Carnival pulls Carnival Adventure and Carnival Luminosa out of Australia in 2028
The brand's Australian fleet falls from four ships to two as the cabotage exemption for cruise runs out at the end of 2028
Carnival Cruise Line will permanently move two of its four Australian-market ships out of the region after the 2027-28 season, halving its local fleet in a market that has been losing homeported tonnage for several years.
Carnival Adventure, of 108,865 gross tons with berths for up to 3,150 passengers, will sail her last Australian cruise from Sydney on 20 March 2028 and will not return. The line had planned to split her year between hemispheres, opening a season of seven-day Seattle to Alaska cruises in May 2028 and coming back to Australia in October 2028. The return leg has now been dropped. She joined the Carnival fleet in 2025.
Carnival Luminosa, of 92,720 gross tons and up to 2,800 passengers, has sailed seasonally between Australia and Alaska since the industry restarted in 2022. Her final Australian season ends on 15 March 2028, and the line has not yet published her later itineraries.
Which ships stay in Australia?
Carnival Encounter, of 108,865 gross tons, will continue year-round from Brisbane, and Carnival Splendor, of 113,573 gross tons, from Sydney. Deployments for the two remaining ships for 2028-29 are due in the coming weeks.
Country manager Peter Little framed the decision around Carnival's exposure to local conditions: as "the only cruise line with ships dedicated year-round to Australia", the brand carries more of the risk of changes in market and operating rules than lines that visit seasonally. He called the government's extension of the cruise exemption "a welcome but interim step". He also said: "The Carnival Luminosa and the Carnival Adventure have both played an important role in our Australian story."
Why is the regulatory framework the issue?
The exemption lifts the restrictions of the Coastal Trading Act, Australia's cabotage law, which would otherwise limit sailings between two Australian ports. It has been renewed in two-year steps and now runs to the end of 2028. Transport Minister Catherine King said earlier this month that this would be the last extension, and an independent review board is examining the industry while a long-term licensing regime is drafted. An industry coalition formed in August to press on rising costs and the regulatory environment, and Australia and New Zealand also apply some of the strictest biofouling rules for visiting ships.
Cunard, Disney Cruise Line and Virgin Voyages no longer homeport in Australia. In 2024 Carnival Corporation retired the P&O Australia brand and moved Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter to Carnival Cruise Line to cut operating costs.
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 19 October 2026.
