Carnival Makes Itinerary Change for Cruise Due to “Channel Depths” at Port

Carnival Cruise Line has reached out to impacted guests about a September 9, 2026 sailing on Carnival Splendor.  The Australian-based cruise ship will not be able to make its scheduled stop in Cairns due to “current channel depths”.

Carnival Splendor is currently running regular cruises out of Sydney, Australia and will remain in the South Pacific well into 2028.

Visits to ports like Airlie Beach, Willis Island, Moreton Island, and even occasional stops in New Zealand are all offered by the 3,000-passenger ship. Cairns, Australia is a big part of that schedule as well, with Carnival visiting the Queensland port a few times a month.

But a recent notification from the cruise line shows some safety issues with the port that make docking there off limits for now.

In a letter sent to affected passengers, Carnival stated:

“We have made an adjustment to the itinerary for your Carnival Splendor cruise, departing 9 September 2026. The Port of Cairns has advised that current channel depths have reduced and are now too shallow to allow for the safe passage of our ship to Cairns Cruise Terminal, and the issue will not be fixed before our planned visit.”

Because of the shallow depths in the channel at Cairns, the ship is going to anchor at Yorkeys Knob instead, which is about 9 miles away.

From there, a water shuttle will take passengers on shore so they can still visit the originally planned port.

So, the biggest change will just be some extra time in getting to local excursions and tours.

This September 9, 2026 sailing is a 9-day cruise that is also scheduled to visit Airlie Beach and Willis Island. Because of the extra time at Yorkeys Knob, these two port days will be swapped.

The letter stated that “pre-purchased shore excursions will be adjusted based on these changes.”

The channel at the Port of Cairns has always been somewhat narrow and shallow, too shallow for larger cruise ships. So, why can’t Splendor dock at Cairns now when it has before?

It’s most likely due to the simple fact that sea floors shift, and some sediment build-up could have raised the sea floor too much for safe passage. Heavy rains can also impact this, in addition to pauses in dredging.

Splendor has a draft of about 27 feet. This is the distance from the surface of the water to the bottom of the keel. But to safely navigate a channel or body of water, the ship needs more like 32 feet.  Apparently for now, there just isn’t enough space for the ship to operate safely