Key Aspects:
- Safety concerns over channel depths and forecast tides have eliminated Carnival Encounter’s upcoming overnight in Cairns, shortening the visit to one day.
- Departure from Cairns was moved up to 8:00 p.m. September 29 and a visit to Townsville was added the following day.
- The change comes weeks after shallow channel depths forced the same ship to cancel another Cairns visit entirely.
Guests sailing aboard Carnival Encounter later this month will lose the second day of an overnight visit to Cairns. The recently upgraded 2,600-passenger ship is scheduled to depart from Brisbane, Australia on September 26, 2026 for a 7-night, round-trip Great Barrier Reef sailing.
The cruise was originally set to visit Airlie Beach on September 28, overnight in Cairns on September 29-30, and cruise by Willis Island on October 1, before returning to Brisbane on October 3. However, continued channel-depth concerns have affected the ship’s itinerary for the second time in September.
“Current channel depths and forecasted tidal levels are expected to affect the ship’s ability to safely depart Cairns at the originally scheduled time Wednesday, 30 September,” a notice sent to guests September 16 reads.
Carnival Encounter’s arrival in Cairns at 9:30 a.m. on September 29 remains unchanged. However, instead of leaving Cairns at 6:00 p.m. on September 30 as scheduled, the ship will depart at 8:00 p.m. on September 29, the same day as its arrival.
The cancelled second day in Cairns will instead be replaced by a visit to Townsville on September 30. The ship will arrive in Townsville at 8:00 a.m. and depart at 4:00 p.m. Townsville tours will be made available to guests for booking online ahead of the beginning of the cruise.
Additionally, the scheduled scenic visit to Willis Island on October 1 has been shifted one hour earlier. Instead of cruising by the island from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., the onboard experience will now take place from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
No changes to the departures and arrivals at Brisbane and Airlie Beach have been announced. Guests who booked shore excursions in Cairns for September 30 will either be moved to the 29th where space allows, or automatically refunded to the original form of payment.
Second Cairns Disruption in One Month
The adjustment comes just weeks after channel-depth issues prevented Carnival Encounter from reaching Cairns at all. Cruise Hive previously reported on adjustments made to the September 5, 2026 sailing aboard the 108,865-gross-ton vessel.
That sailing, a 6-night round-trip cruise from Brisbane, was similarly scheduled to call at Willis Island, Cairns, and Airlie Beach. However, shallow channel depths led to a reshuffling of the itinerary.
Due to those unsafe channel conditions, the visit to Cairns on September 8, 2026 was cancelled entirely. Instead, the scheduled Airlie Beach visit was moved forward to the 8th, and a visit to Townsville was added for September 9.
The September 26 sailing marks the ship’s first subsequent scheduled visit to Cairns. Carnival had not announced any changes to this voyage at the time. The notice now confirms that, while the ship is still expected to reach Cairns on September 29, channel depths will once again affect the itinerary.
The next scheduled visit to Cairns for Carnival Encounter is set for October 28, 2026, during a 6-night Great Barrier Reef sailing from Brisbane, departing October 25. No changes to that itinerary have been announced.
Carnival Encounter is based year-round in Brisbane, offering 3- to 14-night sailings around Australia and the South Pacific. These sailings will continue into 2027 and 2028 as part of Carnival’s expanded Australia and New Zealand lineup.
