Shock News: P&O Australia brand to be shut down. Replaced by Carnival Cruise Line.
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2024
- Very sad news this morning with the announcement that P&O Australia will be shut down in 2025, with two of its three ships absorbed into Carnival Cruise Line to improve ‘operational efficiencies’. This effectively ends the lines centuries long connection with Australia and means that Australia will no longer have a home grown cruise line.
Comments from Carnival:
In a media statement, Carnival Corp said that the change is the latest in a series of 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.
“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.”
What next:
With P&O Australia shutting in 2025, the Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure ships will be rebranded and operated by Carnival Cruise Line brand. Pacific Explorer will exit the fleet in February of 2025.
Hard to believe:
There is obviously so much to say about this. I’ll be taking a little while to absorb the news and will be posting some video analysis and commentary soon.
#P&O #pocruises #pacificencounter #pacificexplorer #pacificadventure #carnivacruiseline #cruisenews
Will you cruise Carnival when P&O closes?
No ,carnival is crap and unless they lift their game ,with the entertainment, shows ,the food ,the presentation,and service ,carnival is below P&O with all of that and I’m not paying money for a rubbish cruise line .
Not a fan of Carnival....
Nope
Never. I went once on Carnival and never again. Same with P&O. A harbinger of alcoholics and badly behaved people.
Never, their ships are tacky and gawdy looking.
As an American, it’s sad to me how Australia has lost so many home brands as of late - Holden also comes to mind.
its because our fucking corrupt government is selling us to foreign companies. Australia has become too dependent on overseas investment.
What the actual %$^*? How is this happening? P&O just celebrated 90 years here last year. They have a ''bringing it together'' campaign and then they get shut down? clearly the bean counters have taken over completely and are going mad with power. This is nuts. Aussies will NOT move to Carnival if they loved P&O the 2 lines are completely incompatible. Shocking.
The bean counters strike again, what does lord stirling have to say ????
@@mentonish Poor old Jeffrey would be just pushed aside in favour of the $ influence that Carnival demand from their investments!🙄
Chris you can really hear in your voice how much of a shock this was to you!!!
Sad! I well remember going into their fancy offices in the mid 60's situated on the Cnr's Hunter, Castlereagh and Elizabeth Streets. Our very first cruise in 2017 was on the Dawn/Explorer and the pleasure we got from that single 14 day NZ encounter led us to 25 subsequent cruises, although mostly on Princess ships.
I'm so shocked by this news...they are my favourite ships to cruise on here...just the right size...WOW!!
why, because a lot of people were sick and sick🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🙈🙈🙈🙈
Sad that such a long historical connection with Australia is of no consequence.
It's all about the $$$
WOW! Thats huge news! So sorry to hear that Chris.
So sad!
I’m a proud Aussie cruise and I am personally very happy about this. I think Carnival will make these ships a lot better and anyone who’s watched the news recently will agree with me. I will personally
Love to see guys burgers onboard as well as some other Carnival classics. 😊
Ive watched the news and i do not agree
@@abacuscalculator7478 P&O ships are in the news a lot for the wrong reasons. Plus it will be nice to finally see complimentary pizza, burgers and soft serve available
I think the prices will rise.
I'm going on my First and only P@O Ship in December
I'm so sad about this... Reminds me of when they shut down Ocean Village to send our ships to Australia. Pacific Explorer will wind up in moth balls or in a scrap yard.. sad end to this lovely ship.. IDK how Carnival colors on the funnels will make any difference.. the Aussies need their own ships for their own market... Ah well corporate profit rules again... ;-(
What the???
Heard this yesterday, with shock. We sailed on the Pacific Explorer in January 2024.
What a great shame the whole line will cease to exist soon.
Cruising has become so expensive now and P&O was an affordable option for lower budget travellers, who will now be almost totally priced out, as mega ships take over.
Im not a fan of Carnival, their ships are tacky and gawdy looking - like seedy Las Vegas gaming bars. I wont be switching.
A real hit for us nz cruisers too.
I had been expecting that, pretty much in line with the reasons given in the statement plus the brand clash with the UK operations though I thought an alternate brand such as the old "Orient" name might have been used instead.
SORRY
WHAT?!?
Man this is horrifying, I was excited to ever cruise with P&O...😢
This is very sad news to wake up to. Shame they didn’t merge with P&O Cruises UK.
As Carnival said Australia is not that important to them as its to expensive, they dont care about our cruising history as long as it fits into what they want. Thats why Australia only ever got the old clapped out tonnage. Im not talking about the lines that come herefor a couple or so months at the end of the year, and yes I was a very frequent cruser from the late 70s to 2020 on the ill fated Ruby Princess disaster
Given that Carnival had previously semi-merged P&O UK with Cunard, and grouped P&O Australia with Princess, Holland America, and Seaborne, I would have been much less surprised to see P&O Australia merged with Princess, especially since all 3 of their current ships came from Princess and there has been an officer share program in place the past 5+ years between Princess and P&O Australia anyway.
But, it sounds like Carnival branded ships were the most profitable of the larger Carnival conglomerate ships operating in the region, so that's is where there will be growth.
But also based on the press release I expect the intent is mostly, or entirely, to operate ships in the region only during Australian summer (and maybe parts of spring and fall), but reposition the ships elsewhere during Australian winter. That would be a major reason to re-brand the ships to Carnival (or Princess).
But I understand the devastated feelings about losing the Australian focused brand.
The Princess brand and target market seem much closer to P&O Australia than Carnival does.
This is such an interesting move - intrigued to see how this one develops!
Hopefully they reverse their decision asap
Devastating news. Definitely time to look at NCL or RCI for Aussie cruising in 2025.
So you’re “transferring” two P&O ships to Carnival surely you can keep them operating under the P&O banner it has a goodwill value. Something doesn’t make sense here. What’s next will Curnard go?
The mega ships are taking over now. They're basically money-making machines for the operators.
I dont cruise Carnival anywhere else on the world, and i won't be cruising Carnival in Australia either.
I was shocked to hear P&O will be no more in March next year I will miss those guys and Carnival are taking over Adventure and Encounter I am sad to see them go like this
Glad I was able to cruise on the Explorer earlier this year. Such sad and surprising news.
So sad 😢😢
I don’t think it’s good deal to close the cruise line
I feel carnival line should pull out and let this cruise line grow
What on earth…. How is this happening
Oh no. I had better book soon.😢
What a shame. I won't go on Carnival so if I travel to Australia I guess I won't do any cruising then. Unless there is still a Carnival alternative left by then. Thanks for the video.
could try Princess Cruises maybe. I think Princess will also meet a similar fate to P&O in the future, because its also owned by Carnival who are trying to merge all their brands into the one company (So there is less competition of course, to keep prices high)
Carnival has damaged the cruise market by slowly removing all the individuality that previously independent cruise lines have given us over the years. Very soon there will be no real recognisable difference in any of them for us to enjoy. Regular cruisers will have seen these changes creeping in year by year which is very sad. It would seem that everything they touch has to receive the Carnival touch of standardisation to maximise their capital investment.
this is really sad news to hear
We thought P&O would always stay with us year round and the cruise line we could rely on RIP P&O 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Sorry Chris but this whole heartedly sums up carnival corp! Truly disappointing as the association with P&O and Australia is long served - but just like Cunard, carnival just sees these two amazing companies as brands ! And has so diluted their ethos, heritage and indeed the allure - Australia isn’t the USA where carnival cruise line fits in well .. rant over !!
Will the same happen to P&O UK eventually? Wouldn't surprise me.
It won't suprise me if it also happens to Princess Cruises next. They will probably also end Costa due to bad reputation (we all rememeber the Costa Cordina right)
The excuses given for the closure don't seem to ring true. Australians pay far more for cruises than the northern hemisphere so the cruise lines are making a lot of money and cruises seem to fill up fast. With Cunard pulling out as well, will there be any Australian cruises in the future?
Good question
Very sad, prob my parents first and last p&o cruise for them next month 🥲
After 5 cruises with P&O and each one a little worse then the 1 before, I'm personally not disappointed that it's being rebranded. Hopefully Carnival up the standards significantly
Hi Chris. Encounter and Adventure rebranded, and Explorer leaving, I think they are going to scrap her altogether !! So P&O will become the red white and blue sisters and converted into Carnival ships. Are they going to keep them down under or pull them from the market altogether? With Splendor and Luminosa already there, where are they going to put the sisters?? Yes, it is true that the choices for destinations are few, and getting to more exotic locations, take more cruise time, so Carnival must know this.
I think a rebranding and putting some tonnage into farther afield cruises might be nice to spread across the South Pacific more intensively. You know NCL is sending redundant tonnage to Asia and Australia in the coming months, maybe Carnival is going to beef up their tonnage by assimilating the P&O sisters, and sending them farther afield. I think that would be a wise choice if the load factors work out.
Or, you know we could see the reverse happen. If load factors don't work out, once the sisters are assimilated, then what happens?? ALANG !! What are they going to do with old tonnage, when they clearly want to have a more youthful cruise line to cater to the Aussie market or worse, the Binge and Puke crowds of North America.
I think, with all the Asia action taking place across the lines, Cruise Lines are setting up their chips to compete on the grand scale. Let's see what they decide on.
A sad end to the Aussie P&O fleet.
I mean the Explorer is going to be 27 years old next year. Most cruise ships retire between 25 - 35 mark.
😢
Sad!😳😳😳
And if p&o Australia closes and is replaced by carnival, what will happen to all the ships in the p&o Australia fleet?
Two of the three ships will be rebranded as Carnival and the third one, Pacific explorer, will cease to exist as of February 2025.
@@lotus7419 The Pacific Explorer, which is going to be scrapped?
@@jesusmondragon8616 Yes
@@lotus7419 I am sad that they scrapped it, if I remember correctly, before Pacific Explorer it was the dawn princess and it was my first cruise, I have many memories of that ship.
Never met anyone who went on a P&O cruise anyway
My mum did. She wasn't a huge fan. I have only been on Disney cruise. I asked her which did she prefer and she said Disney cruise was much better than P&O. Disney cruise had stuff to do, whereas P&O didn't really have much onboard. So I guess its a good thing that carnival is replacing them.
Do you not know any Aussies?
what about NZ too????......love my P&O cruise
NZ is way too cold for cruising
Simply shocking. This and the very unorthodox choice of godparent for Cunard Queen Anne.
Thanks for the Sad News
It will give Carnival greater flexibility to send different ships to Australia & Asia...
In my opinion
Agreed for me the only bad news from this appears that the two old grand class P&O ships remain in Australia 🙄would nice if carnival swapped one of these out with a Vista or Dream class ship for Aus 🛳️
P&O Aus has been under the carnival Corp ownership for years , so they just re brand these ships into the carnival cl family no big deal life goes on and cruising goes on 👍🛳️
Australian team running it. It’s a big deal for them.
What sad news...........
This is very disappointing!!!!!
I cruise P & O & Carnival - NEVER again. Compared to RCCL, Princess, Celebrity & Virgin they both rated ZERO out of 10.
Odd decision. Australia is a rich and somewhat geographically isolated country with a large enough population to support a domestic cruise brand/company. This doesn't seem particularly well thought through at all. I am sure it is a matter of time before an Australian sets up a domestic line.
Mate Australians are struggling with cost of living, the last thing they would do is spend all their money on a fucking cruise
Carnival Australia cruises are nowhere near as good as P&O Australia cruises. Count me out.
Really?? This is an awful decision.
This is fantastic news! Hopefully the outrageous failure that is the suite-only Byron Bay club on the converted ships will be undone, and the top deck space restored to all passengers on board.
You think you won’t be charged extras on Carnival? 😂😂😂
Its not just P&O thats merging into sister brand Carnival.
AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America Line, and Princess Cruises into the Carnival Cruise line brand.
Carnival has owned all those brands, including P&O for years. But as of today, the only recent brand being dissolved is P&O Australia. I think Fathom might have been the next most recent Carnival brand to fold (but it also seemed to be the newest at the time).
@@ccm1767 yeah but I bet P&O is the first to go. All of Carnivals other brands will eventually also be consumed. P&O haven't been doing as well lately. Its very hard to get people on a cruise ship during a cost of living crisis where spending money on leisure holidays is the last thing many Australians are doing at the moment. In addition, new cruise experiances like Disney Cruises and Virgin Voyages have also tapped into the market. Virgin Voyages are not returning in the upcoming summer, but Disney Cruises will be returning. I was on one last year when it was new to Australia and it was packed. I was on the Wonder. I think they are bringing over one of their larger ships in the 2024/2025 summer due to high demand in bookings. I also don't think Carnival is completely abandoning us, they just need to restructure their fleet. The Caribbean market is more popular for them, so they obviously need more ships, but they will still maintain a presence here. Royal Caribbean is bringing along some of their flagship cruises and princess are still here for now. I won't be surprised if Princess will eventually merge into Carnival cruise line as both are owned by the same company and service a similar market however but time will tell. It would make sense for all of Carnivals cruise companies to all merge into the parent company if they want to achieve market dominance.
They just haven't kept up to the standard now wanted by Australian cruisers...
P&o will just rebrand. Suspect nothing changes. Just the brand disappears after it was sold long ago to carnival corp. Its (badly) managed from miami and has been for a long time. Both existong ships are to be rebranded and retained. And staff. Assume back office jobs could be merged and some jobs lost? But....passengers on future cruises will be informed this week of"changes to future bookings" ....hmmmm refits? Add the stupid whale tail?
P&O Australia has been run from Santa Clara, CA for a long time as a sister to Princess Cruises. So if you didn't like things before, I would blame them more than the people in Miami. But in the future, yes 2 current P&O Australia ships will be run more directly by Carnival from Miami. (I'm not trying to argue that you will, or should, like the Carnival brand or find the ships any way improved to your tastes in the future. But then some people will see the change as positive. We each have our own preferences.)
I think all of Carnivals other companies will soon rebrand. Princess Cruises is kinda similar to P&O. Meanwhile costa will probably fold due to bad reputation (we all remember that sinking ship back in 2012)
I won’t be going on carnival , it’s crap the food is disgusting and the service is not much better they better lift their game before I even consider ever doing another carnival cruise , pno is leaps and bounds better .
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
@@kennywalker4091 I’ve done both and carnival is crap and the people that think differently are the people that get drunk and just drink and don’t care about the food and entertainment .p&O have better food and better entertainment by far and carnival don’t, carnival is like Kmart , bargain basement.
Ive been with P&O which had a good feel about it, and unfortunately "Carnival" which i definitely wont repeat. I guess Cunard are the only ones left, as long as they don't stuff up as well. I'm not that fussed on the new Queen Anne, long live the Queen Elizabeth.
Princess is also owned by Carnival
@@annmillar1481 been there done that - not my thing.
Not a lot of Cunard cruises left in Aus/NZ with QE moving to Florida after 2025. World cruises on the way past is all
Cunard will be next I bet. We need to stop the destruction of British and Australian nautical heritage.
I think Princess will be next. Maybe then Costa (because of bad reputation)
@@electro_sykes depends. Both of them are far bigger than Cunard, and would be hard to absorb.
….I doubt Cunard, the most prestigious brand Carnival has, will disappear. 180 years of history, four ships, one of them the only ocean liner afloat in service and the fourth one brand spanking new. The reputation of Cunard is too large for Carnival to wind up, especially given a world-wide presence. P&O Australia is a strategic move related to load factors and cost. The British arm will remain. Carnival needs the other brands as each offers a differing product into the market, but the affected Australian operation is affected by recent decisions by Virgin, Cunard and others to review their Australian presence to the detriment of the Australian domestic market.
Personally I’m flying to Europe soon to join a transatlantic on QM2 to NYC. Something Australian consumers will need to contemplate more and more. Travelling elsewhere to voyage on ships….
Hi Chris, not sure how you think this is an Australian homegrown cruise line. It was British for long enough until the Americans took over the line and just like Cunard ruined the line. P&O Australia was only registered as far as I can see in 2000 unless I have the wrong information but it never was an Australian-owned cruise line. Name registered here in Australia, but never owned by Australians.
Hi Doug. I think there are more metrics to the term 'home grown' than simply ownership. The brand's origins do date to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co, but the establishment of a permanently based cruise line division, headquartered in Sydney, sailing year-round from Australia, with a fleet of ships home ported in Australia, and offering a uniquely Australian onboard experience is unique in the market. No other brand is currently offering such a thing to the Australian market - a wholly Australian cruise experience. Countless Aussies have worked to build this cruise brand. P&O has a heritage in Australia (as a line voyage line) that predates Australian federation, and line's cruising in Australia was pioneered in 1932 by the Australian team. More recently, P&O Cruises as we see it today was built off the back of Aussie employees, and leaders such as Ann Sherry AO, David Jones and Marguerite Fitzgerald - all Aussies. Hopefully that helps clarify my thinking. Cheers. Chris.
Great reply Chris.
Carnival > P&O anyways
All pleasures in life are being removed-
What about Princess
I think they will be next to go. Honestly if I was management of Carnival, Merging all the brands into one single brand "Carnival" would give great flexibility, the worlds biggest fleet and would also allow us to raise prices
@@electro_sykes We have cruised with P&O Aust & Princess plus RC & IMHO Princess were the best, after all the P&O ships here were all ex Princess or Costa hand me downs
Goodbye floating nursing home.
👋 👵 👴 🛳️
Hello Luxury Cruises.
Oh not carnival the worst company in the world everything is cheap a