Carnival Cruise Line to Absorb P&O Australia

[cruiser3775]

9 hours ago, Dididi said:

I won't do Carnival. I won't fly two hours to Florida to board their many (20+) behemoth booze cruises to nowhere let alone fly 13-14 time zones away.

You might find it is a different experience with Carnival around Australia and New Zealand. There are a minority of the 3-4 day "booze cruises", but they also have longer ones.  I htought I would hate Carnival Splendor, having read about the horrific decor and the party vibe, but I actually found it to be a good ship to cruise on, and have booked another.

[ceeceeDee]

Slightly off topic ............... Hubby must be feeling a bit of nostalgia with P&O going down the gurgler. He dug out the P&O cookbook we bought on a cruise back in 2016 and got busy in the kitchen this morning making Eggs Florentine. Absolutely superb. Definitely up to the standard in Angelos. Pay in the Waterfront? Nah, I'll just send him back to the kitchen.😂

[windsor26]

On 6/7/2024 at 11:07 AM, SinbadThePorter said:

 

When I was on Luminosa last year there were a number of American passengers onboard. I have also noticed that over on the Carnival CC board that there are people posting who do intend to fly 17 hours to get here and board Carnival.

 

I don't understand it myself. I wouldn't fly all the way to the Caribbean, the Med or Alaska to get on a budget cruise line. I suppose you go with what you know. 🤔

When we were on the Splendor there were loads of Americans on board and after speaking to a fair few we know why  They had a free cruise and just had to pay their air fares 

[cruiser3775]

1 hour ago, windsor26 said:

They had a free cruise and just had to pay their air fares 

Yes, I met a few like that, who were using up their cruise credits from the pandemic shutdowns. I imagine most of those are now used up, so more passengers are actually paying the going rate to cruise.

[windsor26]

32 minutes ago, cruiser3775 said:

Yes, I met a few like that, who were using up their cruise credits from the pandemic shutdowns. I imagine most of those are now used up, so more passengers are actually paying the going rate to cruise.

The ones we spoke with were all Casino free offers   and they did say they mostly were not HIGH rollers  and the free cruise also gave them casino drinks and obc for the casino

[Sparky74]

3 hours ago, windsor26 said:

When we were on the Splendor there were loads of Americans on board and after speaking to a fair few we know why  They had a free cruise and just had to pay their air fares 

 

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Yes, I met a few like that, who were using up their cruise credits from the pandemic shutdowns. I imagine most of those are now used up, so more passengers are actually paying the going rate to cruise.

 

51 minutes ago, windsor26 said:

The ones we spoke with were all Casino free offers   and they did say they mostly were not HIGH rollers  and the free cruise also gave them casino drinks and obc for the casino

When we did the transPacific on Splendor there were LOTS of Americans on the Roll Call who were sailing on a casino offer. 
That was until they worked out how much it was for an airfare home, and a passport, and… Many of them decided they couldn’t afford the "free" cruise but there was still plenty on board.
I don’t even buy raffle tickets but I'm an early riser, even on holidays. The casino was open 24 hours a day and no matter what time I walked through there was always dozens playing the pokies. Even at 4am! And I don’t think that they were earlier risers; they were still there from the previous night! 😱

[MicCanberra]

I love the Casino, even when it is packed, the bar is always free.

[arxcards]

12 hours ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

I would go as far to say Princess is a bit like what P&O Au was back before water slides and add on gimmicks  (But at a higher standard) Or should I say the old P&O Au was a bit like Princess!! 

 

As I have said before, travelling with kids I preferred P&O so will probably transition to Carnival however travelling without Kids - It's  Princess without  hesitation.

 

And I think that could be a good thing for Princess  to collect more past P&O Au  passengers looking for a similar feel and not just think Carnival is the only option. 

 

Who knows, maybe we will see an increase in Princess voyages on offer?! 🤞

Not yet. Compared to 23/24, there is one less ship for 24/25, two less ships for 25/26. Part of that is from them withdrawing from Melbourne. For those P&O cruisers that have a dislike for Carnival, I guess that in time, it will drive-up demand for Princess.

 

There is lots of choice over summer, but with our only full time based Princess doing her annual world cruise, we now get a sole choice of Carnival each winter. C'mon Royal, where are you. It looks like Carnival has kicked a bit of an own goal here, and a year round Lelepa would fill a significant void.

[arxcards]

8 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Slightly off topic ............... Hubby must be feeling a bit of nostalgia with P&O going down the gurgler. He dug out the P&O cookbook we bought on a cruise back in 2016 and got busy in the kitchen this morning making Eggs Florentine. Absolutely superb. Definitely up to the standard in Angelos. Pay in the Waterfront? Nah, I'll just send him back to the kitchen.😂

Not fair.

Barb does an excellent eggs benny, but nowadays she thinks its OK to charge me a fee.

[ceeceeDee]

9 hours ago, arxcards said:

Not fair.

Barb does an excellent eggs benny, but nowadays she thinks its OK to charge me a fee.

Darren could try charging, but I'd just hand him an invoice for our next cruise.😂

[Hogbay]

Wow so much fanfare, survived China flu , to be scrapped by Carnival , Rip Dora. 

[ceeceeDee]

9 minutes ago, Hogbay said:

Wow so much fanfare, survived China flu , to be scrapped by Carnival , Rip Dora. 

I suppose poor Dora might have a last minute reprieve. Pacific Dawn had a very narrow squeak before Ambassador picked her up. Only time will tell. After all this time it still seems a shame we our losing our home grown cruise line. P&O might not have been everyone's cup of tea, but an awful lot of people cut their cruising teeth on P&O ships and it's sad to lose a part of our history.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

I suppose poor Dora might have a last minute reprieve. Pacific Dawn had a very narrow squeak before Ambassador picked her up. Only time will tell. After all this time it still seems a shame we our losing our home grown cruise line. P&O might not have been everyone's cup of tea, but an awful lot of people cut their cruising teeth on P&O ships and it's sad to lose a part of our history.

Pacific Dawn was extremely lucky, in that the buyer who thought he had a future for the ship hadn't done his due diligence. If he had, there were no other buyers at the time and she would have been sold for scrap. 

 

Dora will also need some luck. She has a younger sister, the former Oceana/Ocean Princess. This ship was sold to Seajets in 2020 and is now called Queen of the Oceans. The ship is currently laid-up, not seeing a passenger for her new owners. The ship has been for sale for some time. Unless Dora is a more attractive purchase, it would seem there is no future for her in the secondary market. Carnival will not lay her up to await a buyer, unfortunately, scrap = cash. Not a done deal yet, either way.

 

Perhaps a cashed-up Aussie buyer can save her. Gina for Port Hedland to save on FIFO costs, or Clive could pretend she is Titanic 2, and run her aground in every port in the Pacific. Fingers crossed, we have loved cruising on these Sun class ships.

Edited June 10 by arxcards

[cruiser3775]

16 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

love the Casino, even when it is packed, the bar is always free

OK, I'll bite. I'm not a gambler at all, don't even know how to play a poker machine.  How little can I gamble on a ship's casino in order to get free drinks?

[arxcards]

One thing in Dora's favour of keeping afloat is that she has had a more active life than her sisters, all of whom are still intact.

Sun Princess - Pacific World aka Peace Boat 

Dawn Princess - still Dora for now

Sea Princess - now sailing from Tianjin, China as MS Dream. This is her 2nd post-covid owner/identity.

Ocean Princess (Oceana) - Queen of the Oceans - laid up, for sale. Either the price is too high, or there is no market for her.

 

As an Aussie cruise ship, Dora's length in service here is only surpassed by the iconic Fairstar. Crossings between Australia & Noumea are tough on cruise ships, and I can't recall much in the way of breakdowns for Dora. Her three sisters all changed ownership during the covid pause, so at least she survived Carnival's 2020 cull.

 

She will be 28 year old when she departs Fremantle in February. In comparison, Pacific Sun was only 26yo, and Pacific Dawn was 29yo. Time was just about up anyway, and her 18th February drydock date is likely one of the triggers for P&O being dissolved. If a decision had been made to not spend the drydock money on Dora, that would leave P&O Australia as a two ship fleet, with an even higher ratio of overheads.

 

Her final day for P&O is in Singapore, and that is relevant. Whether Dora is drydocked/rebranded in Singapore for another line, or just stripped of assets ready for scrap, time will tell.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

OK, I'll bite. I'm not a gambler at all, don't even know how to play a poker machine.  How little can I gamble on a ship's casino in order to get free drinks?

Not free drinks but the bar rarely has anyone at it as they are all playing the machines or tables with drinks delivered to them.

[mr walker]

2 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

OK, I'll bite. I'm not a gambler at all, don't even know how to play a poker machine.  How little can I gamble on a ship's casino in order to get free drinks?

I don't know but I am sure it's a lot more than people let on. I had a work colleague who often got a 'free' P&O cruise (3/4N) courtesy of casino play. They always downplayed their donations to the machines, but I know they were not putting just the odd $20 in 🙂 

[MicCanberra]

Drop $2000, and get a free cruise, valued at $ 1000,, but in reality costs the cruiseline next to nothing, but the passengers may drop another few grand.

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Drop $2000, and get a free cruise, valued at $ 1000,, but in reality costs the cruiseline next to nothing, but the passengers may drop another few grand.

Or worse.

[MicCanberra]

52 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Or worse.

Yeah, not drop anymore money.

[arxcards]

7 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Drop $2000, and get a free cruise, valued at $ 1000,, but in reality costs the cruiseline next to nothing, but the passengers may drop another few grand.

That is the bug. The freebies are based on turnover, not wins or losses. Any gambler will tell you they can win money on a free cruise, but in reality the house always wins.

[arxcards]

For anyone wanting to start an Aussie cruise line, Dora is now showing for sale.

1997 Cruise Ship Cruise Ship for sale - YachtWorld

 

[CDaze71]

45 minutes ago, arxcards said:

For anyone wanting to start an Aussie cruise line, Dora is now showing for sale.

1997 Cruise Ship Cruise Ship for sale - YachtWorld

 

Thanks. I've just shared this on FB and will wait for my phone to go nuts today.

[arxcards]

4 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

Thanks. I've just shared this on FB and will wait for my phone to go nuts today.

Who knows. If you all chip in $100 each, you might get lucky.

[Jean C]

29 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Who knows. If you all chip in $100 each, you might get lucky.

It's POA, who's brave enough to ask? 😂