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Fewer ships with more choices, a big emphasis on luxury and fly cruising – 2025 promises to be an interesting year for Australian cruise passengers.
Don’t expect prices to fall anytime soon. Strong forward bookings are keeping cruise fares up and they are going to stay that way.
Locally, prices are also on an upward swing. And that’s likely to continue. We’ll have up to 30 per cent less capacity in Australia for our 2025/26 wave season, and increasing demand from a growing army of cruise fans means Australians will need to book up early to ensure they get the ship, itinerary and suite they want.
On top of that, there are lots of predictions our dollar, currently in the doldrums at just above 60 cents to the US greenback, will stay that why. That will make travelling overseas more expensive.
There is some good news on costs. It is expected that increased competition will mean airfares will drop – and that means the emphasis on fly cruise destinations will look more tempting.
Put all of that together, and cruising’s strong value proposition will keep people coming back for more.
We’ll be bringing you new ways to help with that in 2025 – including deals from the world’s biggest operators, as well as a new video CruiseTV show. So sign up for our newsletter under “subscribe” on the menu bar, and go over to YouTube to follow our shows.
The first big event in Australian cruise will be the departure of the local P&O Australia brand after 92 years. Two of its ships will fold into Carnival, while our beloved Pacific Explorer has been sold to an Asian gaming giant. She will continue to sail around ports in the region as the Star Scorpio.
Is this a good thing for Australian cruisers? Well, the jury is out. Our colleague David Jones believes not. Carnival’s president Christine Duffy explained to Cruise Passenger when the move was announced that it allowed the line “to scale” – ships under Carnival’s distinctive, red-funnelled livery can sail anywhere.
That could be good…or it could be a sign that more of its fleet of four may leave our shores during winter. P&O says its committed to year round cruising. But for how long, with how many ships and in which ports?
Fans of the P&O brand, which was termed “the nursery” because so many Australian sailors discovered their sea legs on a P&O, claim the brand was synonymous with local sailings and democratised cruising with low prices.
Here at Cruise Passenger we recognise that Carnival, the world’ biggest cruise company, wasn’t about to invest in new ships for P&O. But our market’s muscle has meant there are plenty of other lines willing to seek Australians as passengers.
Our biggest concern is year-round sailing and homeporting – both important staples of our market growth. Melbourne and South Australia have a lot of cruise fans now desperate to sail from home. Silversea is putting some thought into Adelaide and we hope they can do more in SA.
We would have preferred the brand to merge with Princess – an Aussie favourite which once sailed five ships in our waters – along with a firm commitment to year-round cruising and localised sailings from Melbourne.
But that would require state governments to control their greed and lower port charges.
Which brings us to the second seismic event of 2025 – our capacity is expected to drop by up to one-third. The reason? Those sky-high port charges, plus the fact that the Caribbean is attracting massive demand from free-spending Americans. Cruise lines, starved of revenue during the pandemic, can hardly be blamed for serving their shareholders by following the money.
The search is again on for more capacity in Sydney. This could help. But we’ve been this way before and the committee set up to rake over the many previous attempts to solve this conundrum may be forced to opt for Port Kembla.
See our Readers Choice results for the best in cruise.
Trends of 2025
Elsewhere, big ships and private islands are big trends for 2025 and beyond – vessels with more capacity and cruise line owned resorts where those pesky environmental protesters can’t reach them are becoming the norm in the Caribbean an beyond. Our own first foray into this lucrative and fun area of cruising – Royal Caribbean’s Lelepa in Vanuatu – is not expected to open until 2027 but should prove a turning point for our region.
Royal Caribbean, with Icon of the Seas running at over 100% capacity and their island resorts taking land-based holidays head-on with a strong value proposition, is a leader here. Expect more from them and for other lines to play catch-up as new-to-cruise numbers grow and the age of those on board plummets.
Carnival Cruise Line will open its own beach destination, Celebration Key on Grand Bahama, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Great Stirrup Cay and MSCs’ Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve will be a focus.
The coming year will also be the first 12 months of operations for Disney’s Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. In Alaska, lines will try and head off calls to halt overcrowding with port developments like Royal Caribbean’s new port in Juneau.
And talking of Disney, the is preparing the 6,000-passenger Disney Adventure is expected to set sail with three- and four-night voyages from Singapore, growing cruising from the island state and encouraging fly cruise from Australia.
The rise of the luxury-loving Australian
Despite fears over the economy, luxury and adventure cruising is expected to continue to grow as Australians demand the best without compromise. Lines like Silversea and Ponant are increasing their presence here, and fly cruise options to the Mediterranean will see growth as lines such as Norwegian launch more ships and market better deals.
If 2024 was the year we saw growing discontent from shoreside communities – the water pistol attack diners in Barcelona sparked global headlines – we’re hoping the overtourism debate turns into one in which we all use sensible marketing to spread the benefits of cruise tourism.
Viking is already making strong strides with its “quiet time” cruising advertising, and cruisers themselves are honing in on the benefits of northern Europe. Small ship lines and yachts are showing guests new and uncluttered ports while lines like Regent Seven Seas are staying longer in iconic ports like Rome so passengers can enjoy the price and service benefits of staying on a cruise ship instead of an expensive hotel.
Restrictions, taxes and port passenger limits will see all of this continue.
Experiments with biofuels and even wind power will continue as cruise lines wait for the production of cleaner fuels at reasonable prices. But it’s hard for an industry which builds expensive ships to last 30 years to easily pivot.
The 2025 ships we’re excited about
Oceania Allura
- Cruise Line: Oceania Cruises
- Special Features: All-veranda accommodations, beautifully appointed bathrooms with oversized rainforest showers, large vanities, and ample storage space. A new category of Concierge Level Veranda Staterooms dedicated to solo travellers.
- Launch Date: Scheduled to enter service on July 18, 2025, from Trieste, Italy, sailing to Athens, Greece.
Star Princess
- Cruise Line: Princess Cruises
- Special Features: 20% larger than other vessels in its class, 2,157 staterooms, Lotus Spa, The Dome entertainment venue.
- Launch Date: October, 10-night Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona.
Viking Vesta
- Cruise Line: Viking
- Special Features: All-veranda cabins, Nordic Spa with a snow grotto, Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant, access to smaller ports.
- Launch Date: 2 July, departing from Venice to Barcelona.
Norwegian Aqua
- Cruise Line: Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL)
- Special Features: World’s first rollercoaster-come-waterslide (Aqua Slidecoaster), 10-storey spiral slide (The Drop), NCL’s first Thai restaurant (Sukhothai).
- Launch Date: 28 March, departing from Southampton to Boston.
Disney Destiny & Disney Adventure
- Cruise Line: Disney Cruise Line
- Special Features: Destiny – 10 pools, Broadway-style shows (e.g., Frozen, Hercules). Adventure – themed restaurants like Mike & Sulley’s – Flavours of Asia.
- Launch Dates: Destiny – 20 November from Fort Lauderdale. Adventure – 15 December from Singapore.
MSC World America
- Cruise Line: MSC Cruises
- Special Features: Seven ‘districts’ with 13 dining venues and 21 bars, MSC SportsPlex with bumper cars and roller skating, Cliffhanger over-water swing ride.
- Launch Date: 12 April, departing from Miami.
Celebrity Xcel
- Cruise Line: Celebrity Cruises
- Special Features: Infinite veranda staterooms, The Retreat (luxury suite section), Chef Daniel Bouland’s restaurant Le Voyage, seven-night Caribbean itineraries.
- Launch Date: November, departing from Fort Lauderdale.
Luminara
- Cruise Line: The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection
- Special Features: 226 suites with private terraces, upper suite categories up to 93 sqm, five restaurants, wine vault.
- Launch Date: 31 July, seven-night return from Rome.
Star of the Seas
- Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean International
- Special Features: Waterpark with six waterslides, seven pools, Royal’s largest ice rink, week-long Caribbean cruises including stops at Perfect Day at CocoCay.
- Launch Date: 31 August, departing from Port Canaveral.
Brilliant Lady
- Cruise Line: Virgin Voyages
- Special Features: Red hammocks on balconies, more than 20 restaurants and cafés, wellness spaces including yoga perch and spa.
- Launch Date: 5 September, departing from New York to Bermuda.
Star Seeker
- Cruise Line: Windstar Cruises
- Special Features: 112 suites (most with private verandas), watersports platform, spa and gym.
- Launch Date: 28 December, departing from Malaga.
