When cruises stopped sailing worldwide during the pandemic, Carnival Cruise Line had to make some hard decisions. Among those was to reduce the size of its fleet drastically.
During the pause, Carnival removed several older ships from its fleet — Fantasy, Fascination, Imagination, Inspiration, and Sensation — as it sold or scrapped the older vessels. Even after the return to sailing, two more ships — Sensation and Ecstasy — then left Carnival’s lineup.
This drastically reduced the size of Carnival’s portfolio but also left it with a younger and more efficient fleet. Since then, however, cruising has come roaring back. Cruise lines are back to being profitable and ships are sailing full on huge demand.
And with that Carnival has now reached a milestone that seemed nearly impossible just a few years ago: it has reached a new record in the size of its fleet with the addition of two ships in Australia.
But anyone that’s sailed the cruise line before will notice that there are some unique differences with these ships compared to the typical Carnival ship — including one extremely popular restaurant not being featured onboard.
Carnival Adventure & Carnival Encounter Officially Join the Fleet (But No Guy’s Burger Joint!)
Carnival welcomed the first of its two new ships, Carnival Adventure, in Sydney on Friday. The second, Carnival Encounter, will be celebrated on Saturday in Brisbane. The ships will sail Australia exclusively, and their addition brings the total Carnival fleet up to 29 ships. That marks the largest fleet in the cruise line’s 53-year history.
Carnival Adventure will join Carnival Splendor and sail from Sydney on 3-4 day cruises. Encounter will homeport in Brisbane and offer a lineup of trips ranging from three-day vacations all the way to 12-day routes through the South Pacific.
The ships both sail their inaugural trips for Carnival starting this weekend.
If you find it unique that two ships are joining Carnival at the same time, the reason is also the reason why its been able to add ships so quickly after trimming the fleet just a few years ago.
Both Adventure and Encounter come to Carnival from its sister line P&O Australia. These two ships were previously known as the Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter. The former cruise line has been integrated into Carnival, with the ships undergoing a re-branding to become part of the Carnival fleet.
While they lack the distinctive Carnival “whale tail” funnel, they are now re-worked to become Carnival ships including new entertainment and Camp Ocean for kids.
One thing that’s missing? There’s no Guy’s Burger Joint on these ships despite it being a fan-favorite across the fleet. Instead, there is Luke’s Burgers for an additional charge, named after Luke Mangan, an Australian chef.
In fact, the lineup of restaurants is largely different from what we see with ships based in the United States. While the food styles will feel familiar, spots like Angelo’s (Italian), Luke’s Bar & Grill, and Dragon Lady (Asian) aren’t found on other ships.
Bottom line: It’s still a Carnival ship, but any long-time fans will notice some distinct differences from your typical ship in the lineup.
Even More Ships on the Horizon
As mentioned, these two new ships are unique in that they come to Carnival from another brand. However, this isn’t the first time the cruise line has used this move to expand its fleet.
In fact, it recently welcomed new ships from Costa Cruises in Europe. Those two ships — Carnival Firenze and Carnival Venezia — used to sail Europe but were brought over to sail from Long Beach and New York, respectively.
They feature Carnival’s “Fun Italian Style” theme that offer European touches throughout, making them different from the average ship in the fleet.
In addition, since the pandemic the cruise line has also welcomed its three largest ships: Mardi Gras, Carnival Celebration, and Carnival Jubilee.
Carnival will only continue to grow its fleet. The cruise line is set to welcome two more ships in the same class as Mardi Gras that have yet to be named. However, one will arrive in 2027 and the next in 2028.
And don’t worry, we think it’s likely that Guy’s Burger Joint will be onboard.
