All the cruise ships coming to Australia for the summer season

Cruise fans are gearing up for their favourite time of the year. October is when cruise ships return to Australia for the summer season. And while industry experts are warning ships are staying away, there are still plenty of options if you want to cruise close to home this year.

The season runs until April, with only a handful of ships around after that. Here are all the ships from the major cruise lines heading to Australia this season.

Princess Cruises

Grand Princess is heading to Australia. When she debuted in 1998 she was one of the largest and most expensive passenger ships ever built.

She’ll sail around Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific from Brisbane and Sydney.

Read more

NCL opens booking for newest cruise ship - plus more news to get excited about

She will also offer longer voyages like the 79-Day Circle Pacific which includes Hawaii, Alaska, Japan and South-East Asia.

Royal Princess will be in town too. Options include a five-day jaunt from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand, and six days discovering Tasmania.

The company is celebrating 50 years of cruising in Australia,

Celebrity Cruises

Ships Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Solstice are both returning to Sydney for the season. They’ll offer cruises to Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand.

You can also sail around Australia with ports including Kangaroo Island, Port Douglas, Cairns and Darwin. Longer stints such as Hawaii and French Polynesia are also on offer.

Royal Caribbean

The family-friendly favourite has two ships heading to Australia this season.

Quantum of the Seas will make its return to Brisbane in October.

Cruisers can also get on board Anthem of the Seas in Sydney.

They will do short cruises and longer holidays to Queensland, the South Pacific and New Zealand.

Next year the company will send a record three ships in what Gavin Smith, vice president and managing director, Australia and New Zealand, Royal Caribbean, called, “a major milestone.”

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Spirit returns to the South Pacific this season and will sail various cruises from Sydney.

Take in Milford South in New Zealand, overnight in Melbourne and visit Kangaroo Island.

Highlights include a 12-day voyage from Lautoka, Fiji on 30 November 2026, calling at Vanuatu, Brisbane and Newcastle to Sydney.

Read more

Cruise captain’s trick to improve an inside cabin on a ship

There will then be an 11-day sailing from Sydney on 23 April 2027 through New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji.

The ship holds 1972 passengers.

NCL’s Freestyle Cruising approach offers “total flexibility, no set dining times and no formal nights.”

Carnival Cruise Line

The mainstay of Aussie cruising, Carnival has four ships in the region’s waters all year round.

But the summer is one of the most popular times to cruise. You can sail from Sydney or Brisbane.

Carnival Cruise Lines ships call at ports including cities like Suva and Noumea in New Caledonia, as well as islands like Santo in Vanuatu and Dravuni Island in Fiji.

Weekend cruises are popular getaways.

The Tangalooma Dunes Club is a new hangout on one of the most popular ports, Moreton Island.

Cunard

While it no longer home ports ships in Australia, you can get on board a small number of world cruises as the firm’s ships call here.

Queen Victoria has an epic 19 night jaunt to Hong Kong on 24 Feb 2027.

Extend your voyage to 65 nights to get all the way to Southampton, UK.

Discover more about cruising on nine.com.au:

• Cruise captain’s trick to improve an inside cabin on a ship
• ‘You won’t need it’: Cruise packing mistake many travellers make
• All the private islands, resorts, and exclusive destinations you can visit on cruises
• Couple who have done 36 cruises say the best cabin on a ship may surprise you
• No more midnight buffets: Seven major changes cruise lines have seen in the last 25 years
• ‘No money, no experience’: How famous Aussie built a cruise empire
• First look inside Royal Caribbean’s ‘record-breaking’ new mega ship Hero of the Seas