Three new cruise ships among 62 heading to Australia this summer

Australians have plenty of domestic cruise choices this summer, with 25 cruise lines coming to our waters at the peak of the 2024-25 cruise season.

Sixty-two cruise ships will be operating in Australian ports this 2024-25 summer cruise season, which runs from October to April. That is slightly fewer than last season’s 70 ships, but they will on average be lingering longer and making more port calls, up 3 per cent to 1904, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

On a Zodiac excursion with Silversea at King River Gorge in the Kimberley.

Among ships sailing Australian, New Zealand and nearby Pacific itineraries are Azamara Pursuit, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth, Regent’s Seven Seas Explorer and Seven Seas Voyager, Seabourn Quest, Silversea’s Silver Muse and the three Oceania ships Insignia, Nautica and Regatta.

Those after big, family-friendly ships have plenty of options, too, such as Disney Wonder, Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Solstice, and Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas and Quantum of the Seas.

The three Norwegian Cruise Line ships Sun, Spirit and Sky will also grace our waters and, for the first time, sail from Cairns as well as Melbourne and Sydney.

Among ships that have never been to Australia before are Cunard’s latest vessel, Queen Anne, on a leg of its inaugural world cruise, Norwegian Sun and Silversea’s Silver Nova.

Cunard’s latest ship, the Queen Anne, will head to Australia.

This summer also brings an opportunity to sail on ships from brands not as well known in Australia, such as UK-based Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, luxury German brand Hapag-Lloyd, and AIDA Cruises, which is also German, but now owned by Carnival Corporation.

And among expedition vessels are Heritage Adventurer, Ponant’s Le Jacques-Cartier and Le Laperouse, and several vessels of Australian company Coral Expeditions. Scenic Eclipse II is sailing in the Kimberley, Queensland, New Zealand and East Antarctica and the Ross Sea.

The choice of itineraries is just as impressive. Some ships such as Holland America’s Westerdam and Viking Venus are circumnavigating the continent, starting in Sydney and taking over 35 and 31 days respectively.

Other ships passing through as part of world cruises include Azamara Onward and MSC Magnifica. Crown Princess meanwhile will offer a world cruise from Sydney in its inaugural season in Australia, as well as local cruises. Royal Princess and Diamond Princess will also sail our waters.

Viking Sun in Sydney Harbour.

It isn’t all good news. Virgin Voyages isn’t returning to Australia, despite its fanfare inaugural season last year, and this will be the last season that Cunard homeports in Melbourne and Sydney.

In news to make Australian fans especially glum, popular brand P&O Cruises Australia will be sailing its farewell season, with more than 80 itineraries in Queensland, Tasmania and Pacific islands.

In March 2025, Pacific Explorer will be retired, with Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure absorbed into Carnival Cruise Line. However, the company says the rebranded Carnival Encounter and Carnival Adventure will continue to sail much the same itineraries and supply a similar on-board experience.

Meanwhile, Carnival Luminosa is homeported in Brisbane this season. Carnival Splendor is homeported year-round in Sydney, its itineraries including Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.

Just-released data from CLIA and the Australian Cruise Association (ACA) showed cruise tourism in Australia generated a record $8.43 billion in total economic output during the 2023-24 financial year.