More new cruisers are booking upper premium lines and regular sailors are trading up, according to Oceania Cruises.

In an interview with Cruise Passenger, Jason Worth, the Vice President of International Sales for Oceania Cruises said travellers are looking for better value for money. Especially in comparison to larger cruise lines. And even converts from land touring.

“Not only cruisers that are trying us from the premium lines because those ships are getting bigger. When you do the price comparison, you can get a better experience. You get a smaller ship, all more inclusions, and a similar price when you add up all the onboard spend on a larger ship,” he said.

Worth also said the price of hotels in Europe has moved Oceania to think about offering pre-cruise hotels, which has already had a huge take up for certain itineraries.

“The cost is through the roof for those guests staying in hotels. The hotel costs are, are not competitive. It’s very expensive,” he said.

“And then you see they charge for everything. Some still charge for WiFi and some charge $50 for breakfast. For now, we’re testing these pre-cruise hotel offerings on over 30 sailings. We had a pre and post-land package that we included in some cruises last year and that was really a hit, you know, I was in many cases oversubscribed or waitlisted.”

The line also this week revealed its 2025/26 Tropics and Exotics Collection which includes 135 itineraries as well as the 2026 World Cruise on the line’s newest ship, Vista.

Oceania Cruises launches their 2025/26 Tropics and Exotics itineraries

Currently, the Insignia is sailing on the 2024 World Cruise with a number of Australians onboard. The decision to designate one of the line’s newest ships, Vista on a world cruise was to offer guests more choice onboard on a longer sailing.

“We’ve seen more bookings coming from people that haven’t cruised as much as you think. There are some people Australians and New Zealanders who have decided to step up to do the full six months. And we believe it’s one of those bucket list things to do,” he said.

The Mediterranean still remains as the most popular cruise destination for the Australian market. But the most popular itinerary over our wave season was an unusual choice.

“The Cape Town to Singapore was our most popular itinerary in the local market. It was over Christmas and even for 2025, the Singapore to Cape Town is popular with Australians.

“We’re finding cruisers here like longer voyages. They feel like they get better value for money – they can enjoy the food, the beverages, and the shore excursions. South America, South Africa and Asia are fast becoming popular destinations. There is an ease with cruising, where all transfers are included, you’re taken care of, especially when you’re going to slightly more intrepid destinations.”

The line this week also announced two new ships to launch in 2027 and 2029.

The ships though, will be larger than Vista and Allura and will be able to accommodate 1450 passengers, as opposed to 1200.

“The has done a lot of research and looked into what, you know, the right offering is and with a slightly bigger footprint. These new ships have more restaurant opportunities and more onboard amenities.”