P&O has marked its final voyage from Sydney Harbour with fireworks as its 92-year association with Australia comes to an end.
P&O had its first permanent ship, the Fairstar, in Australia in 1988.
Pacific Adventure left Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal on 10 March, heading on a four night round trip to Eden on the NSW South Coast before docking back in Sydney as its final voyage under the P&O banner.
Cruises Australia will now be integrated into Carnival Cruise Line and visitors to the P&O website are now being directed to Carnival Cruises.
Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure cruise liners have been rebranded as Carnival Encounter and Carnival Adventure, operated by Carnival, while Pacific Explorer has left the fleet and is now operating under the name Star Voyager as part of Resorts World Cruises.
Around 600,000 passengers are expected to join a Carnival cruise this year, making it the most popular cruise line in the world.
Carnival Adventure will be based in Sydney and Carnival Encounter in Brisbane.
Carnival will have four ships operating in Australia with Carnival Splendor and Carnival Luminosa being joined by the former P&O ships.
The company that would become P&O was founded on August 22, 1837 in the UK, where it has become a ferry company with a fleet of more than 16 ships.
Its first contract was with the British government to ferry post by steamer between the Iberian Peninsula and London.
Each year those ferries carry more than 10 million passengers and two million units of freight. Its main routes are between Britain, France, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium.
Its association with Australia was spurred on by the discovery of gold. P&O sent its first steamer via the Cape in 1852 on a voyage that took 84 days.
P&O entered the pleasure cruise business in 1904 and by 1924 had become he world’s largest shipping company.
Carnival Cruise Line announced that Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure, two ships from the P&O Australia phase-out, would join the Carnival fleet.
Carnival’s VP for Sales and Marketing, Kara Glamore, declared, “This transition presents a unique opportunity to combine the best of P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Cruise Line as the brand expands its footprint in Australia.”
Cruisers can still expect the vessels to offer classic P&O venues, including the exclusive Byron Beach Club and the adrenaline-pumping Edge Adventure Park. Meanwhile, favorite dining options such as Dragon Lady, Angelo’s, and Luke’s Bar & Grill will continue serving hungry guests.
