While P&O UK as well as many other cruise lines have been announcing new British and European
cruise schedules and itineraries for 2021, in Australia cruising remains suspended at least
until June but possibly for longer. But while there have been no internationally flagged cruise
ships in Aussie waters for around a year now, that doesn't mean that Australia's homegrown cruise
line P&O Australia has been sitting around doing nothing. At the start of the cruise pause the
company operated three ships the Pacific Explorer, Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria - with Dawn and
Aria already flagged for retirement from the P&O Australia fleet. Originally they were destined to
join the UK's CMV, however following the collapse of CMV last year both ships were subsequently sold
again. It's a bit of a complicated story so you can check out the details about what happened to
them in a video I've linked in the description below. This left Pacific Explorer as the only
ship in the P&O Australia fleet for several months during 2020 at least. But don't worry
the situation didn't last for very long. Before we go on a few notes about Pacific Explorer.
Built in the 1990s the ship entered service in '97 as Princess Cruise's Dawn Princess. At over
77,000 tons she was considered a large ship at the time but by today's standards where large
ships well and truly eclipse 100,000 tons she is considered mid-sized. During her Princess career
Dawn Princess was popular in Australia. When P&O Australia were looking for extra tonnage in 2017,
they acquired Dawn Princess and after a big refit she emerged as Pacific Explorer and started
cruising for P&O Australia. In the early days of the cruise pause, Pacific Explorer was evicted
from Sydney Harbour as Australian ports closed to cruise ships. She sailed up to the Philippines and
has since been seen in a variety of Asian ports awaiting a resumption of cruising in Australia.
But what of the rest of the fleet? Well before the term COVID-19 was ever coined, P&O Australia had
plans to revitalize their fleet. Princess Cruises' 2001 built Grand Class vessel Golden Princess
was set to be transferred to P&O Australia as Pacific Adventure with the announcement made
all the way back in 2017. The following year P&O Australia revealed that it would welcome another
Grand Class vessel into its stable with the 2002 built Star Princess set to sell for the Aussie
brand from 2021 as Pacific Encounter. With two extra ships due to arrive over the coming years
P&O Australia was free to reorganize its ageing fleet and Pacific Eden and Pacific Jewel were both
retired in 2019. However the pandemic created a major roadblock for P&O Australia's plans
with the cruise industry in a state of chaos when both Pacific Adventure and Pacific
Encounter were set to join the fleet. Despite this P&O Cruises have now accepted both ships,
with them undertaking extensive refurbishments in Singapore in anticipation for their new careers.
The Pacific Encounter formerly Star Princess has just emerged from her own transformation,
sporting a huge 20 meter long (that's 65 feet for those of you who don't do metric)
P&O brand mark on the funnel. This is the largest branding ever seen on a P&O ship in over 180 years
of history. Internally the 18 deck ships will emerge transformed with the Australian brand's
signature restaurants and lounges. This includes the Waterfront restaurant the Blue Room and the
Pantry, P&O's take on a casual eatery that replaces the traditional buffet seen on many
cruise ships. While by no means new ships Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter are a decade newer
than those that they replace (Jewel and Dawn) and a step up in terms of scale and amenities.
Carrying over 2,600 passengers they are more than 30,000 tons bigger than P&O Australia's previous
largest ships Pacific Jewel and Pacific Dawn. Each will offer an adult's only outdoor deck,
multiple pools, a full-scale spa centre and P&O's Edge experience which is known for its more
extreme offerings of rope swings, rock climbing, and the Titanic style bow experience if you feel
like being the "king of the world!"... Their addition makes Pacific Explorer the baby of the
fleet, but as the three ships all share a common Princess heritage they will feel familiar and easy
to navigate for both returning and former Princess travellers and new P&O cruises. Pacific Explorer
is set to roam between Australian and New Zealand ports when cruising resumes. Pacific Encounter
will initially focus on cruises from Brisbane while Adventure will sell from Sydney. So that's
what's happening with P&O Australia and I hope you found the video interesting? If you're interested
in finding out about the two P&O Cruises brands because yes there is another one in the UK,
you can check out that video in the info card or the description below. Thanks once again
for watching and when it is safe for travel to resume again, I hope to see you on board.
[Jolly sounding music]