Carnival Cruise Line announces two ships will be pulled from Australia
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Carnival Cruise Line has announced it will be pulling two ships from Australia in 2028, reducing its regular local fleet by half.
Carnival Adventure – a former P&O ship – was due to depart Sydney on March 20, 2028, to begin seasonal operations in North America. But it will now not return as planned.
Carnival Adventure and Encounter Supplied
Carnival Luminosa has been seasonally based in Brisbane since 2022, but will sail for the final time in Australia from Sydney on March 15, 2028.
Regulatory uncertainty and high costs have been blamed for the decision.
“As the only cruise line with ships dedicated year-round to Australia, Carnival has greater exposure to changes in local market and operating conditions than cruise lines with a seasonal or more limited presence,” Carnival Cruise Line country manager Peter Little said in a statement.
The federal government had recently extended the cruise industry’s exemption from the Coastal Trading Act until December 2028.
That means international cruise ships aren’t subject to the same industrial relations laws and licensing fees as local companies.
“We will continue to work constructively with the federal government as it develops the future arrangements for cruise ships operating in the Australian market,” Little said.
Carnival Splendor and Carnival Encounter continue to sail year-round from Sydney and Brisbane respectively.
Carnival Splendor will continue to sail year-round in Australia. Supplied
While cruising bounced back after the COVID shut down, alarm bells are being sounded again by industry experts.
Carnival now joins multiple cruise lines that have pulled out of the local market, like Disney Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages.
Others, like Cunard, have stopped home porting, which means a ship is based in a certain city for the season.
Disney Cruise Line only remained in Australia for three seasons after launch. Rhett Wyman
Cruise expert Adrian Tassone, from The Cruise and Travel Guy, said the change would lead to a “significant reduction in capacity and choice for Australian cruisers”.
“This change may well contribute to higher cruise fares, as growing demand will likely outstrip supply in 2028 and beyond,” he told nine.com.au.
“The Australian federal government has long acknowledged the positive economic impact that the cruise industry has on the Australian economy.
“However, its most recent decision to merely extend for two years the exemptions that allow foreign flagged ships to operate locally undermines the entire industry and the many Australian stakeholders who are financially invested in its success.”
He said Carnival’s decision to effectively halve its Australian presence “speaks to a broader problem” with the local cruise industry.
“[It’s] one that CLIA, the Australian Cruise Association, and I have been raising for years,” Tassone said.
Less ships mean less choice for Aussie cruisers to sail locally. AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
The cruise industry has already lost $1 billion in yearly expenditure, and the 22,000 full-time jobs that it supports continue to be put in risk.
That’s despite more Australians cruising than ever before.
Some of the highest port fees in the world are partly to blame. There’s also a lot of red tape surrounding cruising in Australia, which makes it hard for cruise lines to plan ahead.
It is also out of the way for cruise ships to get to. Cruise firms have to make a special effort to reach Australia, and sailing away from the moneymaking voyages in the Mediterranean and Caribbean.
Carnival shared the original deployment update about Adventure in February.
At the time, the company confirmed it would remain the only cruise line with a year-round commitment to Australia.
“It is business as usual with Carnival Cruise Line operating from more home ports across Australia and New Zealand in 2027/28 than ever before, so there are plenty of attractive itineraries for our guests,” Little said at the time.
