The P&O Cruises Australia brand, part of the Carnival Corp portfolio, will shut down in 2025, with the three ships operating under the brand set to be absorbed into the Carnival Cruise Lines fleet.

Carnival Corporation confirmed in a news release that P&O Australia will cease operations in March, 2025, but stressed that the move will not affect P&O Cruises, a separate brand within the group that operates in the UK cruise market.

Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure will be rebranded and operated by Carnival Cruise Line, while Pacific Explorer will exit the fleet in February of 2025. 

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.

Carnival Corporation positioned the move as a strategic realignment to increase guest capacity for its flagship brand Carnival Cruise Line, which is enjoying robust demand in the North American market, but also indicated there are headwinds in the Australian market.

Carnival said its decision on P&O Australia came down to the region’s “significantly higher operating and regulatory costs” and small population, which had forced it to change its operating approach to achieve greater “efficiencies”.

Since Carnival Corporation purchased P&O Cruises Australia in 2003, it has had several ships cruising from Australian ports year-round. 

By folding P&O Australia into the Carnival Cruise Line brand, the company will be in a better position to meet growing demand in the North American market, and reposition ships to Australia as and when demand requires it.

When it comes to its Australian operations, Carnival is also unlikely to face the same challenges due to geopolitical crises as other cruise lines that homeport seasonally in Australia.

P&O Australia’s fleet Carnival-owned line Cunard recently announced it will stop homeporting in Australia from 2026, and Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady has cancelled plans for a second season in the country next summer.

Both of those decisions appear to be primarily influenced by the Red Sea security crisis, which does not affect Carnival Cruise Line in the same way, as it can more easily reposition from North America via the Pacific.

Carnival Cruise Line’s absorption of P&O Cruises Australia will result in the addition of eight new ships to Carnival Cruise Line’s fleet since 2021, including the successful shift of three vessels from sister brand Costa Cruises. 

The cruise line 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, joining Mardi Gras, Carnival Jubilee, and Celebration Celebration.

“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, CEO of Carnival Corporation. 

From March next year, Carnival Cruise Line will make up approximately 35% of the company’s total global capacity, growing by approximately 50% through to 2028.

“We look forward to building on the history and heritage of P&O Cruises Australia by bringing some of our innovations to more cruise guests in the region,” said Christine Duffy, President of Carnival Cruise Line.

“While we plan to make some technology upgrades and other small changes to the two P&O Cruises Australia ships, they will continue to be geared to the unique Australian market with a familiar feel and much of the same experiences for P&O Cruises Australia guests.” 

Carnival Corporation is putting in place plans to celebrate and honor P&O Cruises Australia as a valued part of the company’s legacy and an important contributor to the tourism industry in the South Pacific, the news release added.