Australia’s cruise is in crisis – it’s time the government followed NZ in taking action

• New Zealand’s cruise industry is 40% down on cruise ship calls, and is working with the government to talk to cruise lines in a bid to persuade them to return ships to the region.
• Australia is 38% down, but the federal government has yet to act on behalf of the Australian cruise.
• As more Australians fly overseas to cruise, Australia needs to follow NZ’s lead and work with the industry to turn things around.

While the news that Disney Cruises won’t continue homeporting in Australia wasn’t unexpected, it was still disappointing and worrying for Australia’s cruise industry. In three years, Australia’s cruise industry has taken a massive hit, with capacity amongst large homeporting ships dropping by 38%. 

Disney’s failure can be analysed and explained by many factors, such as high pricing, unexciting itineraries and more, but it’s also important to note that they are not the only line struggling to call Australia home. 

Disney joins like Virgin Voyages and Cunard in deciding to no longer host a ship on our shores. Furthermore, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruises, Princess Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line have all decreased their presence in Australian waters since the 2023/24 season. 

In 2023/24 the industry brought in a commendable $8.43 billion to the Australian economy, generating 26,000 jobs.  Now, a few years later, that figure is in danger of dropping considerably. 

The problem doesn’t appear to be demand. Australia continues to be the world’s fourth largest cruise market, and Aussies are known to be mad for cruising. This can be seen with a line such as Princess Cruises, where their reduced capacity has led to Aussies selling out their ships at rates far faster than anywhere else in the world.

The commonly cited problems by the cruise industry are high regulatory costs, complex regulatory requirements and expensive port fees. These are clearly turning cruise lines off Australia.

Industry veteran and Flight Centre boss Graham Turner told The Australian’s Lisa Allen: “Some of them are going because they can get better yields elsewhere,” said Graham Turner, managing director of travel agency Flight Centre, which sells $1.4bn worth of cruises annually.

“Cruise lines can get $US600 to $US700 per person a night in the Caribbean, here they are likely to get $US150 to $US200 a night. Added to that, some of the products are not the right products for here.”

Cruise Passenger has asked Federal Tourism Minister Don Farrell whether he would do what his New Zealand counterpart has done, and call a summit to discuss a whole of government response to the situation. We didn’t get a reponse.

But in New Zealand this week, the industry has been working hard to connect with cruise lines and suggest ways they can reconsider cruises to the country.

Australia and New Zealand are joined at the hip, as many overseas cruisers, particularly Americans, want to experience both countries.

New Zealand Cruise Association Chair Tansy Tompkins describes the situation as “deeply disturbing”. She said of her countries drop in cruise capacity, which is running at 40%: “This is not a gentle contraction.

“It’s not a softening of demand, it is a steep and deeply worrying decline that, if not reversed, quickly threatens to erode the infrastructure, investment, and human capability that underpins cruise in New Zealand.”

Australia has exactly the same problem – and the same long-term threat. Which makes the disinterest shown by Don Farrell even more alarming.

As can be seen in the table below, nearly all major lines have removed or somewhat reduced their presence in Australia over just a three-year period. 

	23/24 Ships (capacity)	26/27 Ships (capacity)
Royal Caribbean	Brilliance of the Seas (2543), Ovation of the Seas (4905), Quantum of the Seas (4905)	Anthem of the Seas (4905), Quantum of the Seas (4905)
Carnival Cruises + P&O Cruises Australia	Carnival Splendor (3012), Carnival Luminosa (2826), Pacific Adventure (2636), Pacific Explorer (2000), Pacific Encounter (2600)	Carnival Splendor (3012), Carnival Luminosa (2826), Carnival Encounter (2600), Carnival Adventure (2636),
Celebrity Cruises	Celebrity Edge (2908)	Celebrity Edge (2908)
Princess Cruisers	Majestic Princess (3560), Royal Princess (3600), Grand Princess (2610), Coral Princess (2000)	Grand Princess (2610), Royal Princess (3600)
Norwegian Cruise Lines	Norwegian Spirit (2018)	No homeported ship
Cunard Cruise Line	Queen Elizabeth II (2081)	No homeported ship
Disney Cruise Lines	Disney Wonder (2400)	No homeported ship
Holland America	Westerdam (1964)	Noordam (1972)
Virgin Voyagers	Resilient Lady (2770)	No homeported ship
Total:	18 ships, 51,338 capacity	10 ships, 31974 capacity (-38% change)

*ships of over 1800 passengers sailing over 10 cruises leaving from Australia in the 26/27 season. Other large ships such as Celebrity Solstice, Crown Princess or Norwegian Spirit will sail some cruises out of Australian ports, but do not meet this criteria.

What does a declining Australian cruise industry mean for you?  

• Less options to cruise always means higher prices. If there are less ships sailing here, you can expect to have to pay extra to get onboard. Fares for lines such as Princess Cruises or Royal Caribbean have risen considerably. 
• Less availability could also become a more common reality for Aussie cruisers. A host of Princess cruises ships are sold out, even as far forward as the 2026/27 season. 
• You might have to get used to flying to get on a cruise. Having less ships has also led to less cruises out of ports that aren’t Sydney or Brisbane. Now many Aussies need to get on a domestic flight to Sydney or Brisbane just to cruise. This could also lead to more Aussies looking overseas to cruise, particularly as lines continue to invest more and more in Asia. 
• Aussies are also seeing much less diversity in itineraries. As cruise lines try to shore up profits, they’ve been running more uniform itineraries, as well as shorter cruises. This has led to a majority of itineraries being focused around New Zealand, New Caledonia and Queensland, and fewer itineraries to other South Pacific islands and other Aussie destinations.
• Things could get worse. Aussies cruise collapse has started unfolding very quickly, and with regions such as the USA West Coast, the Caribbean, Alaska and Asia clearly proving more appealing to cruise lines at the moment, we could continue to see fewer and fewer ships on our shores if steps aren’t taken by governments and associations to attempt to reverse the trend. 

What can be done to get more ships to Australia? 

• A decrease in regulatory costs and port fees would make Australia a more attractive destination for cruise lines. 
• Deciding on and investing in a third cruise terminal for Sydney. Having more capacity in Sydney would instantly give the cruise industry a huge boost, and this has already taken years and years without action. 
• More investment in regional ports. This can give Australia more appeal as a destination and spread tourist dollars to the areas that need it the most. 
• Improved collaboration with customs so that ships can enter into northern WA as their first port of call. 
• Adding more regulatory certainty, for example, by adding a longer extension to the coastal trading act that allows cruise ships to operate in Australia.

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