Australia’s cruise ship crisis: now Western Australia cruise ship visits drop 50%

WA cruise had a record season in 2023/24 with 290 cruise ship visits and more than $385 million was injected into the economy.

But predictions for the 2025/2026 cruise season are only projecting 140 cruise ship visits.

This represents a 52% decline in overall cruise traffic, meaning less tourism dollars compared to $385 million earned in the 2023/24 season. 

Australian Cruise Association CEO Jill Abel told Cruise Passenger today: “We have seen a rebalance of cruise ship numbers around the country following the record year of 2023/24.

“We are currently collating our 2024/25 data… as predicted, there is some downturn in cruise ship calls nationally as the industry recovers from the pandemic with some states being impacted more than others. Some destinations, such as Townsville, have seen a record year in 2024/25.

“As an Association, we are focussed on ensuring that we have the right settings in place – that our port infrastructure projects continue to prepare for the next 10 years of growing cruise – our destinations have the right experiences for the broadening cruise ship demographic.”

Cruise Passenger broke the story of the 35% decline in tonnage visiting Australia, mainly due to the low dollar, our high port charges and a boom in Caribbean cruising. This meant the Maimi-based cruise lines didn’t need to move their ships to Australia.

NSW, Victoria and Queensland have all suffered drops in visitation.

Western Australia sees a mix of larger ships as well as a range of luxury and expedition vessels. These either sail itineraries in the Kimberley, or circumnavigate Australia’s coastline and often include stops at ports such as Broome or Exmouth. 

The state’s commitment to cruise appears to be firm, with $35.5 million set to be poured into infrastructure improvements at the Fremantle Passenger Terminal and a further $2 million to be put towards a strategic plan of cruise line engagement over the next four years.

However, tourism is growing quickly in Western Australia and it’s possible that it’s leaving cruise behind. 

Western Australia reported a massive $17.9 billion in its visitor economy from March 2023 to March 2024, and is Australia’s fastest growing state in terms of total visitors spend when compared to 2019. 

This is due to Asian visitation numbers increasing after the pandemic, boosted by more direct flights between Western Australia and China. 

The total economic impact of cruising only equals to about two per cent of that overall spend, creating the possibility that as the state moves forward in tourism, cruise might not be a priority. 

The figure is still extremely significant and supports 1200 jobs in Western Australia, however, the overall tourism boom could explain why the state is ringing any alarm bells over such a significant drop in cruise traffic. 

Furthermore, cruise can provide a special injection into economies that don’t see as much tourism and help spread tourism dollars into coastal towns that might not see such a high influx of visitors. 

This is especially important in a state such as Western Australia where travelling to rural towns can involve hundreds of kilometres of driving and can be very inaccessible for the average tourist.

For example, tourism operators in Geraldton expressed how severely they’d be affected when 12 cruises to the port were cancelled last year. 

Geraldton is a five-hour drive north of Perth, and often misses out on tourists who travel north to Ningaloo Reef and Exmouth, as they fly directly, stay in other towns or drive straight past. 

However, Geraldton does have a cruise port that used to see a decent amount of cruise traffic and offer a significant injection in the local economy, which was appreciated by locals.

Moving forward, there will be a hope that Western Australia’s plan to engage cruise lines can include bringing more cruise traffic to the coastal towns that are calling out for it. 

Cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival no longer sail any itineraries to Western Australia. However, many guests have called for greater variety in itineraries, including those to Western Australia.

If Western Australia could lure more large ships to the state, then their cruise expenditure could grow exponentially.

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Why is Western Australia seeing less cruise ships?

• The principal explanation is that Australia is seeing less cruise ships in general, with Australia suffering a 35% drop in cruise capacity, Western Australia will naturally be seeing less cruise ships. 
• Western Australia has faced complications due to a change in policy from Australian immigration. Before, cruise ships that were arriving from Asia would have custom agents come aboard to conduct processing, but that program was cut. This means that ships arriving from the north often have to skip ports such as Geraldton, which are north of Perth, but do not have customs processing facilities. This means ships stop at less ports overall in Western Australia.
• Major lines are cutting Western Australia itineraries and ships. Royal Caribbean and Carnival both used to sail at least occasional cruises to Western Australia that have now completely dried up. This means Australia’s largest and most prolific ships are no longer visiting Western Australia. Furthermore, P&O Australia would run these itineraries as well but is now no longer a company. Princess Cruises is the only operator of large ships in Australia with semi-regular sailings to Western Australia, however, it has decreased its Australian capacity to just two ships, meaning less visits to Western Australia.