Port had the game in its keeping from early in the second quarter when the margin was 50 points, with Carlton trailing by 65 points late in the third before outscoring the visitors eight goals to two in the final term.
Both of the Cornes boys were influential for Port with Chad and Kane gathering 29 possessions each and Steven Salopek continued his emergence as a quality midfielder with 31 touches and a goal.
For the Blues, Heath Scotland (32 disposals) and Lance Whitnall (30 touches) tried hard all day and Brendan Fevola was the leading goalkicker on the ground with five.
Carlton started with a loaded forward line that included big guns Anthony Koutoufides, Fevola and Whitnall and it worked well early with Koutoufides goaling three minutes in.
The Power's own forward set-up suffered a blow when Damon White went to the bench, where he stayed for the rest of the match, with what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury.
His loss didn't handicap Port too much though as his replacement, Brett Ebert, kicked the first of two opening-quarter goals to get the ball rolling for the Power.
Andrew Walker was in the right place at the right time to snap Carlton's second from close range, but Nathan Lonie's long-range effort streaming inside 50 was the start of four unanswered goals that saw Port bound away to a 19-point lead.
Fevola had been rarely sighted for much of the first quarter, but he led hard to mark and goal late in the term to narrow the margin.
Port was firing on all cylinders as the end of the quarter drew near, registering three majors to hold an imposing 32-point lead at the first break.
Things went from bad to worse for the Blues in the second term as Brendon Lade booted the first of three Power goals that saw the margin blow out to 50 points.
Fevola kicked his second and Carlton's only goal for the quarter 15 minutes in, and despite some wayward kicking, the Power extended their lead to 57 points at the half.
Josh Mahoney was gifted a goal by Lade early in the third when the big ruckman gave it off after taking a good mark in the goalsquare, but Marc Murphy was equally as fortuitous at the other end when he stepped in front of an errant Matthew Bishop kick-out to bag his only goal for the day.
Eddie Betts had a quiet afternoon, but worked hard to force a holding the ball decision which he converted into a goal late in the quarter, but it was the Power by 60 points at the last change.
Port clearly had one eye on the exit as the game fizzled to a close with Fevola adding three to his total - Stuart Dew providing a rare highlight when he unloaded a torpedo punt for his second goal of the day.
The match was almost out of Carlton's reach by the first break and Denis Pagan lamented yet another costly slow start from his side.
"The last three weeks we've been terrible at the start, (but) we get together and they're able to take a step back and see the issues that are causing them concern and then we go," he said.
"It's still very disappointing - our start to the game - and you know the side that's in front at quarter-time has probably got a 75 per cent chance of winning."
Port coach Mark Wiliams said that his side's experienced players helped work the younger players into the contest.
"They played particularly well. It was great coming back, and coming back to Telstra after last week's win. It was nice to think that the young players I thought played particularly well and got some good opportunities."
"Quite a few of the senior players led the way and gave them some nice touches.
"I thought Surjan played well again, Salopek played well, Chaplin did a good job, Symes. He was under an injury cloud until really today and I thought it was good for them."
CARLTON: 3.2, 4.5, 6.8, 12.12 (84)
PORT ADELAIDE: 8.4, 13.8, 15.14, 17.16 (118)
GOALS – Carlton: Fevola 5, Betts 2, Koutoufides, Walker, Murphy, Whitnall, McLaren Port Adelaide: Ebert 3, C Cornes 2, Lade 2, Dew 2, Thurstans 2, Lonie, Surjan, Ezard, Salopek, Mahoney, Chaplin
BEST – Carlton: Whitnall, Scotland, Murphy, Simpson, Fevola, Stevens, Thornton
Port Adelaide: C Cornes, K Cornes, Salopek, S Burgoyne, Pearce, Dew, Lonie, Ebert
INJURIES – Carlton: Longmuir (shoulder) Port Adelaide: White (shoulder)
CHANGES – Carlton: nil
Port Adelaide: nil
REPORTS - nil
UMPIRES - Head, Schmitt, Kamolins
CROWD - 18,665 at Telstra Dome
