Between one of Australia’s biggest cruise lines dissolving, crucial legal cases, fights against over tourism and more, it was a jam-packed year of cruise news. Cruise Passenger has been there each step of the way, bringing news from across the world, with a special perspective on what it all means to Aussie cruisers.
Below are the ten highest performing stories of the year, that had people debating and sharing. From new ship announcements to fears for the future of cruise, here are the stories that you liked this year.
10. Regional ports will lose out without P&O
When it was revealed that P&O Cruises Australia would be dissolving, the media and industry were rife with different takes, trying to explain the downfall of P&O Australia and understand Carnival Corp’s decision to withdraw the beloved brand.
However, what really resonated with cruisers was when Cruise Passenger shined a lot on how the move would affect everyday Aussies, both cruisers and those in the industry, who live in different regions around the country.
The move meant that there would be significantly less large cruise ships in Australia and New Zealand that sail out of places like Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Auckland. This has not only a significant effect on cruisers who will now need to fork out thousands for their flights to Sydney or Brisbane if they want to cruise, but also for local economies that used to earn significant amounts from these turn-around cruise ports.
9. Is this the end of the Norwegian fjords cruise experience?
Visiting the Norwegian Fjords is a quintessential cruise experience, and a bucket list item for many, but the future of these cruises remains uncertain.
The current ruling from the Norwegian Government is that by 2026, only ships that are fuelled by liquified natural gas will be able to visit the fjords.
While the majority of major cruise lines are working towards having LNG ships, some of them are not on schedule to have this in place by 2026, meaning some major cruise lines such as Cunard, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line and more could find themselves unable to sail amongst the fjords.
This plan also has greater long term goals, with another stated aim being to ban all non-zero-emission ships from the fjords by 2023, a goal that most cruise lines have only been working towards for 2050.
8. The two new Royal Caribbean ships coming to Australia
After cruise schedules made it clear that Quantum of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas wouldn’t be staying in Australia for the 2025/2026 season, it was Cruise Passenger who first broke the news that Anthem of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas would be its replacement.
The news had a mixed reaction from cruisers, while new ships is always exciting, the reality is that it also represented a significant downgrading of capacity by Royal Caribbean in Australian waters and many Royal Caribbean fans had been holding out hope for newer and more modern ships.
Hope is not lost, with many Royal Caribbean fans hoping that Port Kembla will become the third Sydney cruise terminal. Due to the proposals support from Royal Caribbean and the large size of the port, cruisers hope that if this move does eventuate, bigger and better Royal Caribbean ships could be on their way to Australia.
7. Princess Cruises sends record eight ships to Alaska
Alaskan cruise has been in and out of the headlines all year, as the industry and locals have tussled between the rapidly growing cruise market, and the small Alaskan communities that have to facilitate the arrival of cruise ships.
This has led to towns like Juneau introducing caps on the number of cruise ships that will be able to arrive.
At the height of this, Princess Cruises revealed it certainly wouldn’t be withdrawing from Alaska, in fact it did the opposite and announced that its biggest ever Alaskan season, with a massive eight ships set to visit the region in 2026.
This move included the deployment of Star Princess, which will become the first Sphere Class ship to sail in Alaska.
6. Ultimate world cruise drama: No room at Sydney’s prime berth
Royal Caribbean’s ultimate world cruise broke into the zeitgeist more than we’re used to seeing with cruise, as TikTok and other social media networks exploded with interest over the massive world cruise aboard Serenade of the Seas. Drama stretched across
Australia and Sydney got to star in its own chapter of the drama as Serenade arrived in Sydney Harbour, but scheduling conflicts meant that she had nowhere to go.
Given that this cruise had more attention and eyes on it than probably any other cruise last year, this put Sydney’s port capacity issues on display for the world to see.
Serenade of the Seas being forced to sit at Athol Bay for hours as the world watched one likely played a key role into why the NSW government has now set up a committee specifically dedicated to finding a location for another port in Sydney.
5. Stan Hoey wins compensation over port stop cancellations
Many cruisers are familiar with the feeling of frustration as they find out ports have been cancelled on their cruise, however, a cruise named Stan Hoey held onto this feeling and fought for his consumer rights.
Hoey had travelled across the world from England to sail the New Zealand fjords, only to be told as he arrived that the ship would be unable to enter New Zealand’s national parks.
After receiving only minimal compensation, Hoey didn’t take the news lying down and eventually won compensation in a court decision.
In this particular case Hoey was successful in his pursuit because he was able to locate an email that proved the cruise company knew about the inability to enter the national parks more than a week before the cruise left from Sydney, but failed to inform Hoey.
However, this case could prove to have more significant ramifications for cruisers rights, with a lawyer explaining to Cruise Passenger how Aussies can advocate for compensation when ports are missed.
4. Cruise lines cut ships to Australia despite demand boom
Plenty of media outlets noticed that demand for cruise was booming across Australia, however, only Cruise Passenger brought it to attention that the majority of major cruise lines were actually greatly reducing their presence in Australia.
Princess went from four ships to two (although they’ll be back to three for 2026/2027), Royal Caribbean went from three ships to two, P&O Australia disbanded and lost a ship along the way and Virgin Voyages, Cunard and Norwegian Cruise Line all withdrew homeporting operations.
Cruise Passenger shone a light on these changes and the reasons behind them, including lack of capacity, high regulatory costs, difficult regulations and more.
This issue will continue to be in the spotlight moving forward, as it remains to be seen in Australian federal and state governments will take actions to work with cruise lines and the industry to get more ship visits on home soil.
3. The world’s biggest ship breaks down due to mechanical issues
Icon of the Seas is no stranger to dominating the headlines, but it found itself in them for all the wrong reasons when its over 10,000 passengers and crew found their cruise interrupted due to mechanical failures.
The world’s biggest ship had to cancel a sailing for urgent mechanical repairs, something not too common for a ship as new and sparkling as Icon.
However, Royal Caribbean worked fast and had the ship repaired in just a few days, and no mechanical issues have been reported since.
Incidents like this definitely haven’t slowed down Royal Caribbean’s plans of building massive ships, with the huge Utopia of the Seas coming into service this year and Star of the Seas, Icon’s sister ship, on the way.
2. They are feral: Royal Caribbean revisits kids curfew
Cruisers came out in numbers to give their own takes as Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley admitted he was considering expanding the kids curfew onboard.
The current curfew for passengers 17 years and younger is until 1am, but many cruisers felt this isn’t a strategy effective enough to control the behaviour of “feral” kids onboard Royal Caribbean ships.
Cruisers from all walks of life, with or without kids, came out to have their say. Many cruisers wanted extensions of the curfews, while many others felt there simply needs to be more responsible parenting from those who bring their kids on vacation.
One step does appear to have been taken since, with Royal Caribbean test piloting wristband tracking for kids, meaning that parents will be able to look in their Royal Caribbean app to know where their kids are at all times.
1. Juneau votes on cruise free Saturdays
As the countdown to Juneau’s much publicised vote on “ship-free Saturdays” was down to its final days, Cruise Passenger uncovered a detail that wasn’t reported elsewhere in the media.
Royal Caribbean had threatened legal action against the town if the vote was to pass, with documents from the city council confirming this.
The lawsuit never eventuated as the vote did not pass, but this didn’t mean an end to the drama.
Royal Caribbean soon after announced it would be building its own new cruise port in Juneau, and it did not consult the city council during the process.
The news of the new port apparently ‘blindsided’ the city of Juneau, and they remain convinced that Royal Caribbean will still not be able to operate outside of the city’s cruise caps from the new port.
The issue of ships in Juneau and Alaska as a whole is sure to run right through 2025, and Cruise Passenger will be at the forefront of it all, ready to deliver cruisers the latest.
