When The brilliance of carnivals returns to Australia in just a few weeks, lucky guests booked on her first cruise Down Under since the industry-wide shutdown will be able to enjoy an extra free day on board.
The cruise line has decided to restart The brilliance of carnivalsits operations from 1 October 2022, instead of the initial planned sailing date of 2 October 2022.
The brilliance of carnivals to start over a day early
The Concordia-class ship is spending the summer season offering 7-night Alaska round-trip cruises from Seattle, but is scheduled to depart Seattle to head south on September 6, 2022. A 24-night itinerary will be repositioned The brilliance of carnivals to Sydney, Australia, calling at amazing ports in Hawaii and Fiji along the way.
The ship’s first departure from its Australian port is scheduled to be on Sunday, October 2, 2022, a 3-night “Escape” cruise to nowhere, with no port of call. Now, the cruise line is extending the voyage, departing instead on Saturday, August 1.
“The extension of this cruise is a thank you to our most dedicated guests – those who had the opportunity to welcome Carnival Splendor back with our first passenger cruise in over two years!” said Kara Glamore, president of Carnival Cruise Line Australia. “We look forward to celebrating with them on board and welcoming the return of entertainment to Aussie waters.”
Rather than just a cruise to nowhere, the itinerary will now include a visit to Moreton Island, Queensland.
Booked guests are being contacted to change their departure date. There is no change to existing cruise rates for current bookings.
If guests are unable to accommodate the early departure, they are offered either a full refund of their reservation, or a future cruise credit that they can redeem on a cruise of their choice.
The brilliance of carnivals in Australia
The brilliance of carnivals began sailing to Australia in 2019, the largest ship the cruise line has ever positioned in the Australian market.
The brilliance of carnivals weighing 113,300 gross tons, 952 feet long, with 13 entertainment-filled passenger decks. The ship can accommodate 3,012 guests double occupancy, and up to 3,948 passengers when fully booked. An international crew of 1,150 officers and crew members provide spectacular service to all on board.
Carnival announced The brilliance of carnivalsis repositioning from North America to Australia in February 2018, with the ship commencing year-round service from Sydney in December 2019. Prior to that major repositioning, the ship underwent a dry dock and numerous upgrades to better suit the Australian market.
The brilliance of carnivals was sailing a number of Australian itineraries in March 2020 when the industry-wide pandemic shutdown began. At first, the ship remained in the region in the hope that sailing would resume.
As it became clear that the Australian authorities preferred stricter measures for cruise travel, however, and cruises remained banned, Carnival Cruise Line announced in February 2022 that The brilliance of carnivals would return to North America to resume navigation in another region.
The ship was the last ship in the Carnival fleet to resume passenger operations when she finally set sail again, welcoming guests to Seattle on May 2, 2022, for the start of her Alaska season.
After that Alaska season ends in early September, The brilliance of carnivals will return to Australia, offering keen travelers a range of 3-11 night itineraries with a range of different itinerary options, all round-trip sailing from Sydney. Destinations include New Zealand, the amazing Great Barrier Reef and many other incredible ports of call.
