Iconic cruise line brand P&O Australia is closed just weeks after the Daily Mail Australia revealed a passenger jumped to his death after racking up a huge casino debt during a trip.
On Tuesday, P&O’s parent company, Carnival Corporation, announced that the famous brand would close its doors in March next year, after 90 years of sailing from Australia.
In a statement, Carnival Corporation said it would “defund” the P&O Cruises Australia brand and merge Australian operations with Carnival Cruise Line, which it said is “the most popular cruise line in the world.”
The closure is blamed on “the strategic reality of the South Pacific’s small population and significantly higher operating and regulatory costs.”
Carnival Corporation said the closure of P&O Australia was a strategic decision “designed to increase the capacity of Carnival Cruise Line, the company’s flagship brand and the most profitable brand in Carnival Corporation’s global portfolio.”
P&O Australia passenger Shane Dixon, 45 (pictured), died after racking up huge gambling debts on board a cruise
P&O Australia Pacific Explorer vessel to leave fleet in February 2025
P&O Cruises cruise ships Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure will be renamed and operated under the Carnival Cruise Line brand.
Pacific Explorer will leave the fleet in February 2025.
Carnival Corporation said current itineraries would operate as usual and passengers would be notified in the coming days of any changes to future reservations.
Following the closure of P&O Australia next year, Carnival Cruise Line will have four ships in the market, including Sydney-based Carnival Splendor and Carnival Luminosa, sailing seasonally from Brisbane, in addition to their new sister ships Encounter and Adventure.
Shane’s family said the father of three lost thousands of dollars in the cruise casino the night he died.
Shane Dixon was on a three-day P&O cruise with his mother aboard Pacific Adventure
Shane Dixon, 45, is pictured with his mother Sue. The two men were vacationing together when he died
The closure of the P&O Australia brand comes just weeks after father-of-three Shane Dixon plunged to his death from the P&O Pacific Adventure cruise ship just after 4am on May 6 while was approaching Sydney Harbour.
During the cruise, Shane had accumulated $9,000 in casino debt that he could not afford to pay off.
In recent years, Shane has struggled with a series of tragedies and personal setbacks, including health problems, deaths in his family and the breakdown of his marriage, which led to his separation from his children.
His family believes he panicked after the consequences of an unpaid $4,000 debt from the ship’s casino began to take hold.
The 45-year-old’s death has highlighted questionable tactics used at casinos aboard luxury liners to lure passengers into spending big – including allowing gamblers to increase their room bills and offering freebies. free drinks and vouchers.
Several other people have since shared similar stories, including claims that they were told self-exclusion was not an option or that they were questioned and kept on board by staff after being unable to pay their bills.
A P&O spokeswoman previously told Daily Mail Australia it would be inappropriate to comment on Shane’s death as the matter is the subject of a coroner’s inquest.
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