- Carnival has revealed a host of changes for Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter
- New features include some Carnival additions like childcare for younger children
- However, some guests are unhappy that their loyalty points won’t carry over, that not all Carnival food offerings will be present and that themed cruises won’t continue
Carnival Cruise Line has revealed some of the changes to be expected as Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter become Carnival ships.
In good news for P&O cruisers, a large part of the essence of P&O will remain, at least for the time being, with the Edge Adventure park, the Blanc de Black show and a range of dining venues all remaining. This gives cruisers the opportunity to experience sailings that are a blend of the offerings of P&O and Carnival cruises.
Furthermore, like other Carnival ships, childcare for kids under the age of two will now be available on the P&O ships, which is new. While this is a paid service, it will make cruising P&O more attractive for those with very young children.
Another positive to note is that the Blanc de Black show will continue on the new ships. The P&O Edge Adventure Park and all its water slides will remain as well. This makes a strong new option for those who sail with kids out of Brisbane, as Carnival Luminosa doesn’t have waterslides.
However, the devil is in the detail – certainly for some social media P&O fans who quickly took to their sites to point up a few things that are missing.
Loyalty program points are not carrying over, and Carnival’s famed 24/7 free pizza comes with new restrictions.
Loyalty program points from P&O won’t carry over to Carnival
It has been revealed that past cruises taken with P&O will not count towards Carnival VIFP Club points, however, they will count towards the Princess Captain Circle program.
This means those who have amassed loyalty points sailing with P&O and have been receiving perks, or working towards receiving perks due to their loyalty to the cruise line, will carry over no advantages when sailing with Carnival, even though they’ll be sailing on the exact same ships.
The points will count towards the Princess Captain Circle Program, however, cruising with Princess represents a vastly different experience to cruising with P&O. Princess Cruises are earmarked by their tranquility and elegance, rather than the family-friendly nature of P&O. Furthermore, these cruises come at a higher price point.
Cruiser Michael John wrote: “I don’t want to just lose all the points and perks I’ve gained with P&O over the years.”
Limits on free pizza, burger and soft serve for new ships
Cruisers have expressed disappointment in that the new ships won’t fully implement Carnival’s current free pizza, burgers and soft serve, some favourite features for current Carnival cruisers.
Free pizza will be available on the new ships – just not all the time, only from 11am to 4pm, meaning late night pizza won’t be an option, which is a classic activity on Carnival ships across the whole fleet.
Carnival is also known for surving up free burgers, however, this option will not be available on the newly converted ships.
Luke Mangan’s Burger’s will be an option, however, this is a specialty dining venue that is not included in the cruise price.
Another feature of Carnival ships is Swirls soft-serve, which is free. However, this won’t carry over onto the new ships. New Zealand Natural will offer an option for similar ice cream, however, guests will have to pay out of pocket as it is not an included service.
Cruisers came out in numbers across social media networks to discuss the changes.
Brendan John wrote: “Why such limited hours for the pizza? At least you could make it until 9pm so it’s a viable dinner option.”
Allan Young said: “That’s just BS, no free ice cream, no free burgers, limited free pizza. Sounds like Carnival Budget to me.”
Tanya Kilner wrote: “What? Why would they not have the same 24 hour free pizza that the other ships have? That’s ridiculous. If they’re Carnival ships, the services should be the same.”
Michael Phillips phrased it: “Looks like we’ll be paying a lot more with less included.”
Are themed cruises and Gatsby nights gone?
Cruise Passenger previously reported the possibility of themed cruises becoming something of the past as P&O merged into Carnival, and it appears to be looking like a reality.
The positive side of it is that P&O ships will be getting Carnival’s theme nights, like 80s rock ‘n’ glow, Silent White-Hot Night and Elegant Evenings, but unfortunately the themed cruises such as Elvis Cruises, 80s cruises and more, do not appear to be part of Carnival’s plans moving forward.
Linda Armstrong wrote: “No mention there about whether Carnival will be continuing with P&O’s themed cruises, such as the 80’s, 90’s, Disco Glam, Comedy, Country, Elvis cruises.
“My first cruise was an 80’s cruise and I am hooked .It seems there are no more on the horizon after November 2025?
“I do hope they keep the themed cruises.”
Cruisers have also been mourning the loss of a P&O favourite, the Gatsby themed night.
Kathryn Munro wrote: “I hope they are not replacing Gatsby night . Many of us love the glitz of our Gatsby outfits.”
Janelle Brent wrote: “No Gatsby night, how sad. I lived through the 80s, not everyone wants to relive that tragic fashion!”
I’m going on explorer jan20 let you know how it goes I don’t have high expectations my last p&o cruise on jewel was pretty ordinary food wise cafeteria quality in dining room and basically prison type food in buffet
Oops I’ve just read that they won’t get the included ice cream machine. Doesn’t worry me, I’d prefer to buy a decent ice cream than eat the included soft serve.
I also prefer to pay for a better pizza than eat the included pizza. I seldom eat pizza on carnival cruises
I thought the ice cream machine was being added to the 2 ships?
Pizza is available for purchase until 3am on Lido deck on P&O.
The included pizza will be from the Italian restaurant on deck 7 between 11 and 4. It can be purchased from there for dinner.
P&O have been counted towards Princess for years. P&O don’t have an official rewards program. They do however have a VIP program that isn’t widely talked about
I would have liked to change restaurant offerings. Just got off Encounter and food was foul, worse than a high school canteen, across all restaurants.It’s been slowly going downhill dive return from Covid. I would have liked to see the Carnival style of dining introduced especially since Brisbane doesn’t have the option of Luminosa all year round, which needs to be addressed too as it was hard to get a booking on Encounter in the winter months.
Bit unfair to have different features on some ships and not others.
I’m curious as to what perks are available through P&O Australia?
IF IM NOT MISTAKEN A NUMBER OF PEOPLE WERE HOPING P&O WOULD NOT LOOSE ITS SO CALLED AUSTRALIAN FLAVOUR AND RETAIN MANY OF THE AUSTRALIN P&O FEATURES, NOW ARE THESE THE SAME PEOPLE COMPLANING THAT THESE TWO REBRANDED SHIPS WILL NOT CARRY THE SAME FREE OPTIONS ON THE SPLENDOR AND LUMINOSA? YOU CANT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS