Why New Zealand’s cruise freefall is a warning to Australia

Something very curious is happening in New Zealand. The cruise market everywhere is expanding, but New Zealand is bucking the trend, and the number of visiting ships is in rapid decline.

New Zealand saw some 40 international cruise ships visit this 2024-25 summer season, but overall passenger numbers are down 20 per cent on the previous year. At the same time, cruise passenger numbers worldwide are up more than 9 per cent.

Celebrity Solstice in New Zealand.

That’s bad news for those of us who know that New Zealand provides one of the world’s most beautiful cruise experiences, with almost every port located in superbly scenic bays.

In April, the New Zealand government got together with tourism leaders, port owners and cruise associations to figure out what to do about it.

It isn’t the destination that no longer appeals. As Joel Katz, Australasian director of the Cruise Lines International Association, points out: “New Zealand is a jewel among cruise destinations and consistently rates highly among international cruise passengers.”

So what’s the problem? It’s not that cruise passengers don’t want to go to New Zealand, but they can’t, because cruise companies are sending fewer ships there.

The number of cruise port calls in New Zealand was 1120 in 2023-24, the nation’s best-ever summer season, despite it being the COVID comeback year.

But in 2024-25, according to the New Zealand Cruise Association (NZCA), port calls dropped to 903. Judging from the current 2025-26 bookings, it looks set to fall much further.

The government has abandoned a plan to ban cruise ships from Milford Sound, but market uncertainty lingers.Credit: iStock

Cruise lines blame high (and rising) operational costs, government charges and regulatory complexities. NZCA says New Zealand is now the most expensive country in the world in which to operate a cruise ship.

In October 2024, the government increased border processing levies on cruise ships by a whopping 88 per cent, leaving cruise companies with millions of dollars in costs that it was too late to pass on to paid-up customers.

Australia should take note, as the same issues are happening here, and ships are sailing away to the Caribbean and Europe instead. Our countries’ problems are linked. Australia’s reduced ship capacity has a flow-on effect because many New Zealand cruises originate in Australian ports.

“Creating a successful cruise economy means achieving the right regulatory settings and encouraging close collaboration,” says NZCA chief executive Jacqui Lloyd.

Among other problems are the weak New Zealand and Australian dollars, uncertainty about a mooted ban on big cruise ships entering Milford Sound, and the risk that ships will be turned away from New Zealand over biofouling issues.

In 2024, four ships were denied entry over biofouling, leaving cruise companies out of pocket and passengers deprived of their holiday. Auckland is now considering building a hull-cleaning station.

In the meantime, those who love New Zealand better book a cruise well in advance – and good luck securing a cabin.