- Carnival Cruise Line will return to homeporting some cruises out of Melbourne, with four voyages scheduled for 2027.
- These voyages will happen as Carnival Adventure returns from drydock – on its way back from Singapore to Sydney.
- The announcement comes after a Cruise Passenger reported the significant financial losses set to be experienced by Melbourne.
As Cruise Passenger revealed the millions in losses to Melbourne’s budget as a result of a lack of cruise ships, Carnival has now announced that Carnival Adventure will briefly homeport out of the city after its Singapore dry dock in 2027.
Scores of Cruise Passenger readers bemoaned the fact that the city was being abandoned by cruise lines after an ill-fated port charge increase sparked a stampede. The demise of P&O Australia, which will be merged into Carnival Australia, just added to the fact that Melbourne homeported ships would be few and far between.

Carnival revealed today that after Adventure finishes its Singapore dry dock in March 2027, she will homeport out of Melbourne. The ship will sail three voyages before pivoting back to New South Wales in a two-day sailing to Sydney. After this Adventure will continue homeporting out of Sydney.
In a statement, the line maintained: “Carnival Cruise Line is bringing the joy of cruising to Melbourne, giving Victorians the opportunity to embark on unforgettable holidays at sea directly from their home state.”
“We know Victorians are passionate about cruising and have been calling for more options to sail from their home state,” said Kara Glamore, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Carnival Cruise Line Australia. “This is about offering Victorians the chance to enjoy a fun and affordable holiday without the hassle or cost of flying.”
“These itineraries are part of an exciting new chapter in cruising for Australia, as Carnival Cruise Line prepares to expand to four ships, when P&O’s Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter join the Carnival family in March, as Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter,” she added.
Guests can book the Melbourne voyages via the P&O website pocruises.com.au from tomorrow.
While Melbourne cruise faithfuls may be disappointed that the ship won’t be around longer, this does mark the first homeporting Carnival Cruise Line ship out of Melbourne since the pandemic, showing some positive signs for the Victorian cruise industry.
It may also offer hope to cruisers from other cities or regions in Australia such as Adelaide or Perth that hope one of the four Carnival ships will eventually operate as Pacific Explorer did, circumnavigating Australia and homeporting out of a range of destinations.
These voyages will undoubtedly be in high demand and a supportive response could spark Carnival to plan more itineraries that homeport outside of only Sydney or Brisbane.
How Melbourne has been feeling the effects of the loss of cruise

Vice President Sales & Marketing Kara Glamore told Cruise Weekly: “We know Victorians are passionate about cruising and have been calling for more options to sail from their home state.
“This is about offering Victorians the chance to enjoy a fun and affordable holiday without the hassle or cost of flying.”
Glamore’s last point is a critical one, with many Cruise Passenger readers expressing their discontent over the newfound difficulty of getting onto a cruise without having more hassle and seeing an extra dent in their bank accounts.
And if she has come to realise this, then there is every reason to hope she can be persuaded to arrange more cruises out of Melbourne.
Gloria Rutley wrote: “It is totally unbelievable that this is happening to Melbourne. All the ships we’ve lost in the last year and now we all have to fly interstate to get a cruise. Sydney accommodation is very expensive as are the airfares if you don’t manage to get a bargain price, which you usually have to book months in advance for.”
Maggie Gee wrote: “Very disapointed not to have ships homeport from Melbourne anymore. It cost a small fortune to fly interstate unless you manage to score cheap flights, which is rare! State government should be doing more to bring cruise ships back to Melbourne!”
Cruisers like John Phelps are resigning themselves to having to choose new holiday options.
“As a regular Melbourne based cruiser I will look for alternative holidays now I have to fly to Brisbane or Sydney to join a ship. It isn’t just the extra cost of the flight but the inconvenience, extra time involved and most of all the luggage weight restrictions that airlines demand. When cruising we need two sets of clothes per day due to dress codes plus extra if formal nights are expected.
“Sailing out of Melbourne has been a dream with no luggage restrictions and a commute of 40 minutes from home to terminal. With Melbourne’s population exceeding that of Brisbane and approaching that of Sydney, I cant believe that cruise companies are abandoning us.”
Cruiser Billie Lee perhaps put it most simply: “I for one will no longer cruise. I refuse to pay $1000 to fly interstate and spend a night in a hotel before boarding a cruise then having to fly back home.”
Hopefully for Australian cruisers this is a sign of tides turning in the industry and Carnival will continue to put renewed focus on ports beyond just Sydney and Brisbane.
See more on cruise itineraries here.
Port of Melbourne is not owned/run by Victorian government – stop blaming them. It is a private consortium.
The cruise lines are not homeporting in Melbourne because the PoM increases fees unrealistically.
Carnival’s share price is doing quite well without Melbourne dragging it down. Ships in other ports are at capacity.
Will container ships stop coming also???
For the last 3 years we have enjoyed short cruises leaving Melbourne on the Pacific Explorer. Port fees are expensive in both States. Please include Melbourne as a regular departure port. If so, I’ll be back!!
The cruises offered are nothing more than a token gesture to give a glimmer of hope that, perhaps one day if we behave, they may actually give us a cruise of a decent duration. Not Impressed.
How short sighted is the Allen government
We spend millions on sport complexes but we ignore people who want to cruise from Melbourne
Station Pier is in the Dark Ages
It has not improved since the 50’s
Yet cruise ships bring millions into the State
Hope common sense will prevail and Melbourne will once again welcome travellers to cruising
Maybe Carnival are seeing a drop in their own revenues by ignoring a market the size of Melbourne. I doubt the estimated $130 hit to Melbourne’s economy would have any bearing on their decisions (writing as a CCL Shareholder, why should they care about that?). Nor would I blame the decision on the Allan Government, they have more important issues they are not addressing. The earlier increase in port charges could have simply been passed on to passengers (which would have been much cheaper than the cost of airfares plus hotels the cruise lines might have assumed we’d be happy to pay). Port fees couldn’t have been the only factor, no matter what the press releases said. Normally I’d would expect to do 2-3 cruises a year, but haven’t done any since the “pull-out” (including Princess homeporting here too). I’m not interested in adding additional domestic air and hotel costs just to be able to cruise. I’ll resume cruising if they decide to come back.
It’s my understanding that port charges are higher in Sydney. Not sure about Qld.
Sydney fees are expensive that Melbourne. This is not the main reason. Something else is happening
The same for Adelaide P&O used to sail fom Adelaide but no more I will not be sailing again after 25 Cruises with a lot of cruise company’s just abandoning there clients
This is mostly the fault of the Allen government in Victoria who imposed huge port charges. And tourism Victoria who seems just accept the millions lost . In the end the cruise industry will be the big losers along with us cruisers.
I could not agree more I love cruising. I’ve been on a P&O cruise out of Brisbane flown both ways from Melbourne. I’ve been on a carnival cruise out of Sydney flying both ways out of Melbourne. Very expensive. I would love to go on another cruise but I am not flying to Sydney or Brisbane to join it. Bad luck for you cruise companies when they do it out of Melbourne I will rejoin and go on a cruise cheers everybody