A new Carnival ship is set to debut in North America after abandoning its longtime home in Australia.
Starting April 2028, Carnival Adventure will operate seasonally in North America, rather than year-round from her current home country of Australia.
Carnival Adventure joined Carnival's fleet in March 2025 after the vessel's former operator, P&O Cruises Australia, shuttered operations after 93 years.
P&O Cruises Australia was formed out of the passenger division of the UK shipping company P&O. The latter operated the world's first passenger ships in the early 19th century and eventually became the first company to operate revenue passenger sailings to Australia in 1932.
One year after hosting a massive celebration for its legacy in Australia in 2023, news broke that the cruise line would be shut down and absorbed into Carnival Cruise Line to increase its capacity. The move also expanded Carnival’s fleet from 27 to 29 ships, making it the largest fleet in the cruise line’s 50-plus-year history.
The former P&O Adventure and P&O Encounter underwent a brief drydock to transform into Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter, which were supposed to be part of its strategy to expand its operations in Australia and the South Pacific.
Now, it appears Carnival is backtracking on its original plan, with Carnival Adventure slated to only sail from Australia seasonally, spending the other part of the year in North America. At the time of publication, the exact homeport hasn't been revealed.
The decision to pull Carnival Adventure from year-round service Down Under was made because of "favorable market conditions elsewhere and the uncertain regulatory environment in Australia and New Zealand," according to a press release shared on February 26, 2026.
"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 emphasized," Country Manager Peter Little said.
According to Carnival's website, Carnival Adventure's last sailing from Australia is a short 3-night cruise from Adelaide to Sydney on March 14, 2028. Carnival indicated that it will not remove the cruise ship from the region before its published sailings have been completed.
Carnival Adventure is a 24-year-old ship that began service in May 2001 as Golden Princess for Princess Cruises. Golden Princess, along with her nearly-identical sister Star Princess, were transferred to P&O in 2021 — then to Carnival in 2025.
As such, the Grand Class ships are noticeably different from other vessels within the fleet, lacking the same iconic red, white, and blue funnel and featuring a design more closely aligned with Princess Cruises' upscale atmosphere.
Whereas Carnival Adventure will be based out of North America during the summer months, Carnival Encounter (and Splendour) will continue to sail year-round from Australia.
"We’re proud of our long-standing commitment to this market. It is business as usual with Carnival Cruise Line operating from more homeports across Australia and New Zealand in 2027/28 than ever before, so there are plenty of attractive itineraries for our guests," Little added.
"Over the next two years, we look forward to welcoming onboard about 1.2 million fun-loving guests across about 400 voyages as we continue to sail year-round to amazing destinations."
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Having sailed on over 30 cruises across different lines, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, MSC, Margaritaville at Sea, and Princess, she loves sharing her insight and expertise on all things cruising!
In addition to writing for Cruise.Blog, Elizabeth has bylines in Business Insider, Royal Caribbean Blog, and Cruiseshipfood.com.
