Australians Are Cruising in Record Numbers. So Why Are Cruise Lines Leaving?
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Time to read 5 min
Australians apparently still love a cruise.
A record 1.45 million Australians took an ocean cruise in 2025, up 9.5% from the previous year and surpassing the previous record set back in 2018.
But there's a strange problem.
While more Australians than ever are cruising, Australia is attracting fewer cruise ships, with several well-known cruise lines either leaving the local market or significantly reducing their presence.
So why are Australians cruising more while cruise lines are sailing away?
Which cruise lines have left Australia?
The Australian cruise market has changed considerably over the past couple of years.
P&O Cruises Australia disappeared as a separate cruise line in March 2025, when Carnival Corporation retired the brand and transferred Pacific Adventure and Pacific Encounter into the Carnival Cruise Line fleet as Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter.
Virgin Voyages withdrew its Australian program after its first season, cancelling its planned 2024–25 Australian deployment.
Cunard ended Queen Elizabeth's long-running Australian homeport seasons in 2025. The line still visits Australia as part of international voyages, but no longer bases Queen Elizabeth here for an extended local season.
Disney Cruise Line, which arrived in Australia to considerable fanfare in 2023, has also not announced another Australian season following its 2025–26 deployment.
That doesn't mean cruising is disappearing from Australia. Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises and other lines continue to operate Australian itineraries, and Carnival has even announced that Carnival Adventure will homeport in Adelaide for a series of cruises in early 2028.
But overall cruise ship deployment in Australia has declined.
The problem isn't Australians losing interest
If anything, the opposite is happening.
Cruise Lines International Association figures show 1.45 million Australians cruised during 2025, compared with 1.32 million in 2024.
More than one in 20 Australians took a cruise during the year.
Most still cruised within Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, but the number travelling further afield increased significantly.
Around 286,000 Australians cruised outside our local region in 2025, an increase of 17% on the previous year.
That means more Australians are getting on planes to join cruises in places such as Asia, Alaska, Europe and the Caribbean.
So why are cruise lines reducing their Australian presence?
According to the cruise industry, it largely comes down to the cost and complexity of operating here.
Cruise Lines International Association Global President and CEO Charles "Bud" Darr raised the issue during a recent visit to Australia, warning that high operating costs and regulatory uncertainty are making Australia less competitive when cruise lines decide where to send their ships.
Among the costs identified by the industry are port and terminal fees, pilotage and ground-handling costs.
Cruise lines aren't simply deciding whether an Australian season will make money. They're deciding whether sending a ship here will make more money than putting that same ship somewhere else.
And Australia is competing against some very lucrative cruise markets.
The Caribbean alone accounts for around 43% of global cruise ship deployment.
With modern cruise ships representing investments of well over US$1 billion each, where those ships spend their time matters enormously to cruise lines.
Australia's cruise economy has already taken a hit
The effects are starting to show.
Cruise tourism generated an estimated $7.32 billion for the Australian economy during 2024–25.
That sounds enormous, and it is.
But it was $1.11 billion lower than the previous year, a decline of 13.2%.
Cruise-related employment also fell 13.8% to around 22,720 full-time equivalent jobs.
Passengers still spent approximately $1.82 billion while ashore in Australia, supporting accommodation providers, restaurants, tour operators, retailers and transport businesses.
The problem wasn't that individual cruise passengers suddenly stopped spending.
There were simply fewer ship visits.
Then there's Australia's coastal trading exemption
Another issue hanging over the industry is what happens after 31 December 2026.
Foreign-flagged cruise ships currently have an exemption from parts of Australia's Coastal Trading Act when carrying passengers between Australian ports.
That exemption expires at the end of this year.
The Federal Government is currently considering what happens next, including whether the exemption will be extended.
The cruise industry argues that uncertainty around the future rules makes it difficult to plan Australian deployments, which are generally organised years in advance.
There are also broader debates around the employment conditions of international cruise ship crew and whether ships operating from Australian ports should be subject to greater Australian workplace requirements.
No decision has yet been announced on the future of the cruise exemption.
Australia isn't being abandoned completely
It's worth putting all of this into perspective.
There are still plenty of cruises departing Australia, and some cruise lines continue to invest in the local market.
Carnival currently has Carnival Splendor, Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter operating from Australian ports, while Carnival Adventure will also run a short Adelaide homeport season in 2028.
Princess, Royal Caribbean and a range of luxury and international cruise lines continue to visit Australian ports.
So this isn't a case of the cruise industry packing up and leaving Australia.
But we are seeing fewer ships deployed here at a time when the global cruise fleet is growing.
And perhaps the strangest part is that Australian cruisers aren't disappearing with them.
We're simply following the ships overseas.
Hi, I'm Kate!
I'm the creator of Voyage Ready and a BAS Agent and bookkeeper from regional NSW who loves cruising and travelling with my family (and occasionally working from a cruise ship somewhere in the middle of the ocean). I particularly love longer cruises with plenty of sea days, exploring new places at our own pace and finding practical ways to make family travel more affordable and less complicated.
Who is behind Voyage Ready?
I’m Kate, a BAS Agent and bookkeeper from regional NSW who loves travelling with my family. Most of the travel and cruise content on Voyage Ready comes from places we’ve actually visited and things we’ve tried ourselves. I’m particularly fond of longer cruises with plenty of sea days, and I occasionally work from cruise ships as well.
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Where possible, I recommend products I’ve personally used or chosen for my own travels. Voyage Ready also has its own range of travel products, selected with practical travel and cruising in mind. If I haven't personally used something, I'll try to make that clear rather than pretending I have.
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Everything I share is based on my own experiences and research, but cruise line policies, prices, schedules and travel requirements can change. It's always worth checking current information with the cruise line, tour operator or other relevant provider before travelling.