Ultimate Guide: Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises are a cornerstone of Australian vacations and cruise culture. Thousands of Aussies swear by Princess for their vacations and cruise on their royal blue and white ships time and time again.

However, Princess Cruises is for travellers of a particular taste. They have a way of sailing that is the perfect escape for countless Aussies who like a traditional cruise without the fussy water parks and slides.

Even if you’ve never cruised before, or never cruised with Princess, this guide will let you know if Princess could be right for you.

Is Princess for you?

There are many people that go cruising for the whole family, wanting a place for their kids to run around and for the entire family to enjoy an endless stream of family fun. There are also plenty of cruisers who want to splash cash and opt for a luxurious experience, on serene ships with elegant service. Princess is one of the cruise lines that are perfect for people who are looking for something in between. 

Princess ships don’t go for high-energy experiences that come with booking a cruise on a Carnival or Royal Caribbean cruise. However, this isn’t why people choose to cruise with Princess. 

Princess recently launched the new Sun Princess, and after a few missteps on water parks and restaurant placings, the ships is settling in as the flagship of the fleet – bigger than the usual Princess ship but including the serenity and elegance that Princess ships specialise in.

Princess ships aren’t as luxurious as cruise lines such as Regent Seven Seas or Silversea Cruises. While more luxurious cruise lines have smaller ships with more intimate service, Princess Cruises have larger ships carrying thousands of passengers at a time. 

We like to think of Princess as the Aldi of cruise – good value, traditional and enjoyable.

You shouldn’t book a Princess Cruise thinking you’ll be getting an all-inclusive luxurious five-star service experience. However, you will get a more peaceful and upscale experience, with a significantly lower price tag than a luxury cruise line such as the ones mentioned above. 

Princess is comparable with cruise lines such as Celebrity Cruises, Cunard and Holland America, but for Australian cruises, you can generally grab a better price with Princess, mostly due to the fact they have a significantly larger presence here than the other mentioned lines.

That’s a position that has changed recently. There are three ships here for the 2024/25 season, and only two – a huge reduction – for 2025/26.

How is Princess for kids?

While this will ultimately always come down to the personal preference of you and your children, there are a few important things to note about the experience of taking your kids on a Princess Cruise.

The first is: You won’t walk around the ship stumbling into games of laser tag and surf simulators. 

However, this doesn’t mean that the ships don’t have facilities for children. Princess has four different kids’ cruise clubs for kids of different ages, and they are hugely popular. The new focus on multi-generational cruising Princess is moving with the times.

While it might not be the family ship experience, there are still plenty of opportunities for your kids to do arts and crafts, sports, dance classes and parties, movie nights, science workshops and plenty more, all while meeting other kids. 

Then of course, consider what your child likes. Some parents actually report their kids preferring Princess Cruises, because they prefer quiet activities, don’t like loud crowds or for any other of number reasons. 

If you have children that can get bored very easily and become restless without activities, you might have to consider whether Princess is right for you.

However, if you do think your children would enjoy or even prefer a more tranquil experience, you can feel assured that the ship will still have great facilities and highly trained stuff to take care of your kids at a kids club while you go off and enjoy the ship as you please.

A cheaper all-inclusive option? 

An interesting element to Princess, is their Princess Plus and Princess Premier packages. While these packages will be discussed in further detail later on, the important thing to note is they include a drinks package and WiFi package, as well as further benefits such as specialty dining. 

They don’t come super cheap, at $65 or $100 a day respectively, it will add on a lot to your final bill. However, they are generally priced better than similar packages for competing lines. 

The key thing to note about these packages is that they make Princess a very attractive proposition for another type of cruiser who wants to pay an all-inclusive price for their cruise. 

A big draw of cruising in comparison to staying in a hotel, is having a range of food and activities included, allowing for a more all-inclusive experience and making it easier to budget a holiday. However, in reality family and mid-range cruise lines aren’t really all-inclusive, because the vast majority of people will spend a lot of money on things that aren’t included, such as alcohol, WiFi, shore excursions and more. 

While the Princess packages don’t include shore excursions, they do offer an opportunity for people to pay an upfront cost that will likely cover the vast majority of all their onboard expenses. This offers an all-inclusive like experience that is much cheaper than taking a luxury cruise, which are generally all-inclusive.

For example, you can purchase a Princess Plus package for a Princess cruise such as this eight-day Tasmania cruise, which starts from $839. If you purchased that interior cabin, as well as a Princess Plus package, that would come out to a total of $1359 per person for a week cruise, and you’d be sorted for alcohol and WiFi, as well as some other benefits. All inclusive cruise lines such as Viking, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas generally start from around $3500 – $5000 per week per person.

This shows that you can use the Princess Packages to essentially mimic the experience of a luxury cruise at a fraction of the price, as well as make it easier to budget your holiday expenses ahead of time.

Cruising Princess in Australia 

Destinations and itineraries 

A big consideration for Australians thinking about sailing Princess should be the diversity of destinations. Now that P&O Cruises will cease to exist in Australia, Princess Cruises is the go-to option for a cruise line that’s affordable, but also visits places all around Australia. 

For example, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruises only homeport out of Sydney and Brisbane, whereas Princess has cruises in and out of places like Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, Hobart and more. 

Especially for those looking to cruise to Western Australia, Princess Cruises will be your go to. Princess is the only mid-range ship in Australia at the moment that’s sailing to destinations such as Esperance and Exmouth. 

Princess has a bit more of a lean towards prioritising destinations around Australia, whereas other mid-range cruise lines in Australia visit the South Pacific and tropical Queensland a lot more. 

Furthermore, most of the cruise lines sailing in Australia that are of a similar price-range to Princess generally offer itineraries up to about two-weeks in length, however, Princess has plenty options for longer itineraries and circumnavigations of Australia. Other more upscale lines similarly offer longer cruises, but Princess offers a way to take on these grand itineraries without completely breaking the bank.

If you’re retired or have some extra time off work and are looking to plan a longer cruise and see more of Australia and surrounding countries, generally Princess will be your go to. 

Right now Princess has 20 different cruises of 16 plus days available for Australian based itineraries. 

They have plenty of ‘Round Australia’ options which are long cruises, generally of about a month, that will visit around 14 to 16 ports, but can start as low as $3000 for an interior. 

For an idea, check out this 28-day Round Australia on Crown Princess. Another good thing to note about these cruises is you that you generally have the option of onboarding at a couple of different ports, this means that if you live Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, Hobart or more, you might not have to fly to get on your cruise, and can instead hop on the ship from your doorstep. 

Cruise lines in Australia have been trending towards shorter itineraries, less regional port visits and Sydney and Brisbane homeporting, for now, Princess Cruises are the line that’s sticking strong and offering more variety and more Australia-based options. 

What ships do we have? 

Princess has been doing a bit of a merry-go round with its Australian ships recently, and unfortunately, by 2025/2026, the cruise will have just two ships deployed in Australia. Despite there being four ships for the 2023/2024 season. 

For the upcoming cruise season of 2024/2025, Princess Cruises will have the 3600-capacity Royal Princess, the 2670-capacity Diamond Princess and the 3080-capacity Crown Princess.

Excitingly, for 2025/2026, the 3660-capacity Discovery Princess will arrive, and Crown will sail again. 

Discovery Princess is an exciting get, as it’s currently Princess’s second-newest ship having entered operations in 2022, so while we’ll have less ships here, we will be treated to getting one of Princess’s hottest attractions. Discovery and Royal are of the same class of ships, however, Royal was built in 2013, so you can expect Discovery to be a much more modern version.

Crown Princess entered operations in 2006, but has long proved a local favourite with Australian cruisers. 

Who will you find onboard?

The Princess Cruiser is generally a bit older than you’ll see on a lot of cruise lines out of Australia. Expect to see plenty of people in their 50s and 60s, particularly in the Australian market. 

While you will of course see families, Princess in Australia proves particularly popular with middle-aged to older couples, as well as older groups of friends or family who are travelling together. With thousands of people onboard you’ll of course likely come across people from all walks of life, but you can expect the demographic to trend towards middle-aged Australian.

Another characteristic of Princess Cruisers in Australia is you’ll find many loyal Princess cruisers, who have cruised plenty of times with Princess. It’s a cruise line that Aussies have a lot of loyalty for.

It’s also not a hugely popular cruise line for solo travellers, although like many cruise lines, it has been making efforts towards new accommodations and activities for solo-travellers. 

What to wear on a Princess Cruise?

This is actually a slightly difficult question to answer, as the topic of what to wear on a cruise, particularly on Princess, creates a huge debate among Aussie cruisers. Another trend amongst cruise is the declining formality of attire, and different cruisers feel different ways about this.

Compared to more family-based cruise lines, you can generally expect to see nicer attire, particularly in the main dining room. If you show up to the main dining room with flip-flops and board shorts, the reality is that you’ll probably get a couple of looks.

There are also dedicated formal nights, which are not compulsory, but a fair portion of guests will be in suits and cocktail dresses on these nights. 

It really comes down to personal preference and what you feel comfortable in, and you’re unlikely to encounter any hostility regardless of how you choose to dress, but it is worth noting that you will generally see people dressed a bit nicer on a Princess Cruise than lines such as Royal Caribbean or Carnival.

Princess Packages

As mentioned above, Princess has two packages available, Princess Plus and Princess Premier. Here’s the breakdown of what they cost and what they include.

Princess Plus – $65 per day

• MedallionNet® Max Wi-Fi (1 device per guest)
• Plus Beverage Package
  (drinks up to $22 each)
• Unlimited juice bar
• Premium desserts (2 per day)
• Fitness classes (2 per cruise)
• 2 casual dining meals per guest
• OceanNow® delivery
• Room service delivery
• Cost: $65 per day

Princess Premier – $100 per day

• MedallionNet® Max Wi-Fi (up to 4 devices per guest)
• Unlimited Premier Beverage Package
  (drinks up to $30 each)
• Unlimited juice bar
• Premium desserts (unlimited)
• Fitness classes (unlimited)
• Photo package
  (unlimited digital + 3 prints)
• Unlimited speciality dining meals per guest
• Reserved theatre seating
  (for production shows only)
• Unlimited casual dining meals
• OceanNow® delivery
• Room service delivery

The Princess Cruises Fleet

Princess Cruises features a diverse fleet of well-appointed vessels. The line has a total of 17 ships grouped into four classes. Moreover, all vessels in every class have similar venues and amenities onboard. These five classes are the Sphere Class, Royal Class, Grand Class, and Coral Class.

The Princess Medallion

Princess Cruises’ Medallion is an innovative technology that elevates guest’s experience and provides a more personalized and seamless journey. Additionally, the Medallion is a complimentary wearable device that serves as an access point to various features and services throughout the voyage. Furthermore, the Medallion serves as:

Device for embarkation and disembarkation

The Medallion acts as a personal identification and automatically checks guests in and out of the ship. Hence, eliminating the need for physical keys or cards.

Keyless stateroom entry

With the Medallion, guests can simply approach their stateroom door, and it will unlock automatically, providing a seamless and convenient entry. 

On-demand services

The Medallion enables guests to order food, beverages, and other amenities from anywhere on the ship through their smartphone.  

Personalized experiences

The Medallion technology tailors guests’ experience accordingly. It can provide personalized recommendations for activities, dining options, and entertainment based on their interests.

Streamlined payment

The Medallion serves as a convenient payment method throughout the ship, eliminating the need to carry cash or cards. 

Princess Cruises Dining

Princess Cruises takes great pride in providing an exceptional dining experience that caters to every palate and preference. From elegant main dining rooms serving up classic cuisine to innovative specialty restaurants featuring globally-inspired menus, the culinary offerings aboard Princess ships are a true celebration of flavor and artistry.

Here’s the list of Princess Cruises onboard restaurants. Note: Some of these dining hubs can only be found on select ships. 

Complimentary dining

• Main Dining Rooms
• World Fresh Marketplace
• Afternoon Tea
• Burger & Hot Dog Grill
• Chopsticks
• International Cafe
• Patisserie
• Salty Dog Grill
• Slice
• Pizzeria
• Swirls Ice Cream Bar
• The Pastry Shop

Casual Dining (Fee Dining)

• Alfredo’s Pizzeria
• Gigi’s Pizzeria
• Gelato
• Kai Sushi
• Ocean Terrace
• O’Malley’s Irish Pub
• Planks BBQ
• The Salty Dog Gastropub
• Steamers Seafood
• Vines Wine Bar

Specialty Dining (Fee Dining)

• Bayou Cafe & Steakhouse
• The Catch by Rudi
• Churrascaria Brazilian Grill
• Crab Shack
• Crown Grill
• Harmony
• Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria
• Sterling Steakhouse

Experiential dining (Fee Dining)

• 360: An Extraordinary Experience
• Chef’s Table
• Balcony Breakfast/Dinner
• Caymus Winemaker’s Dinner
• Silverado Winemaker’s Dinner

Cruise passengers who availed Princes Plus or Princess Premier packages get to enjoy casual dining prix fixe meals without extra charge. In the Princess Premier package, guests get to enjoy two specialty dining per sailing.