Carnival Scraps Rare 10‑Night Cruise for Full-Ship Charter
Key Aspects:
One October 2027 sailing of Carnival Splendor is now cancelled due to a full-ship charter.
Already booked guests will receive a full refund or can choose a different sailing with their cruise rate protected.
The 10-night itinerary to New Zealand is a rare one and could be challenging for guests to replace.
Carnival Cruise Line has reached out to guests booked on one upcoming sailing of Carnival Splendor to alert them that their voyage has been cancelled.
The impacted sailing is the ship’s October 12, 2027 departure from Sydney. The 10-night, round-trip voyage was to have sailed completely around the North Island of New Zealand, with stops in Napier, Tauranga, Auckland, and the Bay of Islands before returning to Sydney on October 22.
“We are very sorry to inform you that the ship has been chartered and your cruise has been cancelled,” the email notification read.
To be clear, Carnival Splendor will still be sailing on the voyage, but it is no longer a public sailing and not available to book except through the chartering organization, which has not been revealed. Instead, guests who had already booked the getaway have a couple of options.
If travelers want to reschedule to a different sailing date, their cruise rate will be protected in similar accommodations. Port fees, taxes, and onboard expenses are not generally protected, just the cruise rate. If guests do rebook, they will receive a $100 (AUD) onboard credit per stateroom for the new sailing.
Carnival Splendor offers relatively diverse sailings from Sydney, ranging from 3-night cruises to nowhere to a number of 10- and 12-night voyages.
Several similar cruises are departing in fall 2027, close to the date of the now-chartered voyage. On November 6, 2027, for example, the ship has a 10-night sailing to New Zealand, but around South Island instead of North Island.
The only other date in 2027 when the ship is offering a 10-night cruise around North Island departs on January 3. All other 10-night cruises are to South Island. The January 17, 2028 cruise is also to North Island.
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The scarcity of this itinerary will make it challenging for guests to replace their sailing with a very close option, though a replacement cruise does not necessarily have to be aboard Carnival Splendor. If guests are flexible with their destination preferences, they may have more options.
Carnival Adventure is also homeported from Sydney in late 2027, but does not offer sailings to New Zealand at all.
If guests prefer not to reschedule, they will receive an automatic full refund of their cruise fare and all pre-purchased items back to the original form of payment. Refunds will begin processing on April 4, 2026, but could take up to three weeks, depending on the policies of individual financial institutions.
Why the Cancellation?
Carnival Cruise Line has not disclosed the nature of the full ship charter, but this is not unusual and protects the privacy of the chartering organization.
Multiple different music cruises have been scheduled aboard Carnival Splendor in 2026, including the Hellbound metal music cruise and Rock the Boat. It is possible that the 2027 cruises for those events may be the longer sailing that is now chartered.
Other music tours, special interest groups, and even corporations may also schedule full-ship charters, causing open bookings to suddenly be cancelled.
Cruise Hive has regularly reported on such charter cancellations, which can happen on all cruise lines for different ships, destinations, and cruise lengths.
While this can be frustrating for guests, especially for such a sought-after itinerary, at least this particular Carnival Splendor cancellation is 19 months away. This permits guests plenty of time for rebooking on a different voyage for their cruise vacation plans.