Carnival Luminosa in Australia year-round in 2026 and 2027 ???

[CDaze71]

Carnival Luminosa might be here year-round in 2026 and 2027.

Just saw a post in a Royal FB group about a question on Voyager. It prompted a few screenshots of the  Cairns Port Schedule showing visits by the Carnival Luminosa through our winter months of 2026 and 2027. Yay. 

I can't see anything in Brisbane's Port Schedule yet. 

@arxcards might get your eagle eye onto this one.

JH hasn't announced anything yet, but he has been, for USA port, in the last day.

[MicCanberra]

It was usually the case that Carnival had one ship all year round and P&O had a few, now the Carnival is taking the Adventure and Encounter I imagine they will do likewise.

[CDaze71]

19 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

It was usually the case that Carnival had one ship all year round and P&O had a few, now the Carnival is taking the Adventure and Encounter I imagine they will do likewise.

Yep I'm hoping there will be 4 Carnival branded ships here even in winter. Splendor, Luminosa, Encounter and Adventure. 

 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, CDaze71 said:

Carnival Luminosa might be here year-round in 2026 and 2027.

Just saw a post in a Royal FB group about a question on Voyager. It prompted a few screenshots of the  Cairns Port Schedule showing visits by the Carnival Luminosa through our winter months of 2026 and 2027. Yay. 

I can't see anything in Brisbane's Port Schedule yet. 

@arxcards might get your eagle eye onto this one.

JH hasn't announced anything yet, but he has been, for USA port, in the last day.

I think Justin is looking after this booking for Carnival - Justin Case.

 

These bookings have been there for several months. They also had year-round bookings in Airlie Beach, Cairns, Port Douglas for Luminosa in 2024-5, but they didn't materialise when the schedules were announced.

 

Carnival has held an ambition of cruising year-round from Brisbane since BICT was announced. Initially Spirit was going to cruise full time out of Brisbane from October 2019, but covid squashed that. While they still hold that ambition, the absorption of P&O has come along since those bookings were made, and Carnival is not going to keep Luminosa here year-round if Encounter is not sailing full through winter. They have to discount Encounter to fill her now, so things will have to go gangbusters before any of those "in-case" bookings become a reality.

[CDaze71]

Ahhhh OK cool bananas, thanks Geoff. Just got a little bit excited. Bloody Justin. 

[arxcards]

37 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

Ahhhh OK cool bananas, thanks Geoff. Just got a little bit excited. Bloody Justin. 

Keep your fingers crossed Cilla. At least Carnival is showing their intent, so it is on their want list. She already has bookings at the terminal though till April 2027, but none through the winter. The key confirmation will be if Luminosa starts showing winter bookings at BICT, and that will show months ahead of any JH announcement.

 

On the other hand, Luminosa could also swap roles with Carnival Encounter at some stage.

[ceeceeDee]

55 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Keep your fingers crossed Cilla. At least Carnival is showing their intent, so it is on their want list. She already has bookings at the terminal though till April 2027, but none through the winter. The key confirmation will be if Luminosa starts showing winter bookings at BICT, and that will show months ahead of any JH announcement.

 

On the other hand, Luminosa could also swap roles with Carnival Encounter at some stage.

Does that mean, potentially, American cruisers could get their paws on Encounter? There was quite a bit of excitement/speculation on the American forum when Carnival announced the demise of P&O Australia. (Can't imagine why. Encounter is ancient compared to the vast majority of what is on offer in the States). Frankly, they're welcome.

[CDaze71]

10 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

Does that mean, potentially, American cruisers could get their paws on Encounter? There was quite a bit of excitement/speculation on the American forum when Carnival announced the demise of P&O Australia. (Can't imagine why. Encounter is ancient compared to the vast majority of what is on offer in the States). Frankly, they're welcome.

My thoughts exactly. 

Wait until they see the size of the Ocean view and Balcony cabins on Encounter and Adventure. No sofa means super small cabins being an ex Princess ship, vs say an ex Costa ship (Luminosa) that has sofas from 4K and up. They're welcome to them. I still miss my Spirit and Legend. 

[ceeceeDee]

5 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

My thoughts exactly. 

Wait until they see the size of the Ocean view and Balcony cabins on Encounter and Adventure. No sofa means super small cabins being an ex Princess ship, vs say an ex Costa ship (Luminosa) that has sofas from 4K and up. They're welcome to them. I still miss my Spirit and Legend. 

Some of the enthusiasm could be nostalgia for those who sailed on the former Star Princess back in the day. However, that's just rose coloured glasses and the reality may well come as a shock.

[arxcards]

21 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

Does that mean, potentially, American cruisers could get their paws on Encounter? There was quite a bit of excitement/speculation on the American forum when Carnival announced the demise of P&O Australia. (Can't imagine why. Encounter is ancient compared to the vast majority of what is on offer in the States). Frankly, they're welcome.

Speculation indeed, but Carnival will match ships to ports. If there is extra capacity that isn't being filled on Encounter, Carnival will look at how/where they can maximise passenger numbers. Yes, they are older ships, but Carnival has been happy to have ancient ones in their fleet. The difference with those US Carnival cruisers is that they don't see a swap happening, but just to add those ships to the US fleet. That would be very pie in the sky.

 

As far as ship layout goes, despite the age difference, I would much rather be on a grand class Princess ship that on Splendor. Also to note, Luminosa is still seen by many in the US as a Costa ship.

[CDaze71]

Hmmmm. I just found a story, not sure I'm allowed to share though. 

Basically the Carnival Miracle and Spirit will do Alaska in 2026. I wonder if that's an indication of the Miracle replacing the Luminosa in Alaska. Maybeeeee?

 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/09/carnival-miracle-and-carnival-spirit-to-alaska-in-2026/

[ceeceeDee]

3 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Speculation indeed, but Carnival will match ships to ports. If there is extra capacity that isn't being filled on Encounter, Carnival will look at how/where they can maximise passenger numbers. Yes, they are older ships, but Carnival has been happy to have ancient ones in their fleet. The difference with those US Carnival cruisers is that they don't see a swap happening, but just to add those ships to the US fleet. That would be very pie in the sky.

 

As far as ship layout goes, despite the age difference, I would much rather be on a grand class Princess ship that on Splendor. Also to note, Luminosa is still seen by many in the US as a Costa ship.

You're right, Geoff. When the American forum blew up with enthusiasm, the posts didn't speculate about there being any 'swapsies'. The impression I took away with me was that they expected at least one of the ex P&O ships to be an addition rather than a substitute.

[CDaze71]

3 minutes ago, arxcards said:

..... 

 

As far as ship layout goes, despite the age difference, I would much rather be on a grand class Princess ship that on Splendor......

 

I prefer the Splendor as per my comments about the cabin sizes. Have sailed in a balcony on both the Splendor and Luminosa on two NYE cruises in a row and enjoyed not having to have bunk beds as a triple. And my parents had a twin ocean view on the Splendor and they are HUGE. 

 

I got used to the Splendor layout (9 to 5). But cabin sizes are what I prefer. 

 

[arxcards]

35 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

 

I prefer the Splendor as per my comments about the cabin sizes. Have sailed in a balcony on both the Splendor and Luminosa on two NYE cruises in a row and enjoyed not having to have bunk beds as a triple. And my parents had a twin ocean view on the Splendor and they are HUGE. 

 

I got used to the Splendor layout (9 to 5). But cabin sizes are what I prefer. 

 

Not for the 9-5 bit, but the public spaces/venues are not to scale and the cross traffic in the thoroughfares is a problem. Our cabin (same both times) has been mostly fine, but that was an Ocean suite. The only real detraction was that the cabin TV wasn't much bigger than my galaxy pad. I would much rather "downgrade" to a grand class Princess mini, as we are doing on Diamond, Emerald & Crown over the next 18 months. I hope we find Luminosa to be better for us than Splendor when we bord on 6th Feb.

 

Yes, I would agree, the grand class inside/outside/balcony cabins aren't compatible for any more than two people. 

[CDaze71]

@arxcards hey Geoff are you welove2cruise on insta? Someone just liked a couple of my photos and I didn't know who it was. A bit of stalking lead me to you lol. 

[ceeceeDee]

I'm pretty sure that's Geoff🤔

[joejoe 59]

4 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

I'm pretty sure that's Geoff🤔

Yep😃

[arxcards]

54 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

@arxcards hey Geoff are you welove2cruise on insta? Someone just liked a couple of my photos and I didn't know who it was. A bit of stalking lead me to you lol. 

welove2cruise became my user tag on most social media sites as they evolved as well as email addresses, like the one in my signature (note - welove2cruise isn't me on CC, as it was already taken).

 

I had to like your Broncos post, as ... well ... it was so sad to see them lose so badly. 😉