Princess to homeport two ships in Singapore as a third of Aussie cruises sell out

• Princess has announced that Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess will be based in Singapore for the 2026/2027 season.
• This means Singapore will have the same number of ships as Australia.
• With Australia already seeing 37% of Princess cruises sell out due to reduced capacity, could this mean Aussies turn to Singapore for their Princess cruises?

Princess has announced that it will have two ships in Singapore for the 2026/27 cruise season, the same number of ships that it will have in Australia.

This signals a major change where, in the 2023/24 season, Australia had four Princess ships on our shores, and Singapore just one.

This marks Princess’s intent to increase its presence in Singapore, offering 20 cruises in the 2026/27 season, compared to 14 in the upcoming season.

Australia is the world’s fourth-largest cruise market, and Aussies are known for their love of Princess ships. A Cruise Passenger check shows 37% of Princess cruises in 2026/27 are already sold out.

Princess will have Sapphire Princess and Diamond Princess homeported in Singapore, and Royal Princess and Grand Princess in Australia.

A total of 18 different Princess cruises are already sold out in Australia for the upcoming season, and the season is still months away from starting. No Singapore cruises for the 2024/25 season are sold out yet. 

The reality is, with Australia’s capacity of Princess ships down, cruisers who would generally opt to sail with Princess will need to look for other options. Some cruisers may opt for more premium options, which often offer surprisingly good value.

However, Princess’s increased deployment to Singapore suggests that Princess is hoping that some Aussies will choose to fly to Singapore. Australia has been seeing an increase in those going on fly-cruise holidays, meaning that marketing Singapore to Aussie Princess cruisers could make sense.

This could even create a situation similar to Disney cruises, where, for families in states like Western Australia and South Australia, it can be cheaper to cruise in Singapore.

While Princess cruising in Singapore is nothing new, it’s noteworthy to see Princess decreasing its presence in Australia while upping its presence in Singapore, and with local cruises selling out, some cruise passengers might be forced to look towards Singapore for their upcoming holidays.

What’s on offer in Singapore?

Princess’s newly announced Singapore season has a few stand-out itineraries for those looking to celebrate the holidays in style or tick some destinations off their bucket list.

For Sapphire Princess a 33-night repositioning cruise from Los Angeles to Singapore will take guests all around the Pacific and Asia, as well as offering plenty of time at sea.

There are also special cruises available for New Year’s and Valentine’s Day, with 14-day itineraries visiting 10 different Asian ports.

Diamond Princess also has options for the holidays and for Valentine’s Day, as well as repositioning cruises between Japan and Singapore at the start and end of the season.

During the season, both ships will offer itineraries between 10 and 16 days that visit Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The season runs mostly in line with the Aussie season, between November and March.