Carnival Cruise Line Australia’s announcement of its 2026/27 local season has cruisers fuming after the line’s latest itineraries leave out regional areas and major ports like Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth.

As previously reported by Cruise Passenger, regional ports and cruisers across half of Australia will suffer as Carnival revealed its ships would only be homeporting in Sydney and Brisbane.

After the announcement that P&O Australia would be absorbed into Carnival, Cruise Passenger predicted the biggest losers would be Australia’s regional ports.

The soon-to-be-retired Pacific Explorer was the ship designated to circumnavigate Australia and New Zealand, calling at a wide variety of cities such as Melbourne, Adelaide, and Fremantle.

However, with the new Carnival itineraries, the four ships – Carnival Splendor, Carnival Adventure, Carnival Encounter, and Carnival Luminosa – will only homeport in Sydney and Brisbane, with sailings dedicated only to New South Wales, Queensland and South Pacific ports.

The numbers are worse than expected for regional Australia

From August 2026 to December to June 2027, across 167 sailings on the four Carnival Cruise ships in Australia, not one will visit South Australia or Western Australia.

There will be a mere total of three cruises to Victoria, two of those being dedicated Melbourne Cup sailings, and one to Phillip Island. Furthermore, there will be just two cruises to Tasmania. 

Cruise Passenger had previously calculated that if Carnival did not return to homeporting out of other states, passengers would be thousands of dollars extra to fly

The lack of visits to regional Australian ports also has a broader economic impact. Without cruise tourists spending in regional towns, this will affect local businesses and suppliers who used to earn millions of dollars from cruise ship business.

Cruise Passenger has reported on how towns like Geraldton are feeling the harsh impacts of P&O going under, with hundreds of thousands lost to the economy and its hard-working citizens. 

There are ports large and small all over Australia such as Adelaide, Geraldton, Burnie, Fremantle, Eden and so many more that will now be seeing next-to-no cruise. While cruise lines may not feel the effects of this, the Australian people in these towns will.  

Aussie’s outcry at Carnival snubs

Leading cruise agency Travel Central outlined their clear thoughts on Carnival’s latest moves. They spell out the sad reality that the cruise lines are following the money, and the money is in Sydney and Brisbane. 

“Why Do Carnival Cruises Stick to Sydney & Brisbane? Companies follow the money!

“Many have asked why Carnival Cruises new itineraries don’t sail from places like Melbourne, Adelaide, or even New Zealand.

“The reality is that business decisions are driven by revenue – and right now, cities like Sydney and Brisbane are where cruise lines see the most profit.

“Companies follow the money because they must. Businesses like Carnival focus on regions where they can maximise returns – whether that’s because of strong demand, high spending from cruisers, or favorable operational costs. Expanding to ports like Perth, Darwin, or even Auckland might sound great, but if the demand isn’t high enough to cover costs and generate profit, it simply doesn’t make business sense.”

A cruiser Brad Mack commented his dejected thoughts

“For cruising grounds, we don’t come close to the numbers they do out of Florida, in Alaska and in the Mediterranean. We are not much more than a blip on their spreadsheets, and we are being treated as such.”

Many echoed his thoughts

Phil Bridge wrote: “Tourist industries in Vic, SA and WA are just as deserving of the tourist dollar as the east coast and that its ludicrous to run 4 ships along the east coast.”
Catherine McMenemy Daw wrote: “Adelaide misses out again. People won’t be able to afford to fly to Sydney, accommodation and back to Adelaide.”

Why we often hear of high port fees as a reason for cruise ships leaving Australia, and it’s a legitimate and serious issue, it doesn’t appear to be cutting it with all passengers.

Tom Lee wrote: “If the Victorian Government raised port fees, why don’t Carnival just add the extra amount to the cruise fare? It’s got to be cheaper than flying to Sydney or Brisbane, staying at a hotel the night before, plus meals and transfers.”

Fiona Ryan wrote: “We are Victorian based. I think they’ve forgotten there are other states besides NSW and QLD. Clearly they are happy to loose a substantial amount of dollars/customers. My family and I will continue to cruise with other companies that support and include Melbourne.”

Stacey Woods wrote: “Disappointed for Perth. When you live in country WA it gets pretty pricey when you have to pay a small fortune for flights to the east coast. Our Fremantle cruises are always sold out any 4 day or 3 day cruises with any line so the demand is there.”

Rowan Parry wrote: “How about some cruises based out of Fremantle going up to Singapore. Western Australia has so much to offer.”

Caroline Beattie wrote: “Well you won’t be seeing me onboard. Two ships from Sydney and two ships from Brisbane, what a joke, there’s nothing from Fremantle.”

The reaction is endless, with various cruisers from other Aussie states and New Zealand devastated to see they’ll no longer be able to holiday from their doorstep. 

There remain more domestic options with Princess Cruises, however, these come at a higher price point, a less family-centred experience and Princess has also been downsizing its presence in Australia.

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