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Carnival to have four ships in Australia in 2026-27

Carnival Cruise Line will have four ships in Australia in 2026-27 — the renamed former P&O Cruises Australia’s Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter and Carnival Splendor and Carnival Luminosa.

Helen Hutcheon, Australasia correspondent

October 3, 2024

1 Min Read
Carnival Splendor and Carnival Adventure will operate cruises from Sydney to the Melbourne CupPHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Carnival Adventure and Carnival Splendor will home port in Sydney and Carnival Encounter and Carnival Luminosa, to sail seasonally, will be based in Brisbane.

Sydney cruises

From Sydney Carnival Splendor will operate cruises of two to 12 days.

Her four-day cruises include Moreton Island and her five- and six-day cruises to Tasmania include calls at Hobart and Port Arthur.

Carnival Splendor’s nine- and 10-day South Pacific cruises include Mystery Island and Port Vila in Vanuatu.

She will also operate a 10-day cruise to New Zealand, visiting major ports and Fiordland National Park.

Carnival Adventure’s two- to 12-day itineraries from Sydney include weekend getaways and sailings to Moreton Bay and the Great Barrier Reef.

She will make a 12-day cruise to Fiji in April 2027 visiting Lautoka and Dravuni Island.

Melbourne Cup

Both Carnival Splendor and Carnival Adventure will offer cruises to the Melbourne Cup, run on the first Tuesday of November every year and known locally as ‘the race that stops the nation.’

Cruises from Brisbane

During its seasonal deployment, Carnival Luminosa will operate three- to 14-day cruises from Brisbane.

These include a six-day Great Barrier Reef cruise taking in Airlie Beach and Cairns and South Pacific cruises to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. 

Related:Carnival's Duffy Down Under: P&O Australia takeover 'quite a surprise'

She will operate a 14-day cruise to Norfolk Island, highlighting events of the Mutiny on the Bounty that took place in 1789, and visiting Nuku’alofa in Tonga.

Carnival Encounter will cruise to the Great Barrier Reef and a variety of South Pacific destinations from Brisbane, including Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

More options

‘As we expand our fleet to four ships in Australia and enrich our overall deployment plan, our 2026-27 itineraries significantly increase the options available for the Carnival experience from Sydney and Brisbane,’ VP Itinerary Planning Fred Stein said.

About the Author

Helen Hutcheon

Australasia correspondent

Helen Hutcheon did her cadetship on a shipping magazine and worked in P&O’s Sydney office for seven years as a public relations journalist.

For 19 years she was deputy editor of Travel Week, which was Australia’s leading trade newspaper that covered major local and international industry events.

In 2008 the late legendary Rama Rebbapragada presented her with an award from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd ‘in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the cruising industry.’

In 2010 she won the Neil Frazer Award for ‘outstanding contribution to the cruise industry,’ elevating her to CLIA Australasia’s hall of fame.

She has been the Australasia correspondent for Seatrade Cruise Review since 1997 and for Seatrade Insider (now Seatrade Cruise News) since its launch in 2000.

 

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