Carnival Cruise Line to Absorb P&O Australia in 2025

Carnival Cruise Line to Absorb P&O Australia in 2025

Carnival Corporation today announced that in March 2025, the company will sunset the P&O Cruises Australia brand and fold the Australia operations into Carnival Cruise Line, according to a press release.

The Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure ships will be rebranded and operated by the Carnival Cruise Line brand while the Pacific Explorer will exit the fleet in February of 2025, the company said.

This change is the latest in a series of what Carnival said were 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, the company said.

This will result in the addition of eight new ships to Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet in 2021, including the shift of three vessels from sister brand Costa Cruises. In addition, the company recently placed its first new ship order in half a decade for two new Excel-class cruise ships to join Carnival Cruise Line in 2027 and 2028.

“Despite increasing Carnival Cruise Line’s capacity by almost 25% since 2019 including transferring three ships from Costa Cruises, guest demand remains incredibly strong so we’re leveraging our scale in an even more meaningful way by absorbing an entire brand into the world’s most popular cruise line,” said Josh Weinstein, chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation.

“In 2019, Carnival Cruise Line was 29% of our total capacity, and when we complete this move early next year, Carnival Cruise Line – our highest-returning brand – will make up approximately 35% of our total global capacity. While our company’s overall growth between 2019 – 2028 is projected to be less than 2% (CAGR), the majority will be for Carnival Cruise Line, which will grow by approximately 50% over that period.”

In addition to further optimizing the composition of Carnival Corporation’s global brand portfolio, the realignment will strengthen the company’s performance in the South Pacific through numerous operational efficiencies, the company said in a statement.

“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.”

For P&O Australia, current itineraries will operate business as usual, and guests will be notified in the coming days of any changes to future bookings as a result of this announcement.

When the transition is complete next year, Carnival Cruise Line will have four ships in the market, including Sydney-based Carnival Splendor and Carnival Luminosa sailing seasonally from Brisbane, in addition to their new sister ships Encounter and Adventure.

Carnival Cruise Line’s new Excel-class ship, Carnival Celebration, has arrived in Southampton

Carnival Cruise Line’s new Excel-class ship, Carnival Celebration, has arrived in Southampton

The arrival marks the first new Carnival ship in the UK for 20 years

To welcome the ship, Carnival hosted local officials, travel partners and members of the media for a day of guided tours and lunch.

 

Earlier this week, the line took delivery of Celebration at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.

 

"I can’t tell you how exciting this day has been, finally giving our UK travel partners the opportunity to see our new Excel-class ship," said Carnival president Christine Duffy.

 

"Carnival Celebration is the ultimate 50th birthday gift and is a key part of a very unique and exciting period of growth for us."

The celebration has since departed on a 14-day transatlantic sailing to Miami where the line will host its naming ceremony with godmother, US model and actress Cassidy Gifford.

Including Celebration, Carnival is adding five new ships to its fleet over the next two years in a period of growth "unlike any other" in the line’s 50-year history.

 

Today, the second ship in Australia will be added as Carnival Luminosa begins guest operations in Brisbane, and next year, the third Excel-class ship Carnival Jubilee will debut from Galveston.

Carnival Cruise Line is set to embark on its "largest-ever" period of growth in its 50-year history.

Carnival Cruise Line is set to embark on its "largest-ever" period of growth in its 50-year history.

Following the launch of Carnival Luminosa earlier this year, the brand will add five more ships to its fleet over the next two years, the next being the delivery of two Excel-class vessels, Carnival Celebration to Miami and Carnival Jubilee to Texas.

As part of the expansion plan, Carnival will also introduce a new concept – "Carnival Fun Italian Style" – with two additional ships from sister brand Costa Cruises, starting with Carnival Venezia next spring, sailing year-round from New York, and Carnival Firenze in 2024 out of from Long Beach.

 

"Carnival Luminosa is a testament to our ongoing commitment to Australia, and the start of a period of growth unlike any other in Carnival’s 50-year history," said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line.

 

"Having a Brisbane-based ship has been a goal of ours for quite some time, so we are so happy that they are the first market globally to experience the big, bright, fun that this ship has to offer and so excited to give our guests more Carnival ships and itinerary options to sail over the next two years."

Luminosa – which arrived at its homeport of Brisbane on Monday (31 October) – will sail on its first cruise on 6 November and operate 28 sailings through 13 April 2023, visiting 60 ports across Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.

 

The sailings will support Carnival Australia’s anticipated $165 million contribution to the Queensland economy this year.

Carnival Cruise Line to boost fleet with two more ships

Carnival Cruise Line will take delivery of an Excel-class cruise ship (pictured is a

rendering) source: CCL

One of the vessels is an Excel-class ship that had previously been assigned to sister line AIDA Cruises that will arrive in late 2023, as well as taking ownership of Costa Magica from another of its European sister lines. Costa Magica will go through a drydock, renaming and Carnival-branded conversion before joining the fleet in mid-2022.

These two ships are in addition to the new capacity growth represented by Mardi Gras, Carnival’s first Excel-class, LNG-powered ship which starts sailing from Port Canaveral on 31 July and its sister ship Carnival Celebration, which will be delivered and sail from Miami starting late-2022, as part of Carnival’s 50th birthday festivities.

The addition of these four ships will bring the Carnival fleet to 27 by year-end 2023. The cruise line said these ships “bring many new amenities and features for guests, as well as environmental benefits and enhancements as Carnival continues to exceed and expand targets for emissions efficiencies”.

“We are excited about these additions to our fleet which reflect the strong position Carnival has established in the US, the pent-up demand we continue to see for cruise vacations, and the overall plans by Carnival Corp to optimise capacity and growth in key markets,” said Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy.

“While our immediate focus is on our restart of guest operations this summer, this is another cause for excitement at Carnival, and we will be announcing more detailed plans about homeports, itineraries and ship names very soon.”