Any idea why cruises to Australia are so cheap?

[MisterOJ2]

So, for months now, anytime I just go and look to see what the cheapest 7-day cruises Carnival has (according to my offers) all the cheapest ones are always out of Australia. If I don't filter out Australia, I usually have to scroll past dozens of cruises from there before I start to see ones leaving from anyplace else.

 

Does anyone here know why that is? Is Australia just cheaper from a logistical standpoint for Carnival? Or, is there another reason?

[bg2310]

You understand it could very likely be in AUD and not USD, which could account for that reason? USD has higher value than AUD.

[MisterOJ2]

14 minutes ago, bg2310 said:

You understand it could very likely be in AUD and not USD, which could account for that reason? USD has higher value than AUD.

The prices are in USD. Just like it's in USD when you do the same search and look at European cruises. I guess the strength of the USD might be part of the reason. Maybe most of the reason. It's a pretty stark difference though.

[cmukid87]

Same.  And I have an offer of $1500 obc for any length cruise out of Australia. 2 days, 3 days, 8 days, it doesn't matter.  $1500 obc.

[ARcruisin2]

I wonder if it's showing that it's cheapest if you live in Australia, or if it's incentive to offset airfare to tempt US residents to jump onboard?

[mz-s]

And there's no subsidy (ahem, gratuities) on Australian itineraries so they're even cheaper.

 

I wonder how much an Australian citizen pays.

 

It may be a thing where we get a big discount to entice us to fly over. WDW gives decent deals to UK folks for example. So there's precedent in the travel industry for stuff like that.

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, MisterOJ2 said:

So, for months now, anytime I just go and look to see what the cheapest 7-day cruises Carnival has (according to my offers) all the cheapest ones are always out of Australia. If I don't filter out Australia, I usually have to scroll past dozens of cruises from there before I start to see ones leaving from anyplace else.

 

Does anyone here know why that is? Is Australia just cheaper from a logistical standpoint for Carnival? Or, is there another reason?

because of the cost to get there might have something to do with it. Just guessing

[Nic6318]

1 hour ago, MisterOJ2 said:

So, for months now, anytime I just go and look to see what the cheapest 7-day cruises Carnival has (according to my offers) all the cheapest ones are always out of Australia. If I don't filter out Australia, I usually have to scroll past dozens of cruises from there before I start to see ones leaving from anyplace else.

 

Does anyone here know why that is? Is Australia just cheaper from a logistical standpoint for Carnival? Or, is there another reason?

 

Hi

 

I have been getting these offers for a number of years now, as well. They are just trying to fill cabins. 

 

The number of takers will be few and far between. The airfare for flights to Australia make most people think again. The flight time to get there and back will turn off many more. Now, once you get there, you will do more than a one week cruise, so the expense just keeps going up. 

 

Finally, even if you are interested and plan a vacation to Australia around a cruise, which would be wonderful, very few would be doing it very often. It's just not like going to the Caribbean. 😀

[csm5986142]

The long (and expensive at times) flight from LAX keeps me from booking that itenerary.  We talk about trying a repositioning cruise that goes there someday, but I won't do that many hours on a plane roundtrip.  So I agree, maybe a lower priced cruise as an incentive to offset that.

[Haljo1935]

I've wondered the same for quite a while. Great itineraries, great cabin selections, double great prices, but don't pull the trigger because of flight costs. But still the question remains as to why they're so inexpensive. 

[bg2310]

1 hour ago, MisterOJ2 said:

The prices are in USD. Just like it's in USD when you do the same search and look at European cruises. I guess the strength of the USD might be part of the reason. Maybe most of the reason. It's a pretty stark difference though.

Hmm I guess it's not that then. I know for one I was looking at it provided $750 OBC but that was in AUD so I just wondered if maybe that could be at play here as well.

 

But if not and it's USD, then agreed with others that they're just trying to fill cabins. Considering the cost of a round-trip flight to Australia most of the year, they might be trying to entice those who are on the fence about it and hope a more affordable cruise together with that OBC offer will be enough to do it.

[VentureMan_2000]

Flight duration is 20 hours to 22 hours, and air fare price is $2,000 to $3,000.  I think sale and saver fares are non-refundable.

That's a long flight...

[BlerkOne]

If one were more curious than me, they could connect to a VPN server in Australia and check prices down under.

[KKB]

5 hours ago, Nic6318 said:

 

The number of takers will be few and far between.

Definitely NOT true.

On Splendor now, 8 days New Caldonia & staying on tomorrow for 12 more days to NZ

MANY Americans, (I’d say maybe 1/3 of passengers)MANY doing B2B (or more!), and many paid next to nothing.

(Myself included)

Seems to be plenty of takers!

Edited February 15 by KKB

[Taters]

We haven't been on a Carnival ship since 2019.  I was looking for an Australia/South Pacific cruise for a 3 week vacation in February, 2025 for our anniversary.  Carnival Luminosa fit the bill for us!  7 night Australia (Arlie Beach, Cairns, and Port Douglas) followed by an 11 night South Pacific (2 ports in Fiji, 2 ports in Vanuatu, and 1 port in New Caledonia), for a total of 18 nights.  Perfect!  No other cruise line on a non-mega ship is offering this type of itinerary that is affordable.  We booked it!  We are going to use miles to get there and back, so the cost of the air is minimal and will be around 40,000 miles each way.  It can cost us 30,000 miles just to get to Dallas or Ft. Lauderdale, so getting to Brisbane is a bargain.  Australia can be done, but you need to do your research and check out all of your options.

[2022cruisey]

When you say cheap, how much is it?
In Australia they are not that cheap overall - depends on the type of cabin and time of year.

[DukeASUGirl]

1 hour ago, 2022cruisey said:

When you say cheap, how much is it?
In Australia they are not that cheap overall - depends on the type of cabin and time of year.

 

Popping up as cheaper on the search list than a 3-day Miami-to-Bahamas cruise for me. Of course, once you add in the flight costs from the US to Australia, it's several times more expensive.

[Carnival Rene]

Not cheap at all

[vnyislesv]

The flights are expensive, long as hell and the ships are small and old. I’d love to go there but no thanks!

[kdr69]

5 of my offers every month are for free cabins on Australian cruises.  I think they have lots of capacity there as they are mostly older ships and they are just trying to fill them. I would love to do one but to travel that far at that cost it would need to be for longer than i have vacation days for. But definitely a retirement bucket lister.

[mz-s]

8 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

5 of my offers every month are for free cabins on Australian cruises.  I think they have lots of capacity there as they are mostly older ships and they are just trying to fill them. I would love to do one but to travel that far at that cost it would need to be for longer than i have vacation days for. But definitely a retirement bucket lister.

 

Absolutely, once I retire or have a few weeks of vacation time to spend for whatever reason, it's definitely something I'm going to do. Of course by then I probably won't be willing or able to sit on a plane for over 12 hours. Haha!

[cruizinisthebest]

I know the turnoff for me is equally the length and cost of the flight. I figured prices are noticeably lower in order to attract people to go. Helps lessen the blow of the flight portion. Honestly if I didn't have such a phobia for long flights, I would go in a heartbeat. I have great offers and don't even gamble. 

[kwokpot]

We did the Luminosa 30 TP from Seattle to Brisbane last September/October totally comped and a spa balcony, free drinks everywhere, and US$1,000 freeplay. It was a great trip despite having cancelled ports (Alaska was cancelled entirely and a port in the Philippines, 3 ports cancelled but 1 additional port added) it became basically a Japan cruise with 5 stops in Japan and 1 in a minor port in Indonesia. 

Our flights were all paid for using points. Starting with East coast to Seattle. Since one cannot fly non-stop from Australia to East Coast USA we decided to add an additional destination and after a couple of nights in Brisbane we flight non-stop in business class to Taipei, Taiwan which was a new destination for us. After 3 nights we flew direct to Vancouver in business class ( not enough points to fly biz all the way to East coast) then a separate direct flight in economy to East Coast. 

The Luminosa is indeed an older ship but being similar to the Spirit Class to was large enough not to feel claustrophobic and small enough never to be crowded. TBH the food was some of the best we've ever had in a Carnival ship. 

We've done several TPs on various cruiselines from the States to Australia and we've always enjoyed them. The first several days out from the West Coast are always very cold whether you go during the Fall or Springtime (the times TPs usually sail).

Edited February 15 by kwokpot

[Nic6318]

On 2/14/2024 at 7:10 PM, KKB said:

Definitely NOT true.

On Splendor now, 8 days New Caldonia & staying on tomorrow for 12 more days to NZ

MANY Americans, (I’d say maybe 1/3 of passengers)MANY doing B2B (or more!), and many paid next to nothing.

(Myself included)

Seems to be plenty of takers!

 

Hi

 

Yes. Of course people will go, just as I will likely go eventually and enjoy myself. But... as I tried to suggest, were you planning on going back again soon? What I said, was that it's not like going to Caribbean. I have 5 cruises booked for the Caribbean this winter. 

[Nic6318]

2 minutes ago, Nic6318 said:

 

Hi

 

Yes. Of course people will go, just as I will likely go eventually and enjoy myself. But... as I tried to suggest, were you planning on going back again soon? What I said, was that it's not like going to Caribbean. I have 5 separate trips booked for the Caribbean this winter. 

 

Edited February 16 by Nic6318
clarification