Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter cancellations follow news P&O Cruises brand is being retired

P&O Cruises Australia has announced more cancellations following news the brand will be retired after 90 years.

Its operations will be integrated into sister ocean travel outift Carnival Cruise Line in early 2025, Carnival Corporation said on Tuesday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: One of Australia’s most popular cruise liners is being disbanded.

P&O’s ship Pacific Explorer will be retired under the move, prompting mass cruise cancellations for travellers scheduled to set sail after March 2.

Now, the company has announced further cancellations on two other vessels in its fleet.

• Pacific Adventure itineraries cancelled: V515, V516, V517, V518.
• Pacific Encounter itineraries cancelled: I512, I513, I514.

The impacted cruises were scheduled to depart from Sydney and Brisbane in March, 2025 but both vessels will be out of action for two weeks while they are rebranded by Carnival and undergo a technology upgrade, a Carnival spokesperson told 7NEWS.

In the coming days, staff will contact impacted travellers with information on refunds and offers of extra onboard spending.

“We apologise that this change has been necessary,” the company said.

“If you are booked on any other P&O Cruises Australia itinerary your cruise is unaffected by this announcement and we look forward to welcoming you on board soon.

“No Carnival Cruise Line itineraries are impacted by this announcement.”

The Pacific Explorer will be removed from P&O’s fleet at the end of February, with its final journey being an 11-night cruise to Singapore that leaves Fremantle on February 7.

Huge operating costs drove the closure of the Australian cruise industry favourite.

Blogger and industry expert Honida Beram described the company’s downfall as a “dark day for cruising in Australia” and an “end of an era”.

She claimed up to 100 jobs had already been cut in Australia.

“P&O is synonymous with cruising in Australia and it’s just way too expensive. It’s just not sustainable to continue with P&O here,” Beram said.

“It’s actually a real shame.”

P&O said it will be doing “everything we can” to redeploy staff across the remaining fleet.

Beram said several factors, including expensive port fees and regulations, had all played a part in the company’s undoing.

“P&O has been around for 90 years and I think it made it possible for everyday Australians to go on a cruise, to really have an adventure at sea,” she said.

Griffith University cruise lecturer Johnnel Smith said it was not all doom and gloom.

“Even though it is a well-loved Aussie homegrown brand ... this is actually an elevation and the cruise line has promised to come back bigger and better,” Smith said.

“So some of the ships will be dry-docked and refurbished and there’s going to be some additions to the cruise experience such as technology and improvement in food and beverage which everybody looks forward to when they cruise.

“And especially being a part of this region and being completely taken over by Carnival, it’s giving us access to more itineraries, so that’s something that we can look forward to. I think it’s good all round.”

Beram said her information was there “won’t be any additional itineraries”.

“I’ve asked about that, is there going to be an increase in ports to visit? It’s not like they’re going to expand the areas in which we’re going to visit. So it’s more about, we’re losing really that Aussie spirit. It’s the only Australian-based cruise line,” Beram said.