Exclusive: NSW Port Authority to offer price incentives for year-round cruising

• The NSW Port Authority has revealed to Cruise Passenger that from July next year it will offer price incentives for ships that want to visit NSW outside of the peak months.
• This is an important step for year-round cruising in Australia, and can help establish cruising as a year-round activity.
• It follows Cruise Passenger’s campaign and Regent Seven Seas basing Navigator in Australia for the winter season.

In recent weeks, Cruise Passenger has seen a surge of support for the idea of year-round cruising in Australia, since it was revealed that Royal Caribbean has been holding ‘discussions’ over the idea and Regent Seven Seas has already embraced winter cruising with a Navigator deployment next year.

Cruise Passenger can reveal that the New South Wales Port Authority will begin introducing special pricing incentives to attract cruise ships in the winter and in general outside of peak months.

The Port Authority shared with Cruise Passenger: “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, from modernising port infrastructure to expanding regional capacity, funding shore-side services and supporting the delivery of unique high-quality passenger experiences across the State.”

This comes with a recognition that passenger numbers have begun dipping in the winter, and Carnival Adventure, which currently sails year-round in Australia, has been announced to be redeployed to the USA for half a year.

Measures like this have been badly needed from the cruise industry, and indicate a step in the right direction. If ports offer pricing incentives, most likely in the form of reduced port fees, this can be a strong push for lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises or Princess to make the plunge and commit to year-round cruising in Australia. 

Cruise lines generally plan at least three years in advance, meaning that although this policy starts in July 2027, we might not see the results of it until 2028 or 2029.

Australian deployments are mostly locked in for the 2027/28 season, but moving forward from there, seeing more ships year round in our water would be a huge step for an industry that badly needs a win. 

Cruisepassenger.com.au has been reporting on the moves for more winter sailings. You can read about it here.

Brisbane also looking for more winter ships

While the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal wasn’t quite as forward in saying it would look into pricing incentives, it did acknowledge that it’s constantly looking for opportunities to grow cruising from Brisbane, including over the winter months.

A Port of Brisbane spokesperson said: “Cruise lines lock in itineraries years ahead, considering a range of factors such as the northern hemisphere summer and local demand here in Australia. Brisbane’s proximity to popular domestic and international destinations continue to make it an attractive option for cruise line itinerary planning.

“We engage regularly with existing cruise customers and prospective new lines to explore opportunities to grow cruising from Brisbane, including during winter. Through this ongoing work and collaboration with industry and government partners, we aim to strengthen Brisbane’s position as a preferred cruise port.

“The BICT is close to capacity during the busiest summer months, and during 2025/26 season the terminal will welcome around 140 cruise ships.”

Given that the terminal is already close to capacity during the summer, it makes sense that the clearest opportunity for growth would be to incentivise ships to sail in Australia over non-peak months as well. 

When Royal Caribbean completes work on its private destination in Lelepa, it’s predicted that it will station a ship year-round out of Brisbane, given that Brisbane is closer to Vanuatu than Sydney.

If the ports can work together, and in coordination with other elements of industry and government, Australia could be on a fast track to becoming a prime destination to cruise in, all year round.

Meanwhile the pressure on the federal government for a national initiative continues with the Australian Cruise Association calling on the federal governement to to set up a national stategy.

‘Australia needs a coordinated national approach to cruise — one that recognises the sector’s economic contribution, supports infrastructure planning and provides certainty for cruise lines making long-term deployment decisions,’ said ACA president Jill Abel.

‘Our Strategic Action Plan provides a practical road ap to get there,’ she said.

See the action plan here.