- Princess’ 2026/27 itineraries will visit more ports around Australia
- Perth will be a big winner
- But there are still fewer departures from Melbourne
Princess’ 2026/27 Australia and New Zealand itineraries will have the largest number of calls to regional Australia, recommitting to smaller ports.
The next two seasons though, will see most cruise lines homeporting out of Sydney and Brisbane and cut visits to regional ports.
For example, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line will homeport exclusively out of Sydney and Brisbane. And P&O Cruises Australia, which would previously visit many different cities around Australia, has disbanded.
Princess’ recommitment to other capital cities is a shining light for many cruisers, who have said they will stop sailing if they do not have turnaround options in their home cities.
During the 2026/2027 season, Princess is set to make over 10 stops at ports across South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia, including Albany, Margaret River, Exmouth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and more. Furthermore, Tasmanian ports such as Hobart and Port Arthur will receive five visits each.
This will deliver a huge economic benefit to ports that have otherwise been rejected by large cruise lines. While smaller and mid-size ships are still visiting many of these destinations, large ships such as Royal Princess bring in the most economic impact.
This can be done as Princess doesn’t visit the South Pacific as much as Royal Caribbean or Carnival, with just five scheduled visits for the 2026/2027 season. Rather, Princess designs itineraries with more of a local focus.
However, there’s a catch to Princess’ 2026/27 itineraries
However, it’s not all good news. Despite offering the highest number of itineraries to regional Australia out of our local cruise lines, Princess has reduced the number of homeported cruises out of non-Sydney and Brisbane ports, despite adding a new ship.
Across the two Princess ships sailing in 2025/2026, the line will have three cruises sailing out of Hobart, four out of Adelaide, two out of Auckland, three out of Perth, and five out of Melbourne. This comes to a total of 17 cruises out of ports that do not depart from Sydney or Brisbane.
This season though, that number will almost halve to nine cruises out of non-Sydney and Brisbane ports, with four out of Perth, two out of Adelaide, two out of Melbourne, and one out of Auckland. Comparatively, there are no cruises out of Hobart and a reduced presence out of Melbourne and Adelaide.
Economically, homeported cruises will benefit smaller towns exponentially. Cruisers will spend money pre and post their voyage, and will also spend in their towns.
How can investment help?
In the port of Eden, investment in infrastructure can lead to instant success. Eden recently received government planning approval to modify their port so it could fit bigger ships.
Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line instantly rerouted a number of their cruises to Eden. Regional areas need the infrastructure and availability in place.
High port fees and regulatory barriers have also made it unappealing for cruise lines to send their ships Down Under.
This creates a two-pronged effect that negatively affects Australian regional cruising. The first is that it puts pressure on the cruise lines to maximise profits but decreases the diversity of itineraries and homeports.
This became evident after Melbourne increased its port fees, and many cruise lines significantly reduced their presence in the city.
Secondly, if lines face fewer regulatory obstacles and tariffs when cruising in regions like the South Pacific and New Zealand, there will be more enticement for more ships to come to Australia.
Furthermore, investing more in local ports, in the same way that Eden received an investment, can allow larger ships to have access to ports and create a more attractive infrastructure for ships to join.
This is also evident in the construction of the Brisbane International Cruise Port, which now has a significantly higher number of ships sailing out of it than before the renovations.
Aussies love to cruise, meaning that big cruise ships aren’t going anywhere, it will simply come down to work between the industry and government as to how many of those tourism dollars stay in Australia.
Very upset that not as many cruises available from Melbourne, it’s a shame that I need to fly to Sydney to take a cruise I would much rather travel from Melbourne and spend my money here before travelling. Flying to Sydney adds extra cost to my trip with flights and a nights stay in Sydney. Please Melbourne wake up and have more cruise ships departing from here. Think about the small shops in the area that are suffering
Thanks
I am not interested in travelling to any of those Rust Bucket States to do a cruise. If Cruise Lines wont service Western Australia, then I will fly overseas to begin my cruise. Cost wise its cheaper also.
Please explain to me WHY all cruises out of Melbourne are fully booked and have a waiting list on cabins, deposit has to be paid to go on waiting list, Melbourne and Darwin are the biggest Ports in Australia, Port charges too expensive what a lot of phouey, wake up Princess Line and cater for your customers in Victoria.
I live in Cairns no cruises from here if I want to cruise [which I do] I have to go Brisbane or Sydney. Not fair cost is prohibited. Please let us embark in Cairns occasionally.
Very disappointed with the cruises on offer now. Especially in the winter months as we don’t cruise in cyclone season out of brisvegas. Overseas fly cruising is for us now.
Melbourne is coming last in a many categories lately, with it not getting as many cruise ships, cruising has become a last choice for many due to the extra costs in flights.
We have been loyal princess cruisers but now find not enough ships leaving and returning to Melbourne. We have decided to stop cruising because I cannot fly to other departure points so bye bye princess, such a shame
We won’t sail anymore if ships don’t leave from Melbourne as it is too much a hassle to fly to Sydney or Brisbane to go on a cruise.
I love cruising but its getting too expensive we are in Melbourne Australia so extra for flights to go to Sydney or Brisbane it’s so sad
We are happy to be able to sail in and out of Brisbane as it means we can easily drive to Brisbane from Mooloolaba and our car will be there waiting when we get back – simples !
Hi we are based on the Gold Coast Australia and have travelled on a cruise from Brisbane. We find it easier than going to Sydney. There seems to be less cruises out of Brisbane available. Will you be changing this?
So disappointing that Melbourne is not being considered more.
For someone who loves cruising it is an extra cost to fly to Sydney then fly home again at the end of the cruise.
Perhaps one of the factors influencing the fewer Princess cruises is the size of ship. Currently. Princess has the Royal and Crown in Australian waters. Both are approximately the same size as the Majestic – holding 3900-4000 guests. This is almost double the number of guests on the older ships like the much loved Sea Princess. It also means Princess only needs half the number of cruises to make the same amount of $$
There is a lot of hype in media about how the new terminal at Brisbane attracts cruise ships but it is the worst major terminal in Australia for cruise passengers. It is remote, there is nothing at the terminal and no public transport. Shuttles and taxis to the city are expensive and time consuming. Like many others, we do not even bother getting of the ship at Brisbane anymore. So what benefit is that to the QLD economy!