- The Pacific Adventure arrived in Sydney this morning – her last call ever under the P&O Cruises Australia flag – as Carnival Cruise Lines revealed the new livery under which the new ships will sail after their “wet dock” this month.
- While many are still in shock at the loss – a senior Carnival executive writes this week it is “creeping Americanisation of Australia” – cruisers are now turning to what the experience will be like.
- The one question still to be answered: Will the new P&O/Carnival ships be more expensive?
The Pacific Adventure sailed into Sydney today on its final journey as Carnival Australia revealed the livery change that will take place while Adventure and Encounter are moored in Melbourne until the end of the month.
The two ships will follow in the footsteps of Carnival Splendor – which ironically also sailed in this morning – which was given a unique to this ship while visiting dry dock in August of 2024.
Gone is the blue swoosh and star at the front of the ships.
Carnival Encounter will feature a white hull with a red stripe, while Carnival Adventure will have a white hull with a blue or turquoise accent.
Like Carnival Splendor, the former P&O ships will also feature an upgraded Carnival logo on their mid-ship hulls, complete with a stylized swoop and stars that are meant to represent the Southern Cross.
Neither will have the iconic winged funnel of the Fun Ships, instead simply sporting a Carnival logo.
The debate over the changes continued this week with a senior Carnival executive claiming: “This feels bigger than just the closure of a cruise line. When Carnival Corporation announced in June 2024 that P&O would be folded into Carnival Cruise Line, it felt like another chapter in a larger trend: the slow and steady Americanisation of Aussie culture.”
Deck plans, photos, and latest updates
Through the form of the new ship’s deck plans, it has been confirmed that for now, not too much will change. You can view the Carnival Adventure deck plans here and Carnival Encounter deck plans here.
Carnival flavour will be sprinkled over the ships with The Fun Shops to grab some Carnival Products, the converting of the P&O kids clubs into Carnival Kids Clubs, P&O’s big screen will be converted ot Carnival’s seaside theatre, Carnival’s sweets store Cherry on Top will be on board and there’ll be Dreams Studios to snap photos.
Furthermore, there’ll be one venue change, P&O’s Blue Room will become Piano Bar 88, Carnival’s classic Piano Bar.
As far as cabins, the cabins of course won’t be re-done in the small window in between the ship’s initial transition, so you can choose a chart like this one to understand what your previously booked P&O cabin will now represent as a Carnival cabin.
The takeaway from the deck plans is that for now, guests will still be essentially sailing on the same P&O ships, but with a few Carnival twists. It remains to be seen if after drydock Carnival aims for more dramatic changes to the ships, to bring them further in line with the Carnival brand.
Prices
Now, prices are an interesting topic, as the cruises move over. At this particular moment, prices can’t actually be viewed for upcoming cruises on Carnival Encounter and Carnival Adventure, as they are yet to be added to the system.
However, a previous Cruise Passenger investigation did reveal what many savvy cruisers would already know, Carnival is more expensive than P&O. The report showed that per day, a Carnival cruise would generally cost about 30-90% more than a P&O cruise would.
Therefore, it is an unfortunate reality that P&O cruisers who want to continue on their favourite ships, will likely have to fork out a bit extra. However, there are also hopes that given the ships are a bit older, and don’t contain all Carnival features, they will remain closer to previous P&O pricing, at least until the ships go into dry dock and are refitted.
However, it’s also worth noting that Royal Caribbean prices have risen significantly, and Princess remains at a much higher price point than Carnival. Therefore, while P&O prices may see a spike, another Cruise Passenger survey revealed that Royal Caribbean prices are now almost double those of Carnival, and this took into account prices on the newly converted ships.
Princess Cruises remain generally about 15-30% more expensive than Royal Caribbean, which means even if there is a price jump from P&O rates, Carnival remains the go-to budget option for Australian cruisers.
Stepping away from cruise and considering other holidays, hotel prices are rising rapidly in Australia, with Queensland hotel prices shooting up since the pandemic, and Sydney average hotel rates predicted to hit $426 per night by 2033.
Qantas states the average four-star hotel in Sydney costs about $200 per night. A 10-day Carnival cruise averages a starting price of a bit over $100, especially considering that doesn’t consider other inclusions such as food and activities on a cruise, cruising is still becoming out by far as the cheapest holiday.
When will your cruise convert?
Something in particular that’s been confusing previous P&O passengers as the website changes is the fact that they’re not yet able to access their cruise.
What Carnival is doing is not moving all future cruises to their system all at once, but rather slowly transitioning them over, according to the date of the sailing.
That means, until the designated date for your particular cruise, you won’t be able to make adjustments to your booking, such as buying drinks packages or shore excursions, but once the change happens, you’ll be able to access your cruise like normal, but now from the Carnival website.
If there’s a matter more urgent relating to your booking, the best idea is to call Carnival’s customer service and have the booking number of your P&O cruise ready.
When will bookings be moved to the Carnival system
Below are the dates that certain cruises booked under P&O will be moved to the Carnival system.
- If you’re on the cruise departing March 29, your cruise will be on the new booking system by March 17.
- If you’re on any cruises departing between April 1, 2025 and May 17, 2025, your cruise will be on the new booking system by 2025.
- If you’re on any cruise departing between May 19, 2025 and February 10, 2026, your cruise will be on the new booking system by March 2025.
- If you’re on any cruise departing between February 20, 2026 to July 3, 2027, your cruise will be on the new booking system by April 7, 2025.
Related Posts
-
Carnival Cruise Line has revealed some of the changes to be expected as Pacific Adventure…
-
Carnival Splendor vs Carnival Adventure: how rebadged P&O ships will differ from Carnival classics Published…
I really hope the food improves. P & O food was very boring and average. Carnival food and menu variety is way better
I would like better food and a diary frost machine
Not saying that the ships won’t feature the colour scheme described in this story – but I think you may be putting a lot of stock into these artists renditions – which are edited images of the two ships used by P&O for years (including the red and teal boot-tops) which are not fully representative of how they looked in P&O colours. Given they’re having a wet dock it’s unlikely (though not impossible) their boot-top colour will change.
Let’s hope Carnival keeps the self serve machines where you can transfer cash from your account directly onto your Sail & Sign card without any charges. If you use the ATM on Splendor you get slugged an $8 transfer fee & my bank charged me $42 international charge as the ATM is US based. You can also only get $600 at a time. Not happy Jan.
I am glad that Carnival took over.
I am expecting a good variety of food cooked properly by qualified chefs.
I expect changes in the menus in the restaurant to be variable day to day both lunch and dinner.
The pantry needs to be planned more like the Horizon on Princess.
As at present it’s like a food court at the shops.
Please produce better deserts. They are all made the same tasteless, loaded with different coloured cream.
Given names according to the colour.
Even a cheese cake was only made with cream really low standards.
I will pay more only if the food improves otherwise I will choose another cruise line.
Wondering if past cruises on the P&O will count as points with Carnival.
Please can you stop passengers not wearing swim wear around the ship and restaurants.
Beach wear only by the pool.
I am glad that Carnival took over.
I am expecting a good variety of food cooked properly by qualified chefs.
I expect changes in the menus in the restaurant to be variable day to day both lunch and dinner.
The pantry needs to be planned more like the Horizon on Princess.
As at present it’s like a food court at the shops.
Please produce better deserts. They are all made the same tasteless, loaded with different coloured cream.
Given names according to the colour.
Even a cheese cake was only made with cream really low standards.
I will pay more only if the food improves otherwise I will choose another cruise line.
Wondering if past cruises on the P&O will count as points with Carnival.
Please can you stop passengers not wearing swim wear around the ship and restaurants.
Beach wear only by the pool.
We were on the 2 last cruise of P&O and I would not travel on that ship again,tha food was very ordinary and for lunch couldn’t get any cold meats and my sister bought her own tomatoes and cold meat ashore.
It was still run by Carnival cruises.
Will Carnival keep the Australian Currency on the change over to the new name? or become USD on board?
I we have a cruise already booked at a P & O price for 2026.. Will Carnival increase the cost of the booked cruise?
Are passengers able to take 2 bottles of wine on board on embarkation day like Princess and R/C
i sailed on pacific adventure in 2023 to nouema new caledonia from sydney with my wife for ten days .i was lucky as i got a fare reduction on unsold cabins . i had no complaints about our accomodation the food or the entertainment .it was first class .the staff were great .the talent contest was great even the staff had one ..i have booked but no paid yet to go on the same cruise in july . i just hope nothing has changed .a lot of the crew were filipinos like my wife who treated us like royalty .i sailed on carnival splendour to new zealand and while the ship was as good as the adventure i found the entertainment not as good .the food not as good ,no pantry at lunch or dinner like the adventure .we had to eat at a certain time in our allocated Restuarant .i much preferred the adventure in that ship i could go to the pantry even after eating my main meal at the restaurant and eat even more .please do not change the adventure .keep it the same i hope the same artists are still with the ship
Will the food be upgraded , as P&O was not up to par ..plus they had you paying for things that are free on other Ships.
Dear Carnival Cruiselines,
To whom it may concern, I am enquiring about a memory tracking map of P&O Pacific Adventure cruise to Hobart Tasmania last week from 6th March 2025 to the 10th March 2025 cruise booking number was 7R3THR. It was the second last cruise under the banner of P&O cruises Australia. These were made available from any destination that we sailed on previously and were hoping that we could get another one for this Goodbye Cruise to P&O. If at all possible I would like 2 copies . was also encased in a white frame. please contact me if you want further information . Willing to pay price for maps and frames.
yours Faithfully
Yvonne Pritchard
To whom it may concern, I would like to make an enquiry about obtaining two souvenir maps that track our departure location to our port of call destination and back to disembarking location. It was aboard the P&O Pacific Adventure 2nd last cruise leaving Sydney white bay
Dear Carnival Cruiselines,
To whom it may concern, I am enquiring about a memory tracking map of P&O Pacific Adventure cruise to Hobart Tasmania last week from 6th March 2025 to the 10th March 2025 cruise booking number was 7R3THR. It was the second last cruise under the banner of P&O cruises Australia. These were made available from any destination that we sailed on previously and were hoping that we could get another one for this Goodbye Cruise to P&O. If at all possible I would like 2 copies . was also encased in a white frame. please contact me if you want further information . Willing to pay price for maps and frames.
yours Faithfully
Yvonne Pritchard
To whom it may concern, I would like to make an enquiry about obtaining two souvenir maps that track our departure location to our port of call destination and back to disembarking location. It was aboard the P&O Pacific Adventure 2nd last cruise leaving Sydney white bay
And yet many P &O Australia cruises after the ships become Carnival have already been sold. I doubt Carnival will be able to increase the price of these cruises.
I was for years P&O Aus chaplaincy coordinator with chaplains on all Christmas, Easter and Anzac cruises.
Is it true that Carnival has dropped this tradition?