As Discovery Princess turns four – why are the other cruise ships in Australia so old?

• Discovery Princess celebrated its fourth birthday last week, with a special celebration as part of its Aussie sailings.
• However, having such a young ship on our shores is a rare occasion, with most ships that sail here more than 20 years old.
• In the 2027/28 season, the average ship age will be 23 years old, with only three ships built in the last 20 years.

Last week, Discovery Princess, which is finishing its first and only Australian season, celebrated its fourth birthday. There was a party onboard befitting the occasion before it set off on its final local sailing out of Sydney ahead of returning to the USA.

This birthday celebration wasn’t just a good time onboard, but also provoked a bit of reflection due to the fact it’s not too often that a ship in Australia celebrates its fourth birthday. A 21st or 30th birthday celebration might be more common for Aussie ships.

Discovery Princess’ Aussie arrival carried a lot of excitement with it because it’s extremely rare to see such a shiny new ship sailing on Aussie shores. Discovery Princess is the third newest ship in Princess’ fleet and her arrival meant that dedicated Princess fans got to see freshly designed spaces, different shows and venues, a more modern ship and more. 

However, this excitement was short-lived. Discovery Princess only had a short season of about four months in Australia and next week will be moving on with no scheduled plans to return to Australia. 

If you’re a cruise fan you’ll know that major cruise lines are constantly announcing, building and launching new ships. But those new vessels never seem to make it to our shores.

In fact, as things are shaping up in Australia, we’re actually seeing older and older ships. Discovery Princess is on the way out and being swapped out for much older ships, Quantum and Ovation of the Seas have been swapped out for the older Anthem and Voyager and more modern lines like Virgin Voyages have pulled out from Australia entirely.

With the 2027/28 Aussie cruise season deployments locked in, amazingly, only three of the large ships (2000+ passengers) sailing here will have been built in the last 20 years. 

Ship (2000+ capacity only)	Year Built	Age at conclusion of 2027/2028 season
Anthem of the Seas	2015	13
Voyager of the Seas	1999	29
Celebrity Edge	2018	10
Carnival Splendor	2007	21
Carnival Luminosa	2008	20
Carnival Encounter	2001	27
Carnival Adventure	2000	28
Westerdam	2003	25
Norwegian Spirit	1998	30
Grand Princess	1997	31
Royal Princess	2011	17
Sapphire Princess	2004	24

As the data shows, Celebrity Edge, Anthem of the Seas and Royal Princess will be the only ships built within the last 20 years, and none of these is younger than 10. 

In fact, 50 per cent of large ships sailing in the 2027/28 season will be 25 years or older, with Sapphire Princess only just missing the mark to join that group. 

Discovery Princess celebrated her fourth birthday in Aussie waters, but come 2027/28, the average ship will be 23 years old.

It’s undeniable that cruise lines are looking at Australia as a place to shuffle old inventory too, rather than a market to rotate its most exciting products through. 

There are advantages to this sometimes, such as potentially cheaper fares, but most Aussie cruise die-hards would agree that it’d be nice to see newer ships roll through as well. 

Aussies always have the option to head over to the USA or Europe for newer ships, but the truth is that most Aussies prefer cruising locally, and adding international flights, hotel stays, transport and more to a cruise fare makes cruising much less of a budget option.

Why do so few new cruise ships sail in Australia?

New ships are generally what make the most profit for cruise lines, as they can charge higher fares and have more exciting onboard additions, so cruise lines generally prioritize these ships and place them in regions with favourable conditions. This is why you see the vast majority of new cruise ships heading straight to the Caribbean, where port fees are low, the American market is large and willing to splurge, and the ships can generally sail on shorter itineraries with quick turnarounds, bringing new customers each week or every few days.

Australia is known as an expensive place for cruise ships to visit due to port fees, regulatory costs and the large distances to sail making fuel costs much higher as well. This is definitely a factor in why we often don’t see shiny new ships down here, with cruise lines not viewing Australia as the most profitable region.

For luxury lines, which can charge higher fares to smaller audiences, we often see new ships built in just the last couple of years coming through Aussie waters and even homeporting here. 

Even considering the above, the fact remains that Australia is one of the world’s biggest cruise markets, and has a large base of loyal, consistent cruises, who would love to see something new on their shores and would appreciate it greatly if more cruise lines mixed up their Australian deployments. 

Older ships have their charm and are still greatly appreciated by Aussie cruisers, but cruise lines bringing in ships that aren’t even necessarily sparkling straight out of the shipyard, but are at least new to the Aussie market and a bit newer than what we have now, would bring a great deal of excitement to Aussie cruisers.