Pacific/Carnival Encounter

[cheznandy]

Some info for anyone booked or planning on booking the repositioning cruise after drydock March 2026 on which will be by then Carnival Encounter.

The ship departs Brisbane February 3rd 2026 for Singapore for dry dock. We had booked on the return from Singapore to Brisbane March 1st 2026, 11 nights, 2  Indonesian ports, 6 seadays.

Just notified that it will not leave Singapore until Thursday 5th March 2026, now a 15night cruise with Darwin, Cairns and Airlie added as well as Lombok and Kimodo Is. I believe the following cruise from Brisbane is cancelled as this one is now 15 nights.

Anyone already booked can change over no extra cost for the 4 extra nights......so pretty happy here, a Grand Class ship under the Carnival brand, and our fav inside cabin Deck 14 aft for $1200AUD, now have an extra 4 nights, extra ports for no extra cost! $80 bucks a night for us!

When the booking disappeared I thought ok here we go, it's off somewhere else...still time for that to happen though.

It's not showing for bookings ATM as they rebook those that are doing the new itinerary.

Wonder what they are doing with an 18 day dry dock, the new itinerary shows us departing Singapore at 11pm.

 

[cruiser3775]

I've just down this cruise from Singapore to Sydney with Carnival Splendor, mostly the same ports. It was  a great route, with a nice number of sea days and some good port days, though I was not very impressed with the ship. Congrats on getting such a good price!

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, cheznandy said:

Some info for anyone booked or planning on booking the repositioning cruise after drydock March 2026 on which will be by then Carnival Encounter.

The ship departs Brisbane February 3rd 2026 for Singapore for dry dock. We had booked on the return from Singapore to Brisbane March 1st 2026, 11 nights, 2  Indonesian ports, 6 seadays.

Just notified that it will not leave Singapore until Thursday 5th March 2026, now a 15night cruise with Darwin, Cairns and Airlie added as well as Lombok and Kimodo Is. I believe the following cruise from Brisbane is cancelled as this one is now 15 nights.

Anyone already booked can change over no extra cost for the 4 extra nights......so pretty happy here, a Grand Class ship under the Carnival brand, and our fav inside cabin Deck 14 aft for $1200AUD, now have an extra 4 nights, extra ports for no extra cost! $80 bucks a night for us!

When the booking disappeared I thought ok here we go, it's off somewhere else...still time for that to happen though.

It's not showing for bookings ATM as they rebook those that are doing the new itinerary.

Wonder what they are doing with an 18 day dry dock, the new itinerary shows us departing Singapore at 11pm.

 

Good score Chez.

Encounter already had drydock scheduled as just a P&O ship, but I figure they need to add some extra days for rejigging and rebranding to a full Carnival spec.

[cheznandy]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

I've just down this cruise from Singapore to Sydney with Carnival Splendor, mostly the same ports. It was  a great route, with a nice number of sea days and some good port days, though I was not very impressed with the ship. Congrats on getting such a good price!

We did Splendor Singapore to Sydney in 2019, loved it. Back on it in a few weeks for the Melbourne cup cruise with one of my sons, he has never cruised before so won't be able to compare haha!

[MicCanberra]

nice score

[JJK2008]

@cheznandy Read your post, great deal. Certainly, sparked my curiosity. We're looking to return to Australia and will include at least one cruise of some sort. Never been to Bali or Singapore but would certainly like to visit. Took a look at P&O but that cruise from Singapore in March 2026 is not listed yet. Will be curious to see what is offered when it's released. I mentioned it to the DW, and I got the look.🙄 We have several cruises booked but only out as far as August 2025. To me something in 2026 seems like a logical addition😜. Congratulations on your great deal.

[cheznandy]

13 minutes ago, JJK2008 said:

@cheznandy Read your post, great deal. Certainly, sparked my curiosity. We're looking to return to Australia and will include at least one cruise of some sort. Never been to Bali or Singapore but would certainly like to visit. Took a look at P&O but that cruise from Singapore in March 2026 is not listed yet. Will be curious to see what is offered when it's released. I mentioned it to the DW, and I got the look.🙄 We have several cruises booked but only out as far as August 2025. To me something in 2026 seems like a logical addition😜. Congratulations on your great deal.

They took it out of the booking system when they changed the itinerary and length. Told me early October (which is now) it will be back online.

 You will be able to book it through P&O, but when it sails it will be under Carnival.

Here is a copy of the email and itinerary for your info.

We’re writing to you about a change to the Indonesian Explorer cruise on Pacific Encounter I609 that you are booked on, which was to depart Singapore on 1 March 2026. Due to a change in the schedule for Encounter’s dry dock which is taking place immediately prior to I609, we have had to change the departure date of this cruise to Thursday, 5 March 2026 and extend the duration of the cruise from 11 nights to 15 nights. We apologise that it has been necessary to make this change, but we’re pleased to let you know that the extended itinerary also features 3 additional ports - Darwin, Cairns and Airlie Beach. A copy of the new itinerary is included below. If you would like to travel on the updated itinerary, please contact us on 13 24 94 (AU) / 0800 780 716 (NZ) or if you booked through a travel agent, please contact your agent to let them know. Please note that although the cruise is now longer in duration, we will keep you on the same cruise fare booked, so you will get the additional 4 nights free of charge. Alternatively, if you do not want to travel on the new itinerary, we can cancel your booking for a full refund of the cruise fare paid. Please contact us or your travel agent by Thursday, 17th October 2024. If we haven’t heard from you by this time, we will automatically cancel your booking and provide a full refund of the fare paid.   Updated Itinerary (I609N): Date Port Thu, 5 March 2026 Singapore – departs 11pm Fri, 6 March 2026 At sea Sat, 7 March 2026 At sea Sun, 8 March 2026 Lombok, Indonesia – Full day Mon, 9 March 2026 At sea Tue, 10 March 2026 Komodo Island – Full day (At anchor - Access via tender) Wed, 11 March 2026 At sea Thu, 12 March 2026 At sea Fri, 13 March 2026 Darwin – Full day Sat, 14 March 2026 At sea Sun, 15 March 2026 At sea Mon, 16 March 2026 At sea Tue, 17 March 2026 Cairns – Full day Wed, 18 March 2026 Airlie Beach – Full day (At anchor -Access via tender) Thu, 19 March 2026 At sea Fri, 20 March 2026 Brisbane – Arrive 7am. Once again, we apologise for this change to your cruise and hope you decide to continue with the new itinerary.   Kind Regards P&O Cruises Australia

Edited 33 minutes ago by cheznandy