Carnival Cruise Line will withdraw two of its four Australian ships, the Carnival Adventure and the Carnival Luminosa, from March 2028, ABC News reported, even though more than 1.4 million Australians took a cruise last year. The company announced the move on Thursday 15 October.
Nine.com.au reported that the Carnival Luminosa, which has been based in Brisbane for part of each year since 2022, will make its last Australian sailing from Sydney on 15 March 2028. The Carnival Adventure had been due to leave Sydney on 20 March 2028 for a season of operations in North America, but it will not return as planned. Carnival Splendor and Carnival Encounter will keep sailing year-round from Sydney and Brisbane respectively.
ABC News reported that Carnival is the only major cruise company operating full-time in Australia, and that Disney and Royal Caribbean no longer do.
Costs and Uncertainty
Nine.com.au reported that regulatory uncertainty and high costs have been blamed for the decision, and that the federal government recently extended the cruise industry’s exemption from the Coastal Trading Act until December 2028. ABC News reported that the exemption, which lets cruise ships get around Australian labour laws, was extended earlier in October with new protections for workers added for the first time.
“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,” Peter Little, Carnival Cruise Line country manager, said in a statement reported by Nine.com.au.
The company said ship schedules were worked out years in advance, and that it was considering “long-term certainty and globally competitive operating conditions to support itinerary planning and investment”, ABC News reported. “We will continue to work constructively with the federal government as it develops the future arrangements for cruise ships operating in the Australian market,” Mr Little said, according to Nine.com.au.
Maritime historian Chris Frame said a higher level of regulation, including tough biosecurity rules, and limited cruise infrastructure made it hard for cruises to stay profitable in Australia, ABC News reported. “Australia is an end-of-the-line destination, and it’s a huge investment,” he said. “Berthing fees are higher than other markets, refuelling is higher and provisioning the ship with food is higher, as you just don’t have the economies of scale.”
Union Calls It a Tactic
Jake Field of the Maritime Union of Australia claimed this was the third time Carnival had threatened to withdraw from Australia, and that the move was a negotiating tactic, ABC News reported. “There are 80 cruise vessels that are scheduled to come to Australia, only four of them don’t have collective agreements with their crews, and those are the four Carnival ships,” Mr Field said.
Fewer Ships, Higher Fares?
Cruise expert Adrian Tassone, of The Cruise and Travel Guy, said the change would lead to a “significant reduction in capacity and choice for Australian cruisers”, Nine.com.au reported. “This change may well contribute to higher cruise fares, as growing demand will likely outstrip supply in 2028 and beyond,” Mr Tassone told nine.com.au. He said the government’s decision to extend the exemptions for only two years undermines the industry.
Nine.com.au says the cruise industry has already lost $1 billion in yearly expenditure and supports 22,000 full-time jobs. Other company news is in our Business section.
Sources: ABC News, “Carnival Cruises axes half of Australian fleet”, 16 October 2026 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-16/carnival-cruises-axes-half-of-australian-fleet/107276582); Nine.com.au, “Carnival Cruise Line announces two ships will be pulled from Australia”, 15 October 2026 (https://www.nine.com.au/travel/cruising/carnival-cruise-line-announces-two-ships-will-be-pulled-from-australia-20261015-p611ab.html)
Photo: GRDN711, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Carnival Luminosa, one of the two ships leaving the Australian fleet, arrives at Ogden Point in Victoria, British Columbia, in June 2025.
