested, it looks like these are the final P&O operated cruises. There could be something else tacked-on at the end, but these are the final dates as far as available cruises go:

Pacific Encounter - 8th March, 7 nights to the Islands.

Current blackout dates are from 15th March till 5th April, for makeover and/or modified itineraries.

1st Carnival operated cruise 5th April 2025

 

Pacific Adventure - 6th march, 4 night Tangalooma.

Current blackout dates 10th March till 29th March.

1st Carnival cruise looks like 29th March, but it isn't tagged as such on P&O's site. The first Carnival cruise referenced is the following one on 7th April. As the one on 29th March isn't tagged as Carnival, it is possible that it could yet be modified.

[Amaroo Andrew]

19 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

On our Carnival Splendor transPacific cruise in 2022 the staff were continually telling me to use the app. When I explained that I’d left my phone in Australia they would grudgingly find a workaround. From knowing what was happening around the ship to looking at a menu, everything seemed to require the app as default. Even each morning when I went to the dining room for breakfast they wanted me to book in with the app. Eventually the maître de cottoned on and would see me coming and book me in but it took several mornings to train them. 
 

I must admit a certain amount of smug satisfaction when the system fell over and whole ship reverted to paper. I think the system may have crashed when we crossed the international date line.
 

Anyway, the general attitude of the staff seemed to be that I was an inconvenience. There were lots of other minor annoyances on the ship. It was the first Carnival ship to return to Australia post pandemic and I think at least part of the problem was that it was run as a US cruise rather than an Australian cruise. But the Aussies onboard were far from impressed with the cruise. We ran into a couple of "old hands", previous Carnival staff, who had been brought on to help train the staff for the Australian market. One of them was almost in tears at the attitude of the crew. We've not sailed with Carnival since but hopefully they’ve lifted their game. 
 

After we disembarked the Splendor in Sydney we had one night at home before boarding the Pacific Encounter in Brisbane. The contrast was astonishing. Better food, better service… We sailed P&O several times last year, have two booked for this year, and will possibly do a third in November. They’ve become our "go to" and the fact that they sail out of Brisbane year round has been a bonus. But I guess all good things must come to an end. 
 

Anyway, thanks for reading the ramblings of a grumpy old man. 😁

I always thought that the reason Carnival started cruising in Australia was to make P&O look good.

After a crumby NZ cruise on Carnival Legend some time back I vowed never to go on a Carnival ship, with the standard hideous interior decor, again. Dopey me gets suckered in to do that 2022 Carnival Splendor trans Pacific cruise, only to reinforce my original impressions of the Carnival Experience.

I haven't been on P&O for some time but I'm tempted to do a one off cruise on the old Dawn Princess to remember the good times on her as a Princess ship before she is pensioned off. Trying to use the P&O website to book a particular ship is a bit of a challenge.

[MicCanberra]

No doubt P&O will be missed, despite many not liking to sail on her. With Carnival taking over, time will tell if they change things too much but I doubt people who cruised regularly with P&O will just stop cruising altogether. They may not like it as much but I think with no other choice they will just cruise Carnival.

[windsor26]

15 hours ago, reeves35 said:

Yes, a permanent placement would require AUD onboard, AU power outlets etc.  Tips and gratuities are really a formatting thing.  Carnival including P&O and Princess include it in their pricing in Australia so it is not obvious; that doesn't mean they are not charging it.  I imagine RCCL would probably use the same strategy.

 

 

Not just the daily tips I was referring to but the addition to drinks and of course using US$ kills the budget for us   IF  RC  changes to use the3 same criteria as the Carnival australia format then I would be happy to cruise with them

[Over from NZ]

This is the key to it - "However, given the strategic reality of the South Pacific's small population and significantly higher operating and regulatory costs, we're adjusting our approach," he said.

 

That's coded for - Down under is a small market and not as profitable. Add to that, NZ is becoming problematic for them and other regulatory issues.. and Aus is the backwater where they want to squeeze a better return out of with less ships. Expect fewer options and increased fares I would think. 

[ilikeanswers]

11 hours ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

It will also be interresting to see how much support Carnival will give to the people in the South Pacific, like what P&O does now?

 

I would hope they don't import their Caribbean attitude to the people of the Pacific😳

[Sparky74]

37 minutes ago, windsor26 said:

Not just the daily tips I was referring to but the addition to drinks and of course using US$ kills the budget for us   IF  RC  changes to use the3 same criteria as the Carnival australia format then I would be happy to cruise with them

I’d be happy to go back to RCI but DW felt that Quantum OTS was too big.

We get the benefits of Diamond C&A status on RCI but we get shareholder OBC across the Carnival group. 
RCI cheesed me off last cruise as they’d switched to servicing  rooms once a day which wasn’t the standard when we booked and paid for the cruise. A little thing, sure, but the attitude of the staff and the way they dealt with my feedback was abysmal. Food, particularly in the buffet, wasn’t great. 
 

Lately we’ve found good value cruising with P&O but no longer have loyalty to any particular cruise-line. They all have their pros and cons. I’d love to try Cunard but it would be too formal for DW. For the time being we'll keep chasing bargains (our budget is limited) and keep cruising while it continues to offer good value for money. I just hope they don’t strip back supply and thus raise the prices. Time will tell.🤷‍♂️ 😀

[Sparky74]

14 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

This is the key to it - "However, given the strategic reality of the South Pacific's small population and significantly higher operating and regulatory costs, we're adjusting our approach," he said.

 

That's coded for - Down under is a small market and not as profitable. Add to that, NZ is becoming problematic for them and other regulatory issues.. and Aus is the backwater where they want to squeeze a better return out of with less ships. Expect fewer options and increased fares I would think. 

This is my biggest fear. 

[SinbadThePorter]

26 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

Expect fewer options and increased fares I would think. 

 

I think that's the case for the industry generally.

 

Demand is off the charts, particularly in the Caribbean, and the cruise lines are raking in the cash.

 

Until that changes, be prepared to be treated as a disposable cash cow. As opposed to the old days when we were indispensable cash cows. 🤑

[ilikeanswers]

25 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

This is the key to it - "However, given the strategic reality of the South Pacific's small population... 

 

...That's coded for - Down under is a small market and not as profitable. 

 

I wonder if the trend towards mega ships is part of the issue. I remember an article this year someone from Carnival saying something about smaller ships not being profitable enough and that they don't attract new cruisers so they don't see a reason to invest in them 🤔. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Amaroo Andrew said:

I always thought that the reason Carnival started cruising in Australia was to make P&O look good.

After a crumby NZ cruise on Carnival Legend some time back I vowed never to go on a Carnival ship, with the standard hideous interior decor, again. Dopey me gets suckered in to do that 2022 Carnival Splendor trans Pacific cruise, only to reinforce my original impressions of the Carnival Experience.

I haven't been on P&O for some time but I'm tempted to do a one off cruise on the old Dawn Princess to remember the good times on her as a Princess ship before she is pensioned off. Trying to use the P&O website to book a particular ship is a bit of a challenge.

There is a filter button where you can tag the relevant ship.

Cruise Finder | P&O Cruises Australia (pocruises.com.au)

She is off to Auckland tomorrow, then has only a handful of cruises from Melbourne, Adelaide & Freo.

 

PS: I don't think Carnival makes todays P&O look good. Some things are better on Carnival, some things are better on Carnival (IMHO).

Edited June 4 by arxcards

[SinbadThePorter]

12 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

Carnival saying something about smaller ships not being profitable enough

 

The trouble is that Oasis of the Seas doing 4 day family cruises out of Miami going to CoCo Cay, has become the benchmark for profitability. Now they are looking at ways to make more marginal markets like NZ/Oz and more marginal ships into equivalent profit centres.

[Aus Traveller]

I found my husband's account number with Carnival but not mine so I phoned them this morning. The answer was simple. They had my birthdate incorrectly recorded. It is the 5th December, but Carnival had it as the 12th May 🤣 so when I entered my details to search for the number, of course the system couldn't find it. All fixed now.

[SinbadThePorter]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

It is the 5th December, but Carnival had it as the 12th May

 

American MM/DD/YY is the bane of the computing world. 🤬

[arxcards]

52 minutes ago, Over from NZ said:

This is the key to it - "However, given the strategic reality of the South Pacific's small population and significantly higher operating and regulatory costs, we're adjusting our approach," he said.

 

That's coded for - Down under is a small market and not as profitable. Add to that, NZ is becoming problematic for them and other regulatory issues.. and Aus is the backwater where they want to squeeze a better return out of with less ships. Expect fewer options and increased fares I would think. 

Initially, it is about saving from not having two similar brands competing with other in the year-round market. Both are trying to outdo each other with advertising & marketing. Both have Australian offices to run and two distinctly different interactive web sites, customer support, social media presences. It is hard to call 3 ships a fleet, and that is a lot of hassle to go through to have less than 10,000 passengers at sea at any given time. Increased fares for sure, especiall for the 6 months of the year that they are the only brand in town.

 

Carnival Corp share price was up by 6% yesterday, so this appears to be investor driven.

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, SinbadThePorter said:

 

American MM/DD/YY is the bane of the computing world. 🤬

We have all had to get used to using the American system at times. With out numbers, they converted mine to the US system, but not my husband's DOB.

[SinbadThePorter]

5 minutes ago, arxcards said:

It is hard to call 3 ships a fleet

 

One of the stated (in passing) reasons for the change is the difficulty of repositioning P&O branded ships outside of Oz/NZ.

 

So I expect the 2025/6 season may see some movement. Fewer ships and shorter seasons.