We went as a family of 2A 1 Teenager on a 5 day Carnival cruise which at first I was reluctant to book. We had so much fun with the entertainment team we had onboard. There was an 80’s night, a silent white night, a formal night etc and so many other fun days and nights None of which involved a slide.
I hope they do keep their P & O crew, especially for the trivia, at least they include more Australian content than did the Luminosa, which I travelled on Nov. Went to one trivia about music, they didn’t read the room at all. Used all American music, yes we knew some of them, but about 40% we didn’t, they never made it over here. Wish they would do their research as to who is onboard, they seemed to take the easy way out and that’s the Entertainment’s Directors fault.
Well once again you guys have given us information re the takeover, Thank you so much for sharing this, much appreciated. Love the build a bear, I will definitely be doing this activity. We don't sail until August, we had to change our October cruise due to illness, we are first time cruisers so are really looking forward to August. Merry Christmas to all.🎄🎅🥣🎁💝
Not quite. Carnival Corporation which is a US company owns a number of cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Line Australia and P&O Australia. It is the parent Carnival Corporation that is closing P&O Australia operations and moving the ships over to Carnival Cruise Line Australia.
G’day guys, thanks for the update, I still have a couple of questions remaining in question. Encounter v Luminosa, self service laundry just about on all levels of the Encounter, good for families and is especially on longer cruises, will this service remain on the Encounter.? Unlike the Laundry service on the Luminosa which attracts a fee for this. Another new cost, the fee for using the APP has been introduced for messaging, why? Smokers, on the Encounter there were three designated ares for smokers, on the Luminosa there Is only one designated area, will the Encounter be the same as the Luninosa.?
Hi Andrew. There has been nothing said about the laundries on Encounter and as there are so many of them I cannot see that they would change them. Carnival does have laundries on other of their ships but not on Luminosa, as you say. The $ charge for the chat feature is a new cost as far as the P&O (or ex-P&O by then) ships are concerned but this cost has been there for a while on the Carnival App. Not sure why, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to change a nominal amount to use this feature for the entire cruise but they must have their reasons, I guess. There has been nothing said about changing the smoking areas and I can't really see why they would but it is the dawn of a new era with them being existing ships in Australia and Carnival wanting to 'Carnivalise' them.
I don't think so Anne. The schedules are available up until the end of 2027 but the last theme cruises are in January 2026. None scheduled after then. That's a real shame as they are always so popular. Not Carnival brand I guess.
oh wow i didnt know that you could buy food in the adventure hotel, i might check it out on our feb 90s cruise. thanks for the heads up :) just wondering, if pizza is only included in your fare 11am-4pm but available till midnight. does that mean that we can still get it up to midnight as long as we pay for it? or can i only be got during that included time?
It’s a limited menu in the Hotels Deb. More snacks than meals. As the included pizza will be from the Deck 7 Trattoria we are assuming that you will still be able to get pizza at a cost from the pizza bar on Deck 14. Haven’t seen any announcements on that and the burger bar yet.
Well my biggest issue with P&O is that after 9pm at night there is no free food available anywhere atm and if the Pizza is only going to be 4pm in the afternoon it will be the same once again.
I have done 5 cruises on P&O and 1 on Princess so far, I have 4 more cruises on P&O to do before the changeover happens and I am Platinum on Princess also I have a big cruise a Circumnavigation around Australia next year on Crown Princess and a 3 day cruise on Discovery Princess and I am going to fit another Princess one in somewhere. I have done a cruise on Luminosa and had a great time I will go on some more for sure just a matter of when. I am going to miss P&O when they go though
Pizza needs to be available later than 4pm. Even kids like to have it later than that. Will all food be available later in the afternoon.? You get back from an onshore experience late afo and can’t get a feed/ afo tea until after 5:30 pm (P&0). Themed night are a pain having to take extra attire when you have to travel by air from other states to get on board. Is the food going to improve on the ex P&O ships, pantry and the three restaurants? IKEA can do a better breakfast than the Pantry can. They need to have larger food portions in the three restaurants if they aren’t going to have a supper available nor the pizza. Excluding some ports as embark/disembark possibilities is making it more cost prohibitive. The sauna and steam room are separate from Byron Beach Club, it’s ridiculous that you buy a steam and sauna pass and can’t take a dip due to the pool being fenced off for the BBC. I wouldn’t consider NZ ice cream should be treated like a specialty restaurant and the same with hotdogs etc. $30 to sit on the front of the ship for 10 seconds. Good grief. I remember the faces of those who did it, that much for that time experience. I would’ve hoped they’d dump the woke Blanc de blank show. I don’t know about being sold out all the time, as I remember the tickets being flogged over the p.a. all the time. I heard all the Sri Lanka workers were going? Put the pizza in the fridge then in your warm box later perhaps.
Coffee is only included only on the US sailings. It is not included in sailings from Australia which makes it even more confusing. Do Australians drink that much coffee that it would make it uneconomical?
Sounds like the wonderful live music, party bands are going. I love the Lollies! Not interested in parties at 10 pm, just came off Dora with the grandies (from Adelaide) and we ALL enjoyed the live music. cant see the point in a 10pm silent disco. Very disappointed that Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Auckland have been dumped as homeports. I’m from NSW originally and yes circular quay makes a spectacular sail away but this adds 💵💵💵 to cost of vacation with flights and accommodation as well as extra vacation days, not worth it for a short cruise. It’s so dismissive of the local, loyal passengers. Anyhoo heard today that Explorer is off to Singapore and a refit, so I’ll be flying there and cruising the Andaman Sea (just like I did on Star Gemini and Star Virgo years ago). Not interested in flying to Sydney to cruise to Newcastle or Eden. Just like Virgin Voyages (we were on the mermaiden) Carnival has underestimated the Australia market, our love of 70s/80s Rock, a good party band and the nut bush.
I'm in country Victoria, doing a cruise from melb was easy, 2 hour train n quick tram, no accommodation needed. Now going from Sydney or Brisbane means both acc and flight as well as 2 hour train and bus. It simply means I can't afford a cruise twice a yr. So disappointed. but your video was very informative, thanks.
Hello Rob and Ali thankyou for your feedback Carnival unfortunately is the kmart incruising and they are in it for the money P&O wasallowed to loose its traditions and become a non event for Carnival we were promised a new ship which never eventunated all our maritime history has been butchered unforunately. I am in Hobart on Queen Elizabeth as we speak she is off to Maimi to home port so we will have nomore refined tradition. I have watched the evolution since the 70's .
A big difference with the teens kids clubs is on Carnival Splendor the kids wondered in and out but on the Adventure they had to sign in and out. Hopefully this changes to the Carnival model otherwise my 13, 15 and 17 year olds will be disappointed. Also they can stay out later with friends on Carnival, the 9:30 curfew on P&O is a bit early for older teens
It doesn’t make good business sense to have 2 x carnival ships departing from both Sydney and Brisbane. One of three things will happen once dust settles from P&O departure: They will keep it as 2 ships in each port (Sydney & Brisbane), move 2 ships to service Adelaide & Fremantle (Melbourne port charges are too excessive), or they will return Splendor & Luminosa back to US & Europe market.
I agree that something will change but not sure what. It suits the cruiselines for people to believe that Melbourne port charges are too expensive but in reality they are only $32.50 per passenger (up from $28 per passenger before the last increase). Sydney, on the other hand charges $45 per passenger. I don't believe that port charges are the reason why the cruiselines left Melbourne. Anyway, Luminosa is only in Brisbane for half of the year so they might send her down south/west for a while when she returns from the US which would be something. Sydney can probably handle 2 ships but if they are both there all year round then they might send one of them off to Melbourne, Adelaide or Fremantle. It would definitely be good to see them do something to fill that gap.
I don’t think it’s the Port charges it’s the geography and the weather. Melbourne is too far south to do NQ and the PI. It’s best suited for NZ Cruises but they are longer cruises and NZ seem to be cutting back on wanting Cruise ships visit. Melbourne based cruises would suit Tasmania and perhaps Adelaide itineraries I guess.
Unfortunately ali although sydney and brisbane might have great cruise terminals and great for people that live in brisbane like yourself or in sydney but its a extra cost for melbournians like myself to fly to sydney and brisbane. So yes it’s not good for melbourne and adelaide people. Hopefully it does change as melbourne and adelaide people love to cruise as well.
Absolutely agree Joanne and we used to love cruising from Melbourne. We're hoping that with 4 ships available Carnival might decide to send one of them to either Melbourne, Adelaide or Fremantle at some time as there is definitely a market there and flying to another State to get a ship from Brisbane or Sydney isn't always a possibility for many.
I think cruising in Australia may go backwards the way things are going. The quality on P & O has dropped off significantly, they are charging for things like Cinnamon toast??? We are doing a comedy cruise next week and I think it’s our last Cruise with P & O maybe our last Cruise from Australia the way they are pricing Cruising and charging extra for everything. We liked Royal Caribbean but they have priced themselves out of the market with overpriced overcrowded ships that are not what they used to be. 24 cruises under our belt and we may just fly to Japan and do a land based holiday.
The arseholes will be dropping the military obc i am entitled to once p &o are taken over by carnival… ill just stick with princess.. and when they go, i wont be cruising any longer… they charge me a fortune to sail as a solo
Carnival Corporation did, yes but it has operated as a separate company in Australia in the same way that Carnival Cruise Lines has. Both of those companies (as well as many others) are owned by Carnival Corporation in the US but have operated as separate companies. Carnival Corporation have decided that they only want 1 Australian cruiseline.
Rob and Ali, some positives such as the loyalty program, build a bear (the grandkids are going to love it) the wonderful P&O Crew, Luke’s and the restaurants remain. Really not fussed about the free pizza (we are on holiday, not counting pennies) Not sold on not keeping the theme nights such as Blanco etc, maybe a revamp but such good fun is had on the theme nights for all ages. It will however be interesting to see if the daily entertainment remains (trivia and the like) but also how popular the 3 night cruises will be without the music themes, the Country Cruise is great but the 80’s cruises are an absolute blast and to be honest not sure the short break 3 night cruises are something we would do without a theme. Look forward to catching up next year when onboard the Encounter
Wow, he's rude. He just constantly corrects and talks over his wife. Couldn't watch it all, just wanted to ask him to let her speak and stop being so rude.
We went as a family of 2A 1 Teenager on a 5 day Carnival cruise which at first I was reluctant to book. We had so much fun with the entertainment team we had onboard. There was an 80’s night, a silent white night, a formal night etc and so many other fun days and nights None of which involved a slide.
Thanks for the update guys. Great to see your input.
Thanks Ami, loved yours too.
I hope they do keep their P & O crew, especially for the trivia, at least they include more Australian content than did the Luminosa, which I travelled on Nov. Went to one trivia about music, they didn’t read the room at all. Used all American music, yes we knew some of them, but about 40% we didn’t, they never made it over here. Wish they would do their research as to who is onboard, they seemed to take the easy way out and that’s the Entertainment’s Directors fault.
Well once again you guys have given us information re the takeover, Thank you so much for sharing this, much appreciated. Love the build a bear, I will definitely be doing this activity. We don't sail until August, we had to change our October cruise due to illness, we are first time cruisers so are really looking forward to August. Merry Christmas to all.🎄🎅🥣🎁💝
carnival has owned them since 2003 this is just like rebranding Grace Bros ro Myer
Not quite. Carnival Corporation which is a US company owns a number of cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Line Australia and P&O Australia. It is the parent Carnival Corporation that is closing P&O Australia operations and moving the ships over to Carnival Cruise Line Australia.
Some good information, thank you.
G’day guys, thanks for the update, I still have a couple of questions remaining in question.
Encounter v Luminosa, self service laundry just about on all levels of the Encounter, good for families and is especially on longer cruises, will this service remain on the Encounter.?
Unlike the Laundry service on the Luminosa which attracts a fee for this.
Another new cost, the fee for using the APP has been introduced for messaging, why?
Smokers, on the Encounter there were three designated ares for smokers, on the Luminosa there Is only one designated area, will the Encounter be the same as the Luninosa.?
Hi Andrew.
There has been nothing said about the laundries on Encounter and as there are so many of them I cannot see that they would change them. Carnival does have laundries on other of their ships but not on Luminosa, as you say.
The $ charge for the chat feature is a new cost as far as the P&O (or ex-P&O by then) ships are concerned but this cost has been there for a while on the Carnival App. Not sure why, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to change a nominal amount to use this feature for the entire cruise but they must have their reasons, I guess.
There has been nothing said about changing the smoking areas and I can't really see why they would but it is the dawn of a new era with them being existing ships in Australia and Carnival wanting to 'Carnivalise' them.
Royal Caribbean have Sorrentos pizza which is away from buffet and it works. I’ve gotten pizza and taken it back thru lift(covered)
Thank You for Sharing
Great info❤
Thanks Maggie.
Mostly it doesn’t sound too bad but I wonder whether they will have theme cruises like P & O did. Thanks for this info.
I don't think so Anne. The schedules are available up until the end of 2027 but the last theme cruises are in January 2026. None scheduled after then. That's a real shame as they are always so popular. Not Carnival brand I guess.
oh wow i didnt know that you could buy food in the adventure hotel, i might check it out on our feb 90s cruise. thanks for the heads up :) just wondering, if pizza is only included in your fare 11am-4pm but available till midnight. does that mean that we can still get it up to midnight as long as we pay for it? or can i only be got during that included time?
It’s a limited menu in the Hotels Deb. More snacks than meals. As the included pizza will be from the Deck 7 Trattoria we are assuming that you will still be able to get pizza at a cost from the pizza bar on Deck 14. Haven’t seen any announcements on that and the burger bar yet.
I think the big attraction for people to P&O is the Theme nights they had so if they go a lot of people will be disappointed.
Well my biggest issue with P&O is that after 9pm at night there is no free food available anywhere atm and if the Pizza is only going to be 4pm in the afternoon it will be the same once again.
I have done 5 cruises on P&O and 1 on Princess so far, I have 4 more cruises on P&O to do before the changeover happens and I am Platinum on Princess also I have a big cruise a Circumnavigation around Australia next year on Crown Princess and a 3 day cruise on Discovery Princess and I am going to fit another Princess one in somewhere. I have done a cruise on Luminosa and had a great time I will go on some more for sure just a matter of when. I am going to miss P&O when they go though
Pizza needs to be available later than 4pm. Even kids like to have it later than that. Will all food be available later in the afternoon.? You get back from an onshore experience late afo and can’t get a feed/ afo tea until after 5:30 pm (P&0). Themed night are a pain having to take extra attire when you have to travel by air from other states to get on board. Is the food going to improve on the ex P&O ships, pantry and the three restaurants? IKEA can do a better breakfast than the Pantry can. They need to have larger food portions in the three restaurants if they aren’t going to have a supper available nor the pizza. Excluding some ports as embark/disembark possibilities is making it more cost prohibitive. The sauna and steam room are separate from Byron Beach Club, it’s ridiculous that you buy a steam and sauna pass and can’t take a dip due to the pool being fenced off for the BBC. I wouldn’t consider NZ ice cream should be treated like a specialty restaurant and the same with hotdogs etc. $30 to sit on the front of the ship for 10 seconds. Good grief. I remember the faces of those who did it, that much for that time experience. I would’ve hoped they’d dump the woke Blanc de blank show. I don’t know about being sold out all the time, as I remember the tickets being flogged over the p.a. all the time. I heard all the Sri Lanka workers were going? Put the pizza in the fridge then in your warm box later perhaps.
The price for the NZ icecream is outrageously priced si I was hoping the swirl would have come across too. $6.50 for single cone ice cream not cheap.
Does the luminosa have build a bear? Thanks for all your valid information guys!! 👍 🎉
Yes, it does. In fact, that's where ours came from.
@robandalicruisetravel THANK YOU for replying 🌼 My 9yr old will be jumping out of her skin!!
Hi, when you google what you get with a drinks package on carnival it states that coffee are included so now I'm confused
Coffee is only included only on the US sailings. It is not included in sailings from Australia which makes it even more confusing. Do Australians drink that much coffee that it would make it uneconomical?
@robandalicruisetravel we do love a good coffee Downunder, so I think it would economically sound
Sounds like the wonderful live music, party bands are going. I love the Lollies!
Not interested in parties at 10 pm, just came off Dora with the grandies (from Adelaide) and we ALL enjoyed the live music. cant see the point in a 10pm silent disco. Very disappointed that Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne, Auckland have been dumped as homeports. I’m from NSW originally and yes circular quay makes a spectacular sail away but this adds 💵💵💵 to cost of vacation with flights and accommodation as well as extra vacation days, not worth it for a short cruise. It’s so dismissive of the local, loyal passengers. Anyhoo heard today that Explorer is off to Singapore and a refit, so I’ll be flying there and cruising the Andaman Sea (just like I did on Star Gemini and Star Virgo years ago). Not interested in flying to Sydney to cruise to Newcastle or Eden. Just like Virgin Voyages (we were on the mermaiden) Carnival has underestimated the Australia market, our love of 70s/80s Rock, a good party band and the nut bush.
I'm in country Victoria, doing a cruise from melb was easy, 2 hour train n quick tram, no accommodation needed. Now going from Sydney or Brisbane means both acc and flight as well as 2 hour train and bus. It simply means I can't afford a cruise twice a yr. So disappointed.
but your video was very informative, thanks.
And Perth
As a New Zealander I think we’re still very sore about no more sailings out of Auckland
Hello Rob and Ali thankyou for your feedback Carnival unfortunately is the kmart incruising and they are in it for the money P&O wasallowed to loose its traditions and become a non event for Carnival we were promised a new ship which never eventunated all our maritime history has been butchered unforunately. I am in Hobart on Queen Elizabeth as we speak she is off to Maimi to home port so we will have nomore refined tradition. I have watched the evolution since the 70's .
A big difference with the teens kids clubs is on Carnival Splendor the kids wondered in and out but on the Adventure they had to sign in and out. Hopefully this changes to the Carnival model otherwise my 13, 15 and 17 year olds will be disappointed. Also they can stay out later with friends on Carnival, the 9:30 curfew on P&O is a bit early for older teens
Rob, you keep quoting Princess? Am i missing something?
On my latest cruise they had to move the 80s Rock and Glow to Ocean Plaza because rain was coming.
It doesn’t make good business sense to have 2 x carnival ships departing from both Sydney and Brisbane. One of three things will happen once dust settles from P&O departure: They will keep it as 2 ships in each port (Sydney & Brisbane), move 2 ships to service Adelaide & Fremantle (Melbourne port charges are too excessive), or they will return Splendor & Luminosa back to US & Europe market.
I agree that something will change but not sure what. It suits the cruiselines for people to believe that Melbourne port charges are too expensive but in reality they are only $32.50 per passenger (up from $28 per passenger before the last increase). Sydney, on the other hand charges $45 per passenger. I don't believe that port charges are the reason why the cruiselines left Melbourne. Anyway, Luminosa is only in Brisbane for half of the year so they might send her down south/west for a while when she returns from the US which would be something. Sydney can probably handle 2 ships but if they are both there all year round then they might send one of them off to Melbourne, Adelaide or Fremantle. It would definitely be good to see them do something to fill that gap.
Once dust settles will reduce to 2 ships, increase prices, will lose passengers who don’t live on Eastern Seaboard.
I don’t think it’s the Port charges it’s the geography and the weather.
Melbourne is too far south to do NQ and the PI.
It’s best suited for NZ Cruises but they are longer cruises and NZ seem to be cutting back on wanting Cruise ships visit.
Melbourne based cruises would suit Tasmania and perhaps Adelaide itineraries I guess.
Unfortunately ali although sydney and brisbane might have great cruise terminals and great for people that live in brisbane like yourself or in sydney but its a extra cost for melbournians like myself to fly to sydney and brisbane. So yes it’s not good for melbourne and adelaide people. Hopefully it does change as melbourne and adelaide people love to cruise as well.
I received the updates in an email as would many other people that have future cruises with P&O.
Absolutely agree Joanne and we used to love cruising from Melbourne. We're hoping that with 4 ships available Carnival might decide to send one of them to either Melbourne, Adelaide or Fremantle at some time as there is definitely a market there and flying to another State to get a ship from Brisbane or Sydney isn't always a possibility for many.
Carnival have been very active with their advertising and promotion lately.
I loved cruising from Cairns on the Pacific Eden to PNG. That was a destination worth flying for.
What about Western Australia we have bo ship here now??????
I think cruising in Australia may go backwards the way things are going.
The quality on P & O has dropped off significantly, they are charging for things like Cinnamon toast???
We are doing a comedy cruise next week and I think it’s our last Cruise with P & O maybe our last Cruise from Australia the way they are pricing Cruising and charging extra for everything.
We liked Royal Caribbean but they have priced themselves out of the market with overpriced overcrowded ships that are not what they used to be.
24 cruises under our belt and we may just fly to Japan and do a land based holiday.
they are not spending one cent except for redundancy payouts for P&O HQ staff
They have to repaint the exteriors to the new names and change over all the signage and logos inside the ships, they are spending money.
no portable speakers or upside down pineapples allow on Carnival Ships anymore either and no water
Hey guys i hope cruise entertainer Nathan stays on
The entertainment crew rotate and cycle through very often, they rarely do longer than 6 months at a time.
They will have to wait till the contract finish.
Carni do music trivia so badly, and their buffet is gross. I'm hoping P&O wont lower their standards when Carni takes over.
The arseholes will be dropping the military obc i am entitled to once p &o are taken over by carnival… ill just stick with princess.. and when they go, i wont be cruising any longer… they charge me a fortune to sail as a solo
Carnival bought P&O 21 YEARS ago in 2003.
Carnival Corporation did, yes but it has operated as a separate company in Australia in the same way that Carnival Cruise Lines has. Both of those companies (as well as many others) are owned by Carnival Corporation in the US but have operated as separate companies. Carnival Corporation have decided that they only want 1 Australian cruiseline.
Rob and Ali, some positives such as the loyalty program, build a bear (the grandkids are going to love it) the wonderful P&O Crew, Luke’s and the restaurants remain. Really not fussed about the free pizza (we are on holiday, not counting pennies)
Not sold on not keeping the theme nights such as Blanco etc, maybe a revamp but such good fun is had on the theme nights for all ages.
It will however be interesting to see if the daily entertainment remains (trivia and the like) but also how popular the 3 night cruises will be without the music themes, the Country Cruise is great but the 80’s cruises are an absolute blast and to be honest not sure the short break 3 night cruises are something we would do without a theme.
Look forward to catching up next year when onboard the Encounter
Wow, he's rude. He just constantly corrects and talks over his wife. Couldn't watch it all, just wanted to ask him to let her speak and stop being so rude.