Ports fear loss of business as Royal Caribbean boss says: “If you’re sailing out of the Australian market, you will be going to Lelepa”

• Royal Caribbean CEO told Cruise Weekly “if you’re sailing out of the Australian market, you will be going to Lelepa.”
• Royal Caribbean is set to open a private beach club in Lelepa, a small island in Vanuatu, in late 2027.
• Small Aussie ports how fear they will lose business as a result of the decision.

As many Aussies have been patiently awaiting the arrival of Royal Caribbean’s private beach destination at Lelepa, which is set to start operations in 2027, Royal Caribbean’s president and CEO Michael Bayley has revealed the consequences of the move.

And it has raised concerns among many ports that they will be the big losers.

Bayley told Cruise Weekly: “When we open up the Beach Clubs and Perfect Day by 2026, something like 90-plus-percent of all of [RCI’s’] Caribbean capacity will visit [them]…when we open up Lelepa in 2027, if you’re sailing out of the Australian market, you will be going to Lelepa.”

While most cruisers would expect some extra South Pacific itineraries to be running along with the arrival of Lelepa, the idea of 90% of Royal Caribbean’s Australian itineraries heading there, just like 90% of Royal Caribbean itineraries out of the Caribbean go to private destinations, would completely shake up how Royal Caribbean operates in Australia.

In fact, the statement appears to apply that every single Australian cruise could be sailing to Lelepa.

It’s not surprising that more sailings would go there, as private destinations mean the cruise line gets to rake in extra profits, but few cruisers would have expected that as high a percentage of Aussie sailings would visit Lelepa, as Caribbean sailings visit Perfect Day and the Caribbean beach clubs.

Royal Caribbean has already been trending more towards South Pacific sailings, it’s still a far cry from 90% of its sailings heading there. 

For example, if we look at the 2026/27 season, which will feature Anthem of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas, there are a total of 49 scheduled sailings, 53 per cent of which will visit the South Pacific. Of the total 49 sailings scheduled, 26 will visit the South Pacific, six will go to New Zealand, and 17 will stay within Australia. 

For 90% of these cruises to be visiting Lelepa, that would mean there would only be a remaining five itineraries to visit Australia or New Zealand. 

This will have massive implications for Aussie itineraries, with significantly less options to New Zealand and within Australia likely to be available. 

Lelepa is set to be ready to take ships by late 2027, meaning the 2027/2028 season, which starts in just over two years, could be the first in which we see Royal Caribbean’s approach to Australia sailings completely change shape. 

What could the itineraries look like?

A huge difference between Royal Caribbean’s set up for Lelepa sailings and for their Perfect Day at CocoCay sailings out of the US, is that Lelepa is much further away. Brisbane to Lelepa is 1020 nautical miles, and Sydney to Lelepa is 1270 nautical miles. 

Whereas Miami to Perfect Day at CocoCay is only 215 nautical miles.

Generally on a Royal Caribbean itinerary out of Sydney to the South Pacific, the first port will be Noumea, on day number four. Then there are visits to Port Vila and Mystery Island, before two more sea days and a return on day nine.

This generally involves three ports over a nine-day sailing. Lelepa could be incorporated as the first port, cutting out Noumea and then also visiting other Vanuatu ports. 

Out of Brisbane, Royal Caribbean can run quicker South Pacific sailings of only seven-nights. Similarly, the first stop is generally on day four, with visits to Mystery Island and Vanuatu before heading home.

This would likely be changed to a Lelepa stop on day four, before visiting one more port and then heading home.

So, what could this mean for Australian sailing? 

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How Lelepa could shake up Australian cruise 

Less visits to Aussie ports 

If Royal Caribbean is focusing all its sailing around Lelepa, that will mean less port visits for Aussie towns that Royal Caribbean currently visits, such as Eden, Hobart, Airlie Beach and more. This would hit particularly hard for a small town such as Eden, which can get a massive economic boost for Australia from the foot traffic that a massive Royal Caribbean cruise ship can bring.

This will also mean less options available for Aussies cruisers. We’ve already seen cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruises gradually drawing back on port visits to places around Australia like Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and more, and it appears the arrival of Lelepa could greatly accelerate this.

The option may no longer exist to get on a Royal Caribbean ship and go explore Aussie attractions such as New South Wales coastal towns or the tropical North and Great Barrier Reef of Queensland. 

It’ll also mean more tourism dollars are landing in the pocket of Royal Caribbean, rather than in Aussie towns.

More hurt for New Zealand

New Zealand is already seeing significant damage to its cruise visitorship, and its woes could be set to worsen when Royal Caribbean starts upping sailings to Lelepa. 

Royal Caribbean has already significantly dropped its capacity for New Zealand sailings, but taking out the five to seven sailings that they still sail per person would tank New Zealand’s cruise economy even further. 

New Zealand sailings are a favourite itinerary for Aussies, so one would be hopefully that they aren’t removed completely, but if 90% of sailings are going to Lelepa, it’s unlikely we’d see more than or two sailings to New Zealand per season.

Given that cruise lines clearly seem fed up with some of New Zealand’s regulatory difficulties, the idea of going off to their own private destination where they know they won’t run into any unexpected issues, will only appear all the more attractive. 

But can this model really work on Aussies?

Royal Caribbean is clearly aware that Aussie cruisers have their own distinct preferences to those from other markets.

In fact, Bayler also mentioned to Cruise Weekly that the private destination at Lelepa will be specifically designed for Aussie cruisers.

“We’ve already done the research and our Australian customers have told us what they want…it’s going to be very different, it will be an Australian beach club, and that’s what we’re going to create.”

However, Aussie cruisers have some distinct characteristics that could complicate the success of a model where 90% of the cruises go on the same or very similar itineraries.

Aussies love to repeat cruise, meaning that dynamic and changing itineraries are perfect for their tastes, so that even if they get on the same ship every year, they get to visit something new. 

For example, currently an Australian family could enjoy a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Great Barrier Reef one year, to New Zealand the next, down to Tasmania the next and so on. This raises the question of whether Aussies will be content with the same sailings running over and over.

Aussie’s are also patriotic and love cruises that visit Aussie ports, as well a cruise experience that feels distinctly Australian, rather than the American cruise experience copy pasted. 

If Royal Caribbean is really going to start running 90% or more of its Aussie cruises to Lelepa, following their Caribbean model, it’ll be a highly ambitious project.