Australians apparently haven't fallen out of love with cruising. Quite the opposite.
Around 1.45 million Australians took an ocean cruise in 2025, up 9.5% from the previous year.
But while more Australians are choosing cruise holidays, the number of cruise ships actually operating in Australian waters is heading in the other direction.
New industry figures show Australia welcomed fewer ships and fewer cruise calls during the 2024–25 season, continuing concerns about the future of cruising from Australian ports.
So we're cruising more. We're just increasingly having to travel further to do it.
Fewer cruise ships are visiting Australia
Australian Cruise Association figures show 68 cruise ships operated in Australian waters during the 2024–25 season.
That's down from 75 ships the previous year, a fall of 9.3%.
The total number of cruise ship visits to Australian ports also dropped from 1,650 in 2023–24 to 1,587 in 2024–25, a decrease of 3.8%.
Turnaround calls, where a cruise begins or ends at an Australian port, recorded an even larger fall of 10.7%.
That's particularly significant for Australian cruisers because turnaround calls are the ones that allow us to board a ship here rather than flying overseas to start our holiday.
Meanwhile, Australians are cruising more than ever
The drop in local cruise activity certainly doesn't appear to be caused by Australians losing interest in cruising.
Cruise Lines International Association figures show approximately 1.45 million Australians took an ocean cruise during 2025.
That's an increase of 9.5% in just one year.
Australians also remain among the world's keenest cruisers relative to population, with cruising continuing to be a particularly popular holiday choice here.
Where we're cruising, however, appears to be changing.
Around 286,000 Australians cruised outside Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific during 2025.
That's up 17% from the previous year.
For many Australians, cruising increasingly means getting on a plane first.
Why are cruise lines reducing their Australian presence?
Australia isn't necessarily an easy or cheap place for cruise lines to operate.
Cruise lines and industry organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about the cost of operating here, particularly port fees and other charges.
Sydney also has a long-running infrastructure problem.
Many modern cruise ships are too large to fit underneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, limiting them to berths east of the bridge. Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay is the city's main option for these ships and availability is limited.
Plans for another major cruise terminal in Sydney have been discussed for years, but a permanent solution has yet to materialise.
There have also been some very visible changes to the Australian cruise market.
Virgin Voyages withdrew from Australia after its first season, while Cunard ended Queen Elizabeth's long-term Australian homeporting.
Carnival Cruise Line has also absorbed the former P&O Cruises Australia operation, with Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter becoming Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter.
None of that means cruising is disappearing from Australia. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess and other cruise lines continue to offer Australian itineraries.
But the overall numbers show that the amount of cruise capacity being based here isn't keeping pace with Australians' appetite for cruising.
Australian cruisers are increasingly looking overseas
It's something we've certainly noticed among Australian cruise passengers.
Fly-cruise holidays open up considerably more options, whether that's cruising Alaska from Vancouver or Seattle, the Mediterranean from Europe, the Caribbean from Florida or joining one of the many ships sailing around Asia.
There can also be a much larger choice of ships and itineraries once you're prepared to add an international flight.
The downside, of course, is that the cheap cruise fare you've spotted suddenly needs flights, accommodation and transfers added to it.
For families in particular, those extra flights can make an enormous difference to the total cost of the holiday.
It's one reason having a healthy Australian cruise industry still matters, even when Australians are clearly willing to travel overseas to cruise.
What happens next for Australian cruising?
The interesting question isn't whether Australians still want to cruise. The passenger numbers have answered that fairly convincingly.
It's whether cruise lines can be encouraged to bring more ships and itineraries back to Australia.
For now, Australian cruisers still have plenty of local options, particularly from Sydney and Brisbane.
But the latest figures reinforce something many regular cruisers have already noticed while browsing future itineraries: the choice from Australian ports isn't growing at the same rate as our enthusiasm for cruising.
Apparently we'll still cruise.
We might just need a flight first.
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