Summer season cancelled as border closures sink P&O Cruises’ plans for Australia

‘Slow action by government at all levels’ has seen the world’s largest cruise operator cancelled its summer season in Australia with local providers set to forgo millions of dollars.

The decision means P&O Cruises Australia ships will not be based (or homeported) from Adelaide, Fremantle and Cairns for seasons scheduled for the first half of 2022. Picture: Brendan Radke

Hospitality providers in Adelaide, Fremantle and Cairns are set to forgo millions of dollars worth of tourism business as the world’s largest cruise operator cancelled its entire summer season.

The Carnival Corp-owned P&O Cruises said uncertainty regarding the resumption of cruising for foreign-flagged vessels in Australia had led to its decision to abort its 2022 season from these state and regional capitals and the line has also cancelled all voyages to Papua New Guinea for the next 12 months.

Globally, Carnival Corp enjoys 45 per cent market share of the cruising industry and the Miami-based company ended the third quarter with €7.8bn ($12bn) of liquidity which it believes is sufficient to return to full cruise operations.

According to Bank of America Global Research, Carnival Corp’s monthly average cash burn is around $US500m but its booking volumes in the third quarter were not as robust as the previous quarter.

P&O Cruises Australia President Sture Myrmell said there was no doubt that Adelaide, Fremantle and Cairns all remained important calls for visiting ships when governments allowed cruising to resume in Australian waters.

The decision means P&O Cruises Australia ships will not be based (or homeported) from the cities for seasons scheduled for the first half of 2022. The changes also mean a cruise due to reposition from Singapore to Cairns in May will also be cancelled.

“We are naturally disappointed our guests in Adelaide, Fremantle and Cairns will be unable to cruise from their doorstep until 2023. They are all popular ports of call for ships on coastal or around mainland Australia itineraries and will benefit from a resumption in cruising when approved by governments,” Mr Myrmell said.

“With more than 80 per cent of Australia’s adult population fully vaccinated, society is rapidly reopening and travel is progressively resuming. There is a need for governments to engage with the cruise sector on a pathway for the staged resumption of domestic cruising.”

The cancellations will not only affect cruise crew employment. City-based services for cruise guests such as pre and post-cruise hotel room nights, along with tour operator services, restaurant operators and taxi drivers will also be affected.

P&O also recently stopped cruises which were scheduled to depart from Sydney and Brisbane until mid-February.

Carnival’s rival Royal Caribbean cancelled the majority of its summer voyages around Australia and New Zealand back in July.

Royal Caribbean also announced it had been forced to cancel its entire Ovation of the Seas’ season. The Ovation of the Seas was due to leave Sydney on December 1 and sail through to March 31.

Royal Caribbean managing director Gavin Smith said the company had been fielding a lot of angry complaints.

“We are hearing from many disappointed passengers who have been advised today that their summer cruise holiday is now ruined, seemingly through slow action by government at all levels,” Mr Smith said.

Originally published as Summer season cancelled as border closures sink P&O Cruises’ plans for Australia