Carnival Cruise Line to Absorb P&O Australia

[CountessCookie]

19 hours ago, CDaze71 said:

Those bloody Yanks can stop rubbing their hands together and get their dirty mitts off our ships. They have enough choice over there, sooooo many ships. 

Yeah, I've been doing some reading over in the Carnival form (some of the attitudes have remindedme we I stay out of there). Seems a lot are excited for the possibilities the two "new" ships will bring. But they really aren't new. Wasn't P&O Australia basically been the retirement home for Princes ships? 

 

Edit: shoutout to the Aussies defending us in the other pages. 

Edited June 6 by CountessCookie

[Ondine]

P&O Au used to use Australian food on board, like milk and cereal etc.  Now that they will be USA ships then I would expect to see more long life food from America like we see on Carnival and Princess ships.  Some packaging looks the same until you look at the place of origin bit, even yoghurt, milk and cereal.  So sorry for our suppliers but another saving for Carnival.

[Vader1111]

3 hours ago, reeves35 said:

Outside of the public service and highly unionised companies, I don't think many Australians get leave loading anymore.  I haven't had it in 25 years.

Leave Loading hasn't been available in the Australian Public Service for 20+ years.  Not sure about the various state public services though.

[Mycruiseobsession]

I have noticed P&O Au have turned off all comments on their instagram page. 

 

I don't  use Facebook but I am assuming they've done the same?

[ceeceeDee]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Spoke too soon. I just got the same email as you, confirming my December cruise is still on.  A bit cheeky to tell us we should now be booking last minute P & O cruises for 2024, so we don't miss out on saying farewell.

When's your December cruise, Cruiser?

[ceeceeDee]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Yes, the emails telling us our cruise remains unaffected, but what about the vibe?

Yes, a downer

[2022cruisey]

1 hour ago, Ondine said:

P&O Au used to use Australian food on board, like milk and cereal etc.  Now that they will be USA ships then I would expect to see more long life food from America like we see on Carnival and Princess ships.  Some packaging looks the same until you look at the place of origin bit, even yoghurt, milk and cereal.  So sorry for our suppliers but another saving for Carnival.

The food is different.  Much more Australian and less artificial.  I was so pleasantly surprised by the P&O food, it tasted more real.

[ceeceeDee]

1 hour ago, CountessCookie said:

Yeah, I've been doing some reading over in the Carnival form (some of the attitudes have remindedme we I stay out of there). Seems a lot are excited for the possibilities the two "new" ships will bring. But they really aren't new. Wasn't P&O Australia basically been the retirement home for Princes ships? 

 

Edit: shoutout to the Aussies defending us in the other pages. 

Yes, I usually stay right out of forums other than Australia and New Zealand for the same reason, Countess. I also had the same thought, what are the yanks getting excited about? A couple of tired old ships when they have brand new ones and fairly recent builds at their finger tips. I suppose in some cases it might be nostalgia for those who sailed on Golden and Star back in the day, but really I imagine it would be a let down given that Adventure and Encounter are well past their prime.

[ceeceeDee]

39 minutes ago, Vader1111 said:

Leave Loading hasn't been available in the Australian Public Service for 20+ years.  Not sure about the various state public services though.

To my knowledge, State public service still pays leave loading. It wasn't paid when you took leave, but was paid out on a yearly basis (sort of like a bonus) at Christmas.

[MicCanberra]

I have always received leave loading, even now when retired. Just cruise, you eat more, drink more and exercise less.

[By The Bay]

1 hour ago, Ondine said:

 

Up until yesterday most of them didn't even have a clue that P&O Australia even existed.  Watched one (who usually knows what she is talking about) saying that P&O have 5 ships and what a good thing it was for us.  

It was the case back when...

[ceeceeDee]

The media is already sounding the death knell for poor old Dora.

 

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/travel-stories/inside-the-creepy-cruise-ship-boneyard-the-will-house-po-pacific-explorer/news-story/ecfbdf18c27d51f4aadeefb96000e9c3

[possum52]

56 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

To my knowledge, State public service still pays leave loading. It wasn't paid when you took leave, but was paid out on a yearly basis (sort of like a bonus) at Christmas.

Victorian Public Service including teaching service, and non teaching staff and emergency services all receive leave loading. I worked in a state school as non teaching staff and we received our leave loading the pay before Christmas usually. As mentioned in a previous post many Australian workers receive leave loading as part of their award and enterprise agreements.

 

 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

We also got the email reassuring us it made no difference to our upcoming bounty cruise, which I wasn't worried about at all.

 

I wonder if they'll have a big send off cruise for P&O out of Brisbane & Sydney. 

Yes, I am sure they will have something for Encounter & Adventure, as well as Pacific Explorer departing Fremantle.

 

Then they have much fanfare again a couple of weeks later when Encounter & Adventure get a red stripe.

[ilikeanswers]

2 hours ago, 2022cruisey said:

The food is different.  Much more Australian and less artificial. 

 

Coffee Creamer does not deserve to be in the category of food🤢. 

[CDaze71]

I have a question about Firenze and Venezia but I don't want to ask it over at the USA group. 

 

Do they have onboard and included in the price things like burgers (not necessarily Guys just the grill like on the Luminosa), pizzas, icecream, and Eggs Benedict etc? This could be an indication that they might do the same-ish things on Encounter and Adventure. 

 

[Haoie]

3 hours ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

I have noticed P&O Au have turned off all comments on their instagram page. 

 

I don't  use Facebook but I am assuming they've done the same?

 

 

Yes, the Facebook page is also locked down. Can't post any comments on any posts (even old ones)

[CDaze71]

Another thing I wonder about is SERENITY (Carnival's free Adults only area). I reckon they could have this where the current Byron Bay Beach Club is.

[arxcards]

4 hours ago, Ondine said:

P&O Au used to use Australian food on board, like milk and cereal etc.  Now that they will be USA ships then I would expect to see more long life food from America like we see on Carnival and Princess ships.  Some packaging looks the same until you look at the place of origin bit, even yoghurt, milk and cereal.  So sorry for our suppliers but another saving for Carnival.

Most provisions will still be sourced via their offices in North Sydney, as is currently the case on Splendor. Like P&O, they will still have soft drink from the Philippines, and plenty of cereals and the like from Asia. Fresh food ingredients will still be sourced locally, as well as wines, beers, etc.

 

I have found on Princess, Carnival & HAL that ships recently arrived from the US initially have US supplied longlife products, but they gradually move over to an Australian equivalent when their pantry runs dry. As an example, we used to go hunting for Smuckers grape jelly sachets for our daughter at breakfast time. Supplies are often exhausted late in the season and replaced with an Aussie jam. There are exceptions such as ketchup instead of tomato sauce, but in most cases it would be more expensive to be provisioning their ship via Miami.

 

But yes, if not to start with, Carnival will become more American, but I already appreciate that on Princess, HAL & Royal.

[arxcards]

13 minutes ago, Haoie said:

 

 

Yes, the Facebook page is also locked down. Can't post any comments on any posts (even old ones)

They will not have anyone available to read, moderate and respond, so it makes sense. All hands on deck to take care of cancellations and to prepare for a handover and winding up of the office roles. You can try direct messaging, but a reply will depend on how important they view your message. This is on their DM screen: Thank you for contacting us. We are receiving a high volume of enquiries during this time & are doing our best to respond as quickly as we can.

[arxcards]

14 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

Another thing I wonder about is SERENITY (Carnival's free Adults only area). I reckon they could have this where the current Byron Bay Beach Club is.

There will be lots of like for like. Not just as it was for P&O, but also how the ship was used for Princess.

 

I believe Serenity will be the tiered aft decks on 12 & 14, where P&O has their Oasis. I think Byron will be linked to Carnival's spa cabins.

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, ceeceeDee said:

Yes, I usually stay right out of forums other than Australia and New Zealand for the same reason, Countess. I also had the same thought, what are the yanks getting excited about? A couple of tired old ships when they have brand new ones and fairly recent builds at their finger tips. I suppose in some cases it might be nostalgia for those who sailed on Golden and Star back in the day, but really I imagine it would be a let down given that Adventure and Encounter are well past their prime.

Most of the interest is for a couple of their smaller ports that can't take the newer & bigger ships - sort of like it used to be at Portside in Brisbane.

[CDaze71]

3 minutes ago, arxcards said:

There will be lots of like for like. Not just as it was for P&O, but also how the ship was used for Princess.

 

I believe Serenity will be the tiered aft decks on 12 & 14, where P&O has their Oasis. I think Byron will be linked to Carnival's spa cabins.

Ahh yes I agree now I think about it. Thanks 

[jam19872016]

9 hours ago, CDaze71 said:

I have a question about Firenze and Venezia but I don't want to ask it over at the USA group. 

 

Do they have onboard and included in the price things like burgers (not necessarily Guys just the grill like on the Luminosa), pizzas, icecream, and Eggs Benedict etc? This could be an indication that they might do the same-ish things on Encounter and Adventure. 

 

Yes, all of those items are included on Firenze and Venezia although not being familiar with the current product, I can't speak to how the quality would compare to what you are paying for currently. With the exception of the burgers, none of those included items are particularly good quality but decent enough for an included food item.

 

Of course the difference is, those ships are targeted to the US audience which would not be used to paying for those items. I have to wonder who the target audience is for these upcoming Carnival branded ships? If the ships remain in Australia, I don't believe it will be marketed much to the US, they have been trying, and failing, with Splendor and Luminosa with insane bargain fares and aggressive casino comps but the flight costs are too much to attract anyone except those looking to check off a bucket list item or large amounts of disposable income and time, not repeat cruisers that would sustain the business plan long term.

[reeves35]

5 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

Yes, all of those items are included on Firenze and Venezia although not being familiar with the current product, I can't speak to how the quality would compare to what you are paying for currently. With the exception of the burgers, none of those included items are particularly good quality but decent enough for an included food item.

 

Of course the difference is, those ships are targeted to the US audience which would not be used to paying for those items. I have to wonder who the target audience is for these upcoming Carnival branded ships? If the ships remain in Australia, I don't believe it will be marketed much to the US, they have been trying, and failing, with Splendor and Luminosa with insane bargain fares and aggressive casino comps but the flight costs are too much to attract anyone except those looking to check off a bucket list item or large amounts of disposable income and time, not repeat cruisers that would sustain the business plan long term.

If you are going to do the bucket-list trip all the way from US to AU, chances are you'll make it special and therefore more likely to be heading towards a more premium offering such as Princess, HAL, Cunard or Celebrity.