New Zealand cruise, Australia and South Pacific cruises 2026–2027

This region is three kinds of cruise. New Zealand cruises sail from Sydney or Auckland. Australia cruises run along the coast from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle. South Pacific cruises go to the islands, Vanuatu and Fiji among them, from Australia, or around Tahiti and Bora Bora from Papeete on small ships.

Best time for a New Zealand or Australia cruise

The big-ship season runs from about October to April, with the most sailings from November to March. Celebrity’s calendar runs from September 2026 to May 2027, Royal Caribbean’s from October to March or April, and Princess starts in October.

• October and November: spring, and the start of the season. Ships arrive across the Pacific from Hawaii and the US West Coast.
• December to February: summer, the heart of the season.
• March and April: autumn, and the end of the season. Ships leave for Asia, Hawaii and North America.
• May to September: winter. A few ships stay. Princess keeps Grand Princess in Australia through the year, with short trips from Brisbane.

Best time for a South Pacific cruise

The South Pacific cyclone season runs from November 1 to April 30, the same months as the big-ship season. Ships change course around storms, so a port can be swapped or dropped. French Polynesia has small-ship sailings all year, so May to October is an option there.

New Zealand, Australia and South Pacific cruise lines compared

These are the ships each line has announced for the region.

• Princess CruisesThe biggest program for 2026–27: three ships, 42 itineraries and 62 departures from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle and Adelaide. Royal Princess spends the season in Sydney, Grand Princess sails mostly from Brisbane, and Crown Princess has a 28-day Round Australia cruise.
  From $29 per personChecked October 2026
• Royal CaribbeanAnthem of the Seas sails from Sydney and Quantum of the Seas from Brisbane in 2026–27. In 2027–28 it has three ships: Anthem in Sydney, Ovation and Voyager of the Seas in Brisbane. From October 2027 every South Pacific cruise from Sydney or Brisbane calls at its Royal Beach Club Lelepa in Vanuatu.
  Fares change daily; check current prices
• Carnival Cruise LineTook over P&O Australia and its ships in 2025. Carnival Splendor and Carnival Adventure sail from Sydney, and Carnival Encounter and Carnival Luminosa from Brisbane.
  From $129 per personChecked October 2026
• Celebrity CruisesCelebrity Edge sails Australia and New Zealand in 2026–27, with departures from Sydney and Auckland and a crossing from Honolulu.
  Fares change daily; check current prices
• Norwegian Cruise LineNorwegian Spirit is based in the Pacific until December 2027, sailing from Sydney, Lautoka in Fiji, Papeete and Honolulu, with 11- to 13-day South Pacific voyages.
  From $820 per personChecked October 2026
• Windstar CruisesStar Breeze sails French Polynesia all year, and the sailing yacht Wind Star joins it from March 2027 on a 7-night route from Papeete every Monday.
  Fares change daily; check current prices

Paul Gauguin Cruises sails one ship of at most 330 guests in French Polynesia, with 34 voyages of 7 to 20 nights in 2027, 31 of them in the Society Islands. Oceania sails longer South Pacific voyages from Papeete. Ship guides: Royal Princess and Grand Princess.

Our pick for a first New Zealand cruise is Princess. It has the most departures, the most home ports and the widest range of trip lengths. Pick Royal Caribbean or Carnival for a short cruise from Sydney or Brisbane added to a land trip, and Windstar or Paul Gauguin for Tahiti and Bora Bora.

Typical length and price

• New Zealand: about two weeks. Royal Princess sails 13- to 15-night New Zealand cruises in 2027–28, some with Tasmania.
• Short Australian cruises: 2 to 5 nights from Sydney and Brisbane. Royal Caribbean’s cruises from Sydney and Brisbane in 2027–28 run from 3 to 17 nights.
• South Pacific: Norwegian Spirit’s voyages run 11 to 13 days.
• Tahiti: 7 nights on Windstar’s Wind Star, 7 to 20 nights on Paul Gauguin.
• Crossings from the US: 16 to 25 nights one way in the fall.

The flight from the US to Sydney or Auckland is long and often costs more than a short cruise. That is why a two-week cruise, or a cruise added to a land trip, makes more sense than a short one.

Cruise gratuities in Australia

It depends on where you book. Royal Caribbean, Princess, Celebrity and Carnival charge no daily gratuities on cruises booked in Australia or New Zealand; Royal Caribbean says service charges are included in the fare on its Australian sailings. If you book the same cruise in the US, you usually pay the daily gratuities in US dollars. Bar and spa service charges still apply. Luxury lines include gratuities for everyone.

Departure ports

Cruises from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland

• Sydney: two terminals. The Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay takes the ships that are too tall to pass under the Harbour Bridge. White Bay Cruise Terminal, opened in 2013, is on the other side of the bridge.
• Brisbane: the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal is open only on ship days. Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Princess all base ships there.
• Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle (for Perth): Princess departures.
• Auckland: a start or end point for Princess and Celebrity cruises.
• Papeete, Tahiti: home port for the small ships in French Polynesia.

Cruise to Australia from the US

There are no round trips. Ships move south across the Pacific each fall and back in spring, and you can book those crossings one way.

• Royal Caribbean, fall 2027: Ovation of the Seas sails 16 nights from Honolulu to Brisbane by way of French Polynesia, Anthem of the Seas 17 nights from Honolulu to Sydney, and Voyager of the Seas 25 nights from Seattle to Brisbane.
• Celebrity: lists Honolulu as a departure port for its 2026–27 Australia and New Zealand season.
• Princess: a 79-day Circle Pacific voyage that includes Los Angeles, Honolulu, Suva in Fiji and Papeete.

Long crossings have many sea days. Our repositioning cruise guide explains how they work, and our Hawaii cruise guide covers the islands at the start of the trip.

Passports, ETA and NZeTA

You need a passport. US citizens need an Australian Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), applied for in the Australian ETA app, before a cruise that calls in Australia. For New Zealand you need an NZeTA and must pay the NZ$100 International Visitor Levy with it (checked October 2026), including as a cruise passenger. Check your line’s document page for French Polynesia, Fiji and the other island countries on your route.

Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific sailings snapshot

Our price snapshot has only a few sailings in this region. The table shows what it had when we checked.

Ports of call

• Milford Sound and the Fiordland sounds: scenic cruising, not a port. In June 2025 New Zealand’s government dropped a proposed cruise ship ban, so ships still sail in.
• Auckland: New Zealand’s biggest city, and a start or end point for Princess and Celebrity.
• Tasmania: on some Royal Princess New Zealand cruises in 2027–28.
• Lelepa, Vanuatu: Royal Caribbean’s Royal Beach Club, on every Royal Caribbean South Pacific cruise from Sydney or Brisbane from October 2027.
• Suva and Lautoka, Fiji: on Princess and Norwegian routes.
• Papeete, Moorea and Raiatea: under the 2021 rules, the Tahiti ports that ships of up to 2,500 passengers on crossings are steered toward. Wind Star calls at Raiatea every week.
• Bora Bora: small-ship territory. Under rules announced in 2021, French Polynesia turns away ships of more than 3,500 passengers, and Bora Bora limits cruise visitors to 1,200 a day.

New Zealand and Australia cruise FAQ