Sydney, the world’s most expensive port, is offering discounts to create a winter cruise season worth a $1 billion

• Winter cruising could make a huge impact on an Australian cruise industry that is losing ships and capacity.
• If there are more incentives to cruise year-round in Australia, more cruise lines could stay on our shores and extend their economic impact throughout the year.
• NSW Ports is set to introduce pricing incentives for off-peak cruising from July 2027.

Sydney is widely regarded as the world’s most expensive port. Cruise industry groups have long argued that Sydney’s combination of passenger charges, pilotage, berth fees, and government levies makes it among the highest-cost destinations globally.

It can cost as much as $184,000 to dock Royal Caribbean’s Anthem for a single visit to Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal.

A significant part of Sydney’s cost is due to the passenger-based terminal charge. Industry figures have cited a charge of about A$45 per passenger in addition to navigation, pilotage, and other port fees, which is one reason Sydney is often regarded as one of the world’s most expensive cruise ports.

The charges have been cited by many cruise lines as once reason why our fleet of homeported ships has shrunk in the past four years.

Now, New South Wales ports is introducing off-season pricing incentives to encourage cruise ships to visit over the winter and off-peak months. If executed successfully, this move could bring an additional $1 billion into the Australian economy.

The pricing incentives, due to commence from July 1, 2027, are aimed at encouraging cruise operators to schedule more ship calls during Sydney’s traditionally quieter winter months, creating a year-round cruise market while maximising economic benefits for New South Wales.

Just how much the discounts amount to is not yet clear. But the move is a significant change.

A Port Authority spokesperson told Cruise Passenger the initiative would “encourage cruise lines to schedule ship calls during the off-peak season in Sydney, helping to smooth demand and maximise economic benefit,” adding that NSW was “investing strongly to support sustainable year-round growth of cruise as part of the visitor economy.”

The move comes as Australia’s cruise industry grapples with declining capacity. In recent years, Virgin Voyages, Cunard and Disney Cruise Line have withdrawn from the Australian market, P&O Australia has disappeared, and Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line and Princess Cruises have all reduced local deployments.

Industry leaders believe extending cruising through winter represents the biggest opportunity to reverse that trend.

While Carnival Cruise Line currently offers year-round Australian sailings, much of Australia’s most popular cruise region—including Queensland and the South Pacific—remains warm during winter. The season also falls outside the cyclone period, reducing weather disruptions and improving itinerary reliability.

NSW ports previously revealed to Cruise Passenger that: “Port Authority will introduce pricing incentives from 1 July 2027 to encourage cruise lines to schedule ship calls during the off‑peak season in Sydney, helping to smooth demand and maximise economic benefit.

“NSW is investing strongly to support sustainable year-round growth of cruise as part of the visitor economy.”

Gladis Mahfoud, CLIA certified travel agent at Investing In Memories says she’s seen industry discussions on winter cruising, and the industry views it as the next step forward to growing cruise in Australia. 

As capacity gets tight cruisers are struggling to find their preferred cabins and sailings, but winter cruising could solve this.

She says: “Another challenge we’re seeing, particularly in the cruise sector, is capacity within the Australian market. During a recent industry discussion, including insights shared by the CLIA, Cruise Lines International Association, there was recognition that Australia would benefit from more cruise lines committing ships to our waters during the winter season. 

“While Carnival Cruise Line continues to be a very popular and affordable choice for many Australian families, travellers are increasingly looking for a wider range of cruise experiences. 

“Some are seeking premium, luxury, expedition or destination-focused voyages and would welcome greater local availability rather than having to travel overseas to access those options. Expanding cruise capacity in Australia would provide travellers with more choice while supporting the broader tourism industry.”

As the industry gets behind this move and NSW ports support it, with a wider government push and collaboration between government and industry, this could surely become a reality.

How much does Australia stand to gain from winter cruising? 

If Australian winter cruising incentives could attract just three new ships to sail year-round, this could explode cruise growth and inject billions into the economy. 

For example, with their new private destination at Lelepa, Royal Caribbean would surely consider year-round cruising on our shoes. Over a six-month season Royal Caribbean generally sail about 26 cruises, an average of about seven days per cruise. 

If a ship like Quantum of the Seas were to sail 26 extra sailings at a capacity of 4905, that would be another 127,530 cruise passengers per year.

Celebrity Cruises will be visiting Lelepa as well, as its owned by Royal Caribbean, if Celebrity Edge were to add another six months of sailings, at the same average of seven days per sailing with Celebrity Edge’s 2918 capacity, this would add another 75868 passengers per year.

Then if Princess were to become year-round in Australia, and add just another three months of sailing, for example with Grand Princess, this adds another 33,826 cruise passengers. 

In total this would offer capacity for 237,000 extra cruisers each year, a huge boost for the industry. Furthermore, that would only be the start, if other lines could be enticed to stay year round, growth would be even more significant. 

In 2025, a total of 1.37 million people cruised in Australia, with Australia currently seeing about $7.32 billion in total economic output. 

Adding the extra capacity would bump that number up to 1.61 million, which would be a 17.5% increase. If the economic output per passenger stays the same, this would bring total economic output to $8.6 billion, an increase of $1.3 billion. 

This would be a huge injection into the economy, and the winter months would remain as a place for lines to add extra capacity and cruise to grow in Australia. 

The time to act is now and hopefully the government will take notice of industry action and work to make year-round cruising a reality in Australia.