Aussies flock to Singapore for cruise holidays up to 50 % cheaper – here’s what you need to know

• Aussies have been heading to Singapore as local cruise supply dries up.
• The move makes financial sense, with savings of up to 50% on offer.
• It promises to have a huge impact on our home industry – already Princess has moved two ships to Singapore with cheaper fares than can be obtained at home.

The announcement that Princess is homeporting two ships in Singapore has sparked fresh interest in sailing from the Island state, where Royal Caribbean already has ships year-round.

It’s also likely to spark a debate about the fate of our cruise industry, and the jobs it supports. If we are losing our ships to neighbouring Singapore, we are losing the benefits for our home-grown industry.

The reason is simple: Over two seasons we’ve been seeing less domestic cruising options for Aussies, especially those who live outside of Sydney and Brisbane. Australia has gone from 18 major cruise ships in the 2023/24 season to what will be only 11 large ships for the 2026/27 season, and the majority will sail only out of Sydney and Brisbane.

This leaves plenty of cruisers having to look elsewhere due to a lack of supply, as well as plenty of Aussies in towns like Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne facing the prospect of having to book return flights just to be able to cruise.

Under these circumstances, it’s natural that Aussies are starting to look elsewhere – especially when cruise favourites Princess and Royal Caribbean are just an eight-hour flight away.

But now Singapore has produced another great reason for a fly-cruise holiday, especially for those who have to fly to Sydney or Birsbane: it’s cheaper.

Many Cruise Passenger readers have written and expressed not only that they’ve recently cruised out of Singapore or are planning to, but that for many Aussies, it can actually work out cheaper. 

Cruise Passenger decided to run the numbers – and we found our readers were on the money.

The first is that often the cruise fares are less expensive – this is the case with cruise lines like Princess Cruises and Disney Cruise Lines. 

And from certain parts of Australia, namely Perth, it’s actually much cheaper to fly to Singapore than it is to fly to Sydney, meaning those in Western Australia can actually have an easier time flying off to Asia, rather than across the length of Australia. 

For example, a 12-day Princess cruise for someone who lives in Perth, is 31% cheaper out of Singapore than out of Sydney. A 12-day Princess cruise is even cheaper for someone cruising out of Adelaide, however, this time by 14%.

Shockingly, Singapore’s fares are so much lower for Princess than out of Sydney for the 2026/27 season, that it’s even 9% cheaper for a Sydney-sider to lug themselves off to Singapore than to cruise locally. 

Furthermore, for those looking to cruise with Disney, the fare difference is so great, with a four-night cruise out of Sydney costing almost $1500 more than out of Singapore, that cruising out of Singapore with the Disney Adventure works out cheaper from anywhere in Australia.

With Royal Caribbean, it’s a bit more nuanced. Royal Caribbean mostly offers only shorter sailings out of Singapore and many cruisers may not want to travel so far for such a short cruise. Within their longer sailings, prices can vary greatly, and they’re often repositioning cruises that aren’t roundtrips out of Singapore but rather end in a different port.

This is why in the cruises analysed, an eight-day cruise out of Singapore actually came out more expensive than the 12-day cruise out of Singapore. 

This means that if you want to know whether your Royal Caribbean cruise could be done cheaper out of Singapore, it will be very dependent on when you cruise and which exact itinerary you opt for. 

The numbers to know

Below is an analysis of whether it’s cheaper to cruise out of Sydney or Singapore across Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises and Disney Cruise Line.

Flight prices are calculated off the cheapest return flights for November 2025 in SkyScanner and the daily accommodation and food cost is based off Budget Your Trip. 

All fares are current off the cruise line websites as of the date of publishing and all figures are in AUD and per person.

Princess 

• It is about 10-20% cheaper to cruise in Singapore with Princess when compared to Sydney.

We’ve analysed Princess’ itineraries for the 2026/27 season, when Princess will put two ships in Singapore. 

It looks at two Aussie sailings, a 10-day Great Barrier Reef sailing starting from $2899, and a 13-day New Zealand sailing starting from $4095.

The Singapore itineraries in question are a $2319 10-day Vietnam cruise out of Singapore, and a 12-day Malaysia and Thailand cruise out of Singapore, starting from $3059.

As can be seen, Princess fares are a lot cheaper out of Singapore, which essentially makes it so that a Singapore cruise always comes out at least a little bit cheaper with Princess.

The difference is particularly substantial for those cruising out of Perth, who can save thousands per person.

These figures will of course differ across different itineraries, but it definitely shows that if your Princess fare is looking steep, it’s worth casting your eyes over to Singapore.

Destination	Return flights	Cruise fare	One day of food + accommodation	Total cost
Cruising out of Sydney from Sydney	$0	10-day $289913-day $4095	$0	8-day: $2899 12-days: $4095
Cruising out of Singapore from Sydney	$389	10-day $213912-day $3059	$278	8-day: $2806 12-days: $3726
Cruising out of Sydney from Perth	$538	10-day $289913-day $4095	$316	8-day:$3753 12-days: $4949
Cruising out of Singapore from Perth	$262	10-day $213912-day $3059	$278	8-day: $267912-days: $3599
Cruising out of Sydney from Adelaide	$218	10-day $289913-day $4095	$316	8-day: $3433 12-days: $4629
Cruising out of Singapore from Adelaide	$690	10-day $213912-day $3059	$278	8-day: $3107 12-days: $4027
Cruising out of Sydney from Melbourne	$114	10-day $289913-day $4095	$316	8-day: $3329 12-days: $4525
Cruising out of Singapore	$378	10-day $213912-day $3059	$278	8-day: $2795 12-days: $3715

Disney Cruise Lines

It is about 30-40% cheaper to cruise out of Singapore with Disney, when compared to Sydney.

Disney Cruise Line is the most clear-cut of the bunch. The reality is that Disney Adventure’s large capacity of 6400 passengers, well over double that of Disney Wonder, which sails in Australia, allows it to offer better pricing than we see locally. 

A four-day itinerary in Singapore starts from $2171, whereas out of Sydney, it’s a massive $3690.

This means, due to the great flight prices from Australia to Singapore at the moment, the reality is that it’s simply cheaper to cruise with Disney if you do it out of Singapore. 

To cruise out of Singapore versus out of Sydney for someone from Perth is up to a massive 50% cheaper, and even a Sydneysider can save a massive 26%, or about $800 by sailing out of Singapore instead.

This will create an interesting situation for Disney moving forward in Australia, with Singapore providing by far the most economical option for the time being.

It is worth noting however, that Disney does offer some cheaper itineraries out of Melbourne, so those from Melbourne wouldn’t actually need to fly to Sydney to cruise. 

Destination	Return flights	Cruise fare	One day of food + accommodation	Total cost
Cruising out of Sydney from Sydney	$0	4-days: $3690	$0	4-days: $3690
Cruising out of Singapore from Sydney	$389	4-days: $2171	$278	4-days: $2838
Cruising out of Sydney from Perth	$538	4-days: $3690	$316	4-days: $4544
Cruising out of Singapore from Perth	$262	4-days: $2171	$278	4-days: $2711
Cruising out of Sydney from Adelaide	$218	4-days: $3690	$316	4-days: $4224
Cruising out of Singapore from Adelaide	$690	4-days: $2171	$278	4-days: $3139
Cruising out of Sydney from Melbourne	$114	4-days: $3690	$316	4-days: $4120
Cruising out of Singapore	$378	4-days: $2171	$278	4-days: $2827

Royal Caribbean

• It will depend on when you sail on whether you will save. You should aim for longer Singapore cruises for the best value.

This analysis looks at an eight-night Anthem of the Seas sailing for $1799, and a 12-night Anthem sailing to New Zealand from $3499.

The Singapore itineraries are an eight-night cruise through Asia out of Singapore, and a 12-night cruise from Singapore.

Royal Caribbean paints a slightly more complicated picture. As explained above, Singapore prices jump around a lot for Royal Caribbean when looking at longer itineraries. 

It does mean you can find longer Singapore itineraries and save big, even up to a massive 70% for those sailing out of Perth, but it won’t be as easy to find an itinerary that works as it will with the other lines.

The takeaway should be that if you spy a particularly good deal on a longer cruise, you’ll likely be able to find this much cheaper out of Singapore, as any itinerary of 10-days plus with Royal Caribbean out of Australia is quite rare, and therefore generally quite expensive. 

Then, for a mid-range cruise it’s actually the opposite, Australia has plenty of options for shorter Royal Caribbean cruises of about a week, at great prices. However, Singapore has few options available in this range, so it’s generally a bit pricier.

If you want to cruise in Singapore with Royal Caribbean and get a good deal, aim for a 10-night plus itinerary. 

Destination	Return flights	One day of food + accommodation	One day of food + accommodation	Total cost
Cruising out of Sydney from Sydney	$0	8-days, $1799; 12-days $3499	$0	8-day: $1799; 12-days: $3499
Cruising out of Singapore from Sydney	$389	8-days $2614 12-days $1543	$278	8-day: $3281 12-days: $2210
Cruising out of Sydney from Perth	$538	8-days $1799 12-days $3499	$316	8-day: $2653 12-days: $4353
Cruising out of Singapore from Perth	$262	8-days $2614 12-days $1543	$278	8-day: $3154 12-days: $2083
Cruising out of Sydney from Adelaide	$218	8-days $1799 12-days $3499	$316	8-day: $2333 12-days: $4033
Cruising out of Singapore from Adelaide	$690	8-days $2614 12-days $1543	$278	8-day: $3582 12-days: $2511
Cruising out of Sydney from Melbourne	$114	8-days $1799 12-days $3499	$316	8-day: $2229 12-days: $3929
Cruising out of Singapore	$378	8-days $261 12-days $1543	$278	8-day: $3270 12-days: $2119