Love P&O News

The Christmas spirit is alive and well amongst our much-loved crew onboard Pacific Adventure.

The crew are sending each and every one of you, some Christmas love!

Who doesn’t love a Christmas at sea with the P&O family? We know how special it is. 🎅🤶

When Pacific Encounter^® made her maiden call in the beautiful Conflict Islands, she also was the first ship to visit in over two years. Check out some of the shots that mark this momentous occasion along with some stunning images of the pristine and jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery .

This beautiful part of the world is also home to the Conflict Islands Conservation Initiative (CICI), an organisation very close to our hearts. CICI has a long-standing partnership with P&O Cruises Australia and is helping to monitor marine turtle populations and develop a long-term tagging and nesting programme.

This valuable program is a result of the support Cruiselings have given, and continue to give, to the P&O Pacific Partnership.

Thank you Cruiselings

Click here for cruises to The Conflict Islands

Check out some of the photography taken by Danny Black on our first Pride cruise last weekend. Aimed at the LGBTQIA+ community, their allies and supporters, guests celebrated themes of love, compassion, respect and understanding through lectures and educational events, same-sex marriages and renewal of vows. The first Pride Cruise from Melbourne departs in December and Brisbane in December 2023. And, if you missed out on the first cruise from Sydney, the next one departs 14 September 2023.

Cruiselings, we all know that family cruises are a fantastic way to holiday. The youth facilities and programs onboard are designed especially for junior and teen Cruiselings. If you’re looking for ways to get even more out of your next family holiday, tune into our resident expert, Anita Birges, for her Tips for Cruising with Kids. You’ll pick up some great ideas to help make the most out of your next cruise.

The Groundwater Country Music Festival held at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast on 28-30 October was a country music party like no other with 50 international and homegrown artists performing.

We are thrilled that our sponsorship of the People’s Choice Award is such a popular part of the Groundwater Country Music Festival. And, we’re delighted that the P&O Cruises 2022 People’s Choice Award winner was Travis Collins. Travis’s bright energy won the hearts of fans at this year’s festival.

We can’t wait for next year’s festival in 2023. P&O’s Country Music cruises depart from Sydney and Brisbane and are on sale now.

Hello New Caledonia! We are so thrilled to be back.

Last week, Pacific Explorer became the first cruise ship to return to Noumea in over two long years.

The guests were greeted with a spectacular local welcome and were so excited to be visiting this beautiful South Pacific Island once again.

Check out our New Caledonia cruises today!

Cruiselings are a wonderful, lovable group and when it comes to cruising, they set the standard high!

What type of Cruiseling do you think you are?

🧗‍♀‍ ADVENTURER

🍕 INDULGENT

🧘🏽‍♀‍ RELAXER

🦋 SOCIAL BUTTERFLY

Our fellow cruiseling and friend, Anita Birges from Mise en Place Professional Organising & Property Styling gives us a crash course in Cruiseling types with her beautiful signature style (of course).

Take the P&O Cruiseling quiz now.

P&O Onboard - Introducing P&O Pacific Lager

This one’s for the P&O beer lovers!

Two iconic Australian brands, P&O Cruises Australia and Coopers Brewery, have collaborated on the ultimate thirst quencher at sea.

P&O Pacific Lager is a bespoke, limited-edition beer that pairs beautifully with a wide range of food and good company (of course).

Available for guests exclusively on all P&O ships.

Who’s excited to try it!?

P&O Onboard - Twin Racer Slides

Race against the clock and challenge your family, friends, and new-found friends on our exciting new Twin Racer Waterslides only on Pacific Adventure^® and Pacific Encounter^®*.

^* Twin Racer coming to Pacific Encounter in March 2023.

Cruiselings, would you like to see more of Pacific Encounter?

Here's a cheeky fly-through tour of some of the beautiful venues onboard, including Bryon Beach Club!

Enjoy, love P&O

A handy digital guide, just for Cruiselings.

Everything you need to know about the rooms and amenities available on Pacific Adventure® and Pacific Encounter®. Including detailed room features, measurements, capacity limits, layouts, and deck plans^~.

A must-have for any Cruiseling planning their dream holiday with P&O.

^~ Disclaimer: P&O Accommodation Guide is a guide and for illustration purposes only. Actual room layout and design may vary.

Juts for you, we have compiled some of the highlights of Pacific Encounter’s very first guest cruise.

What a special ‘encounter’ for all those lucky Cruiselings. We can’t wait to welcome you onboard.

Are you ready to slip on your dancing shoes, and be entertained by our world class shows in the Marquee, Blue Room, Ocean Bar and Altitude nightclub?

Look at these incredible venues onboard Pacific Encounter!

Kia Ora! Let's recap on Pacific Explorer's spectacular return to New Zealand

A massive thank you to Auckland for hosting our wonderful guests and giving P&O Cruises such a warm welcome!

Anita Burgess from Mise En Place gives us a run-down of her top five ‘’must haves’ for a ‘cruisey’ cruise experience.

What are you going to pack?

1. Pop up laundry hamper
2. Magnetic clips
3. Home-made wrinkle release spray
4. Towel clips
5. Thank you cards

Pacific Encounter has arrived in Australia

It was a glorious morning on Sydney Harbour on 4 August, when we finally welcomed Pacific Encounter to her new home in Australia. Upon arrival she offered a warm salute to our ‘hero tugs’ and other maritime champions that help keep Sydney Harbour and our waters safe.

We can't wait for you all to meet her.

Turn the volume up and enjoy this video!

History was made on 29 June 2022 when Pacific Adventure® and Pacific Encounter® came together side-by-side for the first time ever, in Trieste.

Our sister ships looked magnificent and were sitting so close, they were almost hugging. What a majestic moment:)

We couldn’t be more excited to be welcoming them both to Australia, later this year.

The P&O Cruises’ App makes cruising even easier.

Download before you depart and login to access your boarding docs, explore your ship, check out the restaurants, bars, shows and much more. When onboard book your restaurants, plan your daily activities, check your account balance and chat with your family and friends (those who are cruising with you of course).

Plus, you can use the app free-of-charge via the onboard Wi-Fi.

The P&O App is available to download for free, on Apple's App Store or Google Play Store.

Happy Cruising!

Relive all the magic moments of Pacific Explorer's restart cruise to Brisbane.

The Cruiselings onboard certainly set the bar high for excitement and good times.

Have you booked your next cruise yet?

Pacific Explorer was the first cruise ship to call at the NEW Brisbane International Cruise Terminal on 2 June 2022.

The moment of her arrival was captured beautifully in this time lapse footage showing off her 180-degree spin to eventually dock alongside. Just magic!

P&O Cruises flagship Pacific Explorer® departed 31 May on her first guest cruise since her return to Australia.

Our wonderful crew have been busy preparing her for cruising and for you, Cruiselings. More than 5,000 bedsheets have been folded, a multitude of wine glasses polished, pizza ovens preheated, pools filled, zipline zipped, waterslides splash tested, DJ mixes set, cocktails prepped, and entertainers pumped!

The crew hosted our shoreside staff, suppliers, and travel agents on a test cruise at the end of May and then opened their arms to welcome Cruiselings on 31 May.

The excitement onboard was overwhelming!

Pacific Explorer is officially cruising!

Cruiselings, are you ready to join us?

Hello Brisbane!

Pacific Explorer cruised into Brisbane on 2 June and docked at the brand new Brisbane Cruise Terminal.

Enjoy the spectacular footage of her arrival and the celebrations that followed.

P&O Cruises is back!

We are thrilled to announce Julie McEwen is taking on her next exciting new role as Cruise Director on Pacific Explorer.

Julie's love for cruising began at the age of 16 when she sailed for the very first time on our very own Pacific Pearl. One taste and she was hooked. We are so excited to see her take on this next challenge and know she will be terrific.

When you are next onboard Pacific Explorer make sure you say ‘Hi’!

Pacific Explorer’s first cruise from Sydney is scheduled to depart 31 May 2022, on a 4-night roundtrip cruise to Brisbane, where she will be the first ship to dock at the brand new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal on 2 June.

Pacific Adventure® and Pacific Encounter® will follow her home later in the year. The Brisbane debut of Pacific Encounter is scheduled for 20 August 2022 and Pacific Adventure is scheduled to begin her maiden season from Sydney on 22 October 2022.

We love Pacific Explorer! An expert team of contractors carried out some technical upgrades at her recent dry dock in Palermo, Italy.

We can't wait to welcome her home.

Pacific Encounter glowing during golden hour. So beautiful.

We can't wait to welcome her home

image: @juliemcewenx

Created specifically for ease-of-use on your smartphone or tablet, with convenient swipe functionality and simple navigation, you can access our full itinerary listings on-the-go, straight from your device. And importantly Cruiselings, book your next P&O cruise! You’re welcome.

The 28-night Australian Explorer mainland Australia circumnavigation calls at most of our capital cities, some coastal destinations, and takes a side trip to Ambon, capital of Maluku, the centre of Indonesia’s spice islands.

What makes this cruise even more special is that it is 90 years since our last Australian circumnavigation! Cruiselings can embark in either Brisbane or Sydney in June 2024. And if you’re not up for the full voyage, a number of shorter sectors are on sale.

The new Australian Explorer cruise is on sale on Wednesday 13, October

Pacific Adventure’s dry dock is now complete.

During her stay in Italy, she received the sweeping Southern Cross livery and a range of signature P&O features.

Popular dining experiences developed with P&O’s own celebrity chef, Luke Mangan and award-winning chef Johnny Di Francesco came to life. The Italian fan-favourite Angelo's, sultry Pan-Asian-inspired Dragon Lady and contemporary Australian restaurant The Waterfront were also installed, as well as P&O’s international food court style eatery, The Pantry.

There’ll also be a few other surprises for those lucky enough to cruise on Pacific Adventure.

The future is bright.

Have you wondered what the crew are up to whilst we are not cruising?

P&O's much-loved Hotel Director Mel Yates has prepared a very special behind-the-scenes video of Pacific Encounter.

Now you can see all the activities that are keeping our ships in ‘ship shape’ so we are ready for the time when Cruiselings can join us.

We can’t wait to see you again.

Thank you from the bottom of our collective heart.

Here are just some of the 2,600 Facebook fans who have changed their profile picture to show support for the safe resumption of domestic cruising. This number is growing exponentially every day. Incredible.

Thank you for your continued support!

We miss seeing all your friendly faces every day. So last week we asked our Facebook fans to share their favourite Cruiseling selfies from onboard and they certainly delivered. What a treat to have so many happy faces fill our Facebook wall. We have shared a few of our favourite snaps today.

Thank you Cruiselings, for sharing your beautiful memories with us. We love you guys and can’t wait to welcome you back onboard.

Keep sharing the love!

Please spread the news! We need our ships to come home to Australia and a pathway for the safe restart to domestic cruising.

Show your support by updating your Facebook profile picture to feature a special 'Fly The Flag for P&O' frame and keep this frame flying until our ships have safely returned to our shores.

Thank you for 'flying the flag' for the restart of cruising and for P&O, Australia’s homegrown cruise line!

Our New Zealand brochure has just landed and highlights Pacific Explorer's debut across the ditch. We know that just like us, Kiwis are going to love the expanded choice in dining, entertainment and activities that Pacific Explorer offers.

The 2022 and 2023 seasons deliver 42 departures from Auckland which include Kiwi Explorer itineraries, calling at a number of amazing local destinations as well as 3-5 night Short Breaks, more idyllic South Pacific Island adventures, plus themed cruises including 80’s, Country and the Big Laugh Comedy cruise. There's something for everyone.

P&O's New Zealand season departs from Auckland in July 2022.

P&O Cruises has recently announced a new partnership with Bobby Goldsmith Foundation (BGF), Australia’s oldest community-based HIV organisation.

The new partnership will add even more glamour to P&O's inaugural 2022 Pride Cruise while also raising funds for this well-respected charity.

P&O will donate one dollar for every guest booked on the Pride Cruise to BGF as well as creating a range of onboard events to raise money, including a themed cocktail evening and dazzling ticketed gala night, hosted by BGF and Pride Cruise ambassador, Simon Dunn.

FIND OUT MORE

CLIA Australasia are championing the #ReadySetSail initiative where you, Cruiselings, can ‘have your say' on the resumption of cruising in Australia.

We know that you have been asking how you can help and this campaign is your chance to TAKE ACTION. Visit CLIA's #ReadySetSail tool to generate a personal email to your local parliamentarians and to key federal and state ministers.

Get involved and help us to get back to what we do best - delivering fantastic P&O cruise holidays to Cruiselings.

A new MOBILE version of our 2022-23 brochure has just launched.

Created specifically for ease-of-use on your smartphone or tablet, with convenient swipe functionality and simple navigation, you can access our full itinerary listings on-the-go, straight from your device.

Check our huge range of 291 departures across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Fremantle and Cairns, in a mobile friendly format designed for small screens and busy people.

It's P&O Cruise holiday planning, at your fingertips.

P&O Cruises' Pacific Encounter has completed her dry dock.

The 14-day project was the second stage of Pacific Encounter’s update. She has emerged with some brand new spaces that we can’t wait for you to enjoy, including the Encounter Hotel and the Blue Room. P&O’s trio of restaurants - Angelo’s, Dragon Lady and The Waterfront have all been fitted with new carpets and artworks, while international food court marketplace, The Pantry, has been completed with bright, new graphics.

The long laundry list of technical and operational work completed in this round includes painting, deck treatments, hotel and casino upgrades and window maintenance.

We can’t wait to welcome her in Australia.

Check out some more behind-the-scenes pics of Pacific Encounter, who will cruise year round from Brisbane.