| CCL decreasing Aus cruises

CARNIVAL Cruise Line (CCL) has announced Carnival Adventure will only sail seasonally in Australia from Apr 2028, after which she will relocate to North America during the southern winter (CW breaking news).

The move will leave the brand with just two year-round vessels based Down Under: Carnival Encounter and Carnival Splendor.

Meanwhile, Adventure will sail during the summer from Sydney, and Carnival Luminosa from Qld.

While CCL remains the only cruise line sailing year-round in Australia, country manager Peter Little said the decision to relocate Adventure was made due to more favourable market conditions elsewhere, and the uncertain regulatory environment in Australia.

Little said the cruise line is seeing stronger momentum and government support in other major travel and tourism markets.

“Carnival is adjusting its deployment to better capture greater opportunities elsewhere, while continuing to champion a more competitive and certain operating environment — matters we’ve long emphasised.” he said.

Adventure will complete her scheduled voyages, with Carnival noting the 2027/28 season will see her sail from more Australian home ports than ever before.

The outcome is one Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has in the past warned of, due to the threat Australia’s regulatory environment is proving to cruise.

“CLIA and the Australasian cruise industry have consistently warned that regulatory uncertainty and a complex operating environment make Australia uncompetitive among cruise destinations,” the association stated.

“While demand for cruising is at record levels internationally and Australians remain some of the world’s most passionate cruisers, Australia is at risk of losing deployment to other countries that offer a more competitive operating environment.

“CLIA has previously called for a national action plan across federal, state, and territory governments, to support cruise tourism, improve Australia’s competitiveness, attract more ships, safeguard jobs, and create greater economic opportunities in destinations around the country,” the Association said.

The Australian Cruise Association (ACA) described CCL’s announcement as a “significant blow to confidence” across Australia’s cruise ecosystem, highlighting broader challenges, particularly for ports, destinations and regional communities that rely on long-term certainty to plan and invest.

ACA chief executive officer Jill Abel said the Association’s membership continues to see strong demand for cruising in Australia, even as the difficulty of cruise operations becomes increasingly apparent.

“When compared with competitor regions, there is a growing perception that Australia is rolling out red tape rather than rolling out the red carpet for cruise’s contribution to jobs, regional economies and the visitor sector,” Abel said, as ACA also called for a coordinated national approach to cruise.

“These are the issues the ACA is addressing through its strategic action plan, to be released in the coming days, with a focus on policy alignment, infrastructure planning, destination development and collaboration to support sustainable cruise growth,” Abel added. MS