P&O Ships Add to Carnival’s Growing Brand Identity Issues

December 17, 2024 Randy Young

Carnival Cruise Line has spent over 50 years crafting their brand image to make a lasting impression on guests. They’ve positioned themselves as a fun, family vacation option with their lively ships and “Fun Ship” marketing. For decades, they’ve aimed to create a homogenous and unified experience for guests across their entire fleet of nearly 30 ships. However, recent corporate acquisitions have led to some odd additions that seem to dilute the brand.

What’s in the Carnival Brand?

If you ask any former Carnival cruiser to describe a ship, the first thing likely to come to mind is the signature red funnel, or whale tail. Since the Carnival Tropicale debuted in 1982, almost every ship has had this unique funnel that makes the vessels stand out from the pack, but there’s so much more to the brand than that.

In 2011, Carnival announced their Fun 2.0 upgrades, investing $500 million to bring the same basic amenities to all ships in the fleet. As part of this, nearly every Carnival ship received the very popular Guy’s Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, the Alchemy Bar, a Serenity Adult-Only area, and a Splash Park. Most of these additions are very popular with guests and synonymous with the Carnival name.

Also, over the years, they’ve tried to standardize their restaurant names. In the past, each ship had unique restaurants like Nick and Nora’s, Michelangelo’s, etc. While they had similar menus, the décor and theming were completely different. For newer ships and renovations, Carnival moved towards standardized restaurants like Fahrenheit 555 and Cucina del Capitano. That way, guests knew what to expect when sailing other ships in the fleet.

Acquisitions from Sister Cruise Lines

Carnival Cruise Line is part of Carnival Corporation, which has nine different cruise lines across the globe. As some of the other lines have struggled since the pandemic, the parent company shifted vessels between brands. This reshuffling has led to some puzzling decisions as the company seemed to be skipping some of the expenses required to bring the full Carnival brand experience to the ships.

Carnival Luminosa

In 2022, Carnival announced they’d acquire the Costa Luminosa, a medium-sized, Spirit-Class ship. They planned to bring this ship to the West Coast of the U.S. for Alaskan sailings in the summer and then to Australia for winter sailings.

When Carnival revealed the renovation plans for this 13-year-old ship, many guests were a bit underwhelmed. The first, most obvious issue was that the ship wouldn’t get the Carnival funnel. Instead, they opted for a red, white, and blue paint job. While the lack of the funnel upgrade was in itself inoffensive, it represented some other issues.

The Luminosa wouldn’t be getting Guy’s Burger Joint, arguably one of the best burgers at sea and almost a signature Carnival experience. The ship wouldn’t get a waterslide or a mini-golf course, two other staples for the cruise line.

Thankfully, they added some venues guests have come to expect, like Piano Bar 88, Alchemy Bar, the Serenity Adult-Only area, RedFrog Rum Bar, and Pizzeria del Capitano.

Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze

The next two ships to join the fleet were the Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze. These two ships were relatively new, debuting in the China market in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Unfortunately, due to the COVID pandemic, the China cruise market softened and still hasn’t fully recovered. Costa decided to pull out of that market. With cruise demand high in the U.S., Carnival Corporation moved the two ships to Carnival.

At first, press releases made it seem temporary, with the ships being branded as “Costa by Carnival.” Over time, it became increasingly clear the ships were likely staying with Carnival, with their names officially changing to Carnival Venezia and Carnival Firenze.

While technically Vista-Class ships, and in theory similar to Carnival’s Vista, Horizon, and Panorama ships, these two were unlike anything in the Carnival fleet. They were themed after Italian cities—Florence and Venice—in an old-school Las Vegas style with over-the-top design. Built for the Chinese market, they had expanded casinos and shopping but much smaller pool decks.

Carnival later switched the branding of these Italian ships to “Carnival Fun Italian Style.” Like the Luminosa, the ships wouldn’t be getting a red funnel. However, in this case, they didn’t even repaint them, retaining Costa’s colors and smokestack—an odd decision given Costa’s low brand recognition in the U.S. (likely best known by most Americans for the Costa Concordia’s capsizing in 2012).

The ships forgo many of Carnival’s standards in favor of “Italian-style” versions, although it’s unclear whether it’s for cost-cutting or branding purposes. For example, you won’t find Alchemy Bar on these ships. Instead, it’s the Amari Bar which has a a few Alchemy cocktails. Carnival’s signature Italian restaurant, Cucina del Capitano, apparently wasn’t Italian enough. Instead, these ships feature a new, pricier concept, Il Viaggio. Thankfully, Guy’s Burger Joint makes an appearance, adding an Italian-inspired option featuring mozzarella. Other popular venues missing in favor of Italian options include RedFrog Rum Bar, BlueIguana Cantina, and the Carnival Deli.

Carnival Encounter and Carnival Adventure

The most recent change, happening in March 2025, involves Carnival adding two new ships to their fleet solely for the Australian market. This change comes as P&O Cruises Australia is shuttered, and these two former Princess ships will transition to Carnival.

With this addition, Carnival will have four different “Carnival” ships sailing out of Australia. From what has been released, there will be a markedly different experience between the ships.

Want late-night pizza? That’ll cost you. Pizza is only included between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Craving cold soft-serve ice cream by the pool? These two ships won’t have Swirls soft-serve machines. Instead, you’ll need to pay for New Zealand Natural Ice Cream.
Ready to brave the ropes course? That’ll cost you—unlike any other ship in the Carnival fleet.
Fancy a delicious burger? You won’t find Guy’s Burger Joint here. Instead, Luke’s Bar & Grill and Luke’s Burgers come at an extra fee.

Carnival is adding some familiar features to these ships, including the Fun Squad, parties, and childcare for children under two (for an additional fee).

If you’re sailing on the Carnival Splendor or Luminosa, you’ll have quite a different experience compared to these two ships.

Are These New Ships Hurting Carnival?

Only Carnival truly knows if these new ships are hurting their brand image. However, reviews on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor suggest that might be the case.

For example, on TripAdvisor, Carnival Horizon has a 3.5-star score; the Carnival Venezia, a very similar ship, has only 2.6 stars. On Cruise Critic, the Luminosa has Carnival’s lowest score at just 2.5 stars. One review stated, “This was our 4th Carnival cruise. It was very disappointing. Was this ship just having issues or is this how it is now??”

Carnival spent millions over the years, standardizing their offering and presenting a unified experience to guests. But corporate restructuring seems to be undoing that. Carnival’s Fun Squad and theme parties can only get them so far. It begs the question, what do guests really feel makes the Carnival experience.