Carnival Cruise Line will open a third cruise hub in
Australia, moving the Carnival Spirit to Brisbane for year-round cruising
starting in 2020.
The ship has been sailing from Australia since 2012 and is
currently homeported in Sydney.
From Brisbane, Carnival plans to sail to the archipelagos of
Vanuatu and New Caledonia, as well as offer shorter cruises to destinations in
North Queensland.
Carnival and the port of Brisbane recently won approval from
an Australian antitrust panel to proceed with a new $158 million terminal.
The approval was subject to the condition that Carnival
cannot book more than two of the three 'weekend' days (Friday, Saturday and
Sunday) in any given week, unless no other cruise operator wants the third day.
In addition, if a second berth it built, Carnival cannot be
given first right of refusal for an agreement which would give it first choice
of days at that berth.
Brisbane is Australia's third-largest city and is the
capital of Australia's populous Gold Coast area north of Sydney.
At one point, Carnival had planned to sail the Carnival
Spirit seasonally from northern China, but it withdrew those plans in 2016,
citing the strength of the Australian market.