January Update: Here Are the Latest Five Cruise Ship Moves

January Update: Here Are the Latest Five Cruise Ship Moves

Cruise Industry News looks at some of the key ship transactions and moves that took place in recent weeks.

Pacific Explorer
Company: P&O Cruises Australia
Capacity: 1,998 guests
Tonnage: 77,000
Year built: 1997
Move: Sold to Resorts World Cruises
Date: December 2024

Currently in service for P&O Cruises Australia, the Pacific Explorer was sold to Resorts World Cruises in December.

Set to be renamed Star Scorpio, the 1997-built ship will launch service for its new operator in March, offering a series of cruises in Southeast Asia.

Maud
Company: HX Expeditions
Capacity: 500 guests
Tonnage: 16,151
Year built: 2003
Move: Transferred to Hurtigruten’s coastal service
Date: November 2024

The Maud was transferred back to Hurtigruten’s coastal service in November after three years offering expedition cruises for HX.

Before resuming its regular schedule on the Norwegian coast, the 2003-built ship regained its original name, the Midnatsol.

Renaissance
Company: CFC – Compagnie Française de Croisières
Capacity: 1,258 guests
Tonnage: 55,451
Year built: 1993
Move: To be jointly operated by CFC, Ambassador and Corendon in 2025-26
Date: January 2025

Now part of the Ambassador Group, CFC’s Renaissance is set to spend the upcoming winter season in the Caribbean as part of a joint operation with Ambassador Cruise Line and Corendon.

Starting in October, the ship will offer itineraries departing from Barbados, Martinique and Curaçao as part of a fly-cruise operation aimed at guests from the UK, France and the Netherlands.

Celebrity Xpedition
Company: Celebrity Cruises
Capacity: 100 guests
Tonnage: 2,842
Year built: 2001
Move: Handed over to National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions
Date: January 2025

The Xpedition was delivered to National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions in January 2025, after completing a final sailing for Celebrity Cruises.

The 2001-built ship is now set to undergo a refurbishment before joining the fleet of its new operator as the National Geographic Gemini in March.

Celebrity Xploration
Company: Celebrity Cruises
Capacity: 16 guests
Tonnage: 317
Year built: 2007
Move: Handed over to National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions
Date: January 2025

The Xploration was also handed over to National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions in January, after wrapping up its sailing career with Celebrity Cruises.

Currently in Ecuador, the catamaran, which will be renamed the National Geographic Delfina, is scheduled to undergo a refit ahead of its debut for Lindblad next February.

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.

P&O Australia’s Pacific Encounter Sets Course for Return to Sydney

P&O Australia’s Pacific Encounter Sets Course for Return to Sydney

P&O Australia’s Pacific Encounter departed from Singapore and will return to Sydney Harbour on August 2, according to a press release.

The Pacific Encounter becomes the second cruise ship of P&O to homeport in Sydney for a short encounter before sailing to Brisbane. The Pacific Explorer also visited Sydney earlier this year for the first time in more than two years, according to the company.

“Knowing that we have a second P&O ship only weeks away reminds us all that cruising is making a return to normal scheduling. This is a testament to our onboard and shoreside teams and to the many P&O passengers who were patiently waiting during the pause for the opportunity to cruise again,” said Marguerite Fitzgerald, president, Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises.

“We can’t wait for Pacific Encounter to depart on her first guest cruise from Brisbane on August 20, a 7-night Barrier Reef Discovery Cruise. This itinerary will include Pacific Encounters' maiden call to Cairns helping to bring cruise tourism back to Far North Queensland,” she added.

P&O Australia International Crew Takes The Stage

P&O Australia International Crew Takes The Stage

P&O Australia Cruises' Pacific Explorer hosted the company's International Crew Talent Show on Tuesday, according to a press release.

The International Crew Talent show marked another milestone in the company's resumption of operations, and crew members took the stage of the Marquee Theatre for a ten-act show that included singing, dancing, and a musical show, according to P&O.

Crew members from bars and restaurants, reception, and accommodation showcased their talents and participated in the show, which was a mix of Australia’s Got Talent and a Royal Variety Performance.

Pacific Explorer Returns Home to Australia

Pacific Explorer Returns Home to Australia

The Pacific Explorer from P&O Cruises Australia is back in Sydney, having sailed into the iconic harbour on Monday morning.

The company said the ship had returned home. The vessel received a spectacular welcome home with a ceremonial water cannon salute celebrating her arrival – marking the start of the rebuild of the $5 billion a year Australian cruise industry, the company said.

The Pacific Explorer became the first cruise ship to return to Australia in more than two years, passing through Sydney Heads at about 9.30am before gliding into Circular Quay mid-morning with an escort of official vessels and Sydney "boaties."

Her arrival marked a 28-day voyage from Europe where the ship has been paused for much of the past two years waiting to come home to Australia.

The first revenue sailing is set to depart on May 31.

P&O Australia Extends Pause in Operations Until March 3, 2022

P&O Pacific Exprorer

P&O Cruises Australia has extended its pause in operations until March 3, 2022.

“Despite tentative signs of a restart to cruising in Australia, uncertainty continues on the timing of when federal and state governments will allow cruising to resume. Given this difficult situation, P&O Cruises Australia has decided to further extend its pause in operations to March 3, 2022,” P&O Cruises Australia’s President Sture Myrmell said, according to the cruise line’s Facebook post.

According to the statement, the extended pause applies to cruises scheduled to depart between Feb. 15, 2022, and March 3, 2022, from Sydney and Brisbane.

According to him, the complex logistics necessary to have a ship back in Australian waters will take several months for once a return to service and accompanying protocols become clear.

“We are sorry for this disruption to your holiday plans. Our team will make contact with all guests whose cruises are affected by the pause extension,” Myrmell noted. “In the meantime, we want you to have certainty in relation to your holiday plans and to limit any inconvenience as much as we can. We hope that the pathway for the resumption of cruising becomes clearer as society continues to re-open and other forms of travel are able to resume.”

P&O Cruises Celebrates Australia Day in Sydney Harbour

For the eighth year running, P&O Cruises celebrated Australia Day on Sydney Harbour with nearly 2000 guests onboard the Pacific Explorer enjoying a giant deck party jam-packed with Australia-filled activities including the cruise line's annual "Look Like an Aussie Legend" competition, thong throwing contests, meat pie eating championships and an Australian national anthem sing-off.

Carnival Splendor To Make Drastic Move To P&O In 2019

Carnival Splendor To Make Drastic Move To P&O In 2019

Carnival Splendor will be transferred to P&O Australia 

Carnival Cruise Line has just revealed that its vessel, Carnival Splendor, will be transferred to P&O Cruises Australia in late 2019.

The move is to boost guest capacity and maintain the line’s growth in the Australian market. The 113,000gt Carnival ship is 50% larger than P&O’s biggest ship and will accommodate 3,000 guests.

P&O Cruises Australia president, Sture Myrmell, stated: ‘Welcoming a transformed and renamed Carnival Splendor to the P&O Cruises’ fleet in 2019 on the back of the addition of Pacific Explorer in mid 2017 cements our position as Australia’s leading cruise line and the only true home grown Australia brand’.

‘In four years P&O Cruises will have doubled capacity by welcoming four ships- Pacific Aria, Pacific Eden and Pacific Explorer as well as the additional ship in 2019- as part of the remarkable evolution of the brand’.

A newbuild originally designed for P&O Cruises Australia will now join the Carnival fleet as the third in its Vista Class whilst Carnival Splendor will be transformed into P&O Cruises Australia.

Myrmell continues: ‘We benefit from being part of a global organisation with a worldwide fleet of cruise ships that ensure we have the flexibility to make the most of opportunities in our region and to adjust our strategies accordingly. Having reviewed the market, we believe a 3,000 passenger ship is the right sized ship for the P&O fleet to drive further sustained growth in our market.’

P&O Cruises Australia hopes that Carnival Splendor will enable it to maintain its position as the region’s largest and longest-serving cruise operator.

Before joining the fleet, Carnival Splendor will be refurbished ‘to reflect the P&O look-and-feel and build in the experiences core to our offering’, Myrmell said. And while P&O’s desire to grow its position in an increasingly competitive market was the core reason for the change in plans, Myrmell has further stated that other longer term factors could not be ignored in the recent market review.

Carnival Splendor will join P&O at the end of 2019 and more details regarding the ship’s features and itineraries will be revealed in due course.