Princess pulls Grand from Australia

[phoenixx]

5 hours ago, arxcards said:

I agree.

If they decide to exclude Auckland departures in 2026/7 and beyond, that is one thing. To change their mind for 2025/6 is a backhand to anyone who had already booked. As far as I can tell, Crown Princess will still be calling in Auckland on the same dates, just not changing any passengers. 

"Calling in" to Auckland is nothing to do with no longer having any embarkation or disembarkation in Auckland.

[Relaxing Robbies]

4 minutes ago, 2022cruisey said:

There is a huge cruise market in Melbourne and Carnival/Princess have stuffed up royally and misunderstood the market in Australia and NZ.

I agree completely. What were Princess thinking when they decided to have Diamond Princess in Melbourne doing cruises to New Zealand in early October and November when the seas and weather are likely to be bad, and then moving it to Brisbane to do Northern Queensland cruises from mid December just when it is becoming unbearably hot and humid up north? It would have been much better the other way round.

 

If sales of the Diamond cruises from Melbourne have been okay, it is not because people are happy with the itineraries, but just that we have so few choices and we are desperate.  Personally I have resisted and am hanging out for some bargains, or will just do some land based travel later this year.

[MicCanberra]

I have heard the crew love getting off anywhere, it is not specific to Melbourne.

[Ozwoody]

2 hours ago, Relaxing Robbies said:

We were booked on the 37 night Hawaii loop cruise and are devastated that it has been cancelled. We already have a Freo to Sydney northern route cruise booked for next May, so we are not interested in the replacement Round Australia offering with $250 obc. After spending hours yesterday considering our options, we have opted for the Crown Princess Sydney to Singapore cruise prior to her drydock.

 

It is getting harder for us Victorians to find suitable cruises. Costs of travelling to Sydney or Brisbane to board soon add up, and make shorter cruises uneconomic. My preference would be cruises to Queensland and the South Pacific in the April to October period when it is cold in Melbourne. I am not interested in cruising to Cairns during the hot humid wet season, and worry about cyclones impacting my cruise. No wonder the cruise lines are having trouble selling their cruises from Brisbane. 

Could not agree more.

I don't think they understand Australians, I feel we are different from Americans due to our geography, and life styles, basically we think different, I can't explain it, but I believe our mind set is different.🤔🤷‍♂️ 

I just don't think they get us?

[Ozwoody]

Further to @Relaxing Robbies re cruises going in the wrong direction, yes in reverse as a Queenslander, I would rather head south in the summer for cooler weather, not further north for more humidity.🤷‍♂️

 

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, Ozwoody said:

Could not agree more.

I don't think they understand Australians, I feel we are different from Americans due to our geography, and life styles, basically we think different, I can't explain it, but I believe our mind set is different.🤔🤷‍♂️ 

I just don't think they get us?

It is true Aussies think differently to the Americans but they are the ones that are weird, not us. 

[arxcards]

7 hours ago, phoenixx said:

"Calling in" to Auckland is nothing to do with no longer having any embarkation or disembarkation in Auckland.

Correct.

Just asserting it as a slap in the face to cancel passengers embarking in Auckland, yet still having the ship in port on the same day.

[Sparky74]

Today I received an email advertising an expanded 2025 Japan and 2025/26 South East Asia Program for the Diamond Princess. The base lead-in price for an interior cabin on a 9 day cruise is $2,184. That’s over $240/person/day. 😱

Beyond my merger pocket book I’m afraid. 🤷‍♂️

[sewgood]

15 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

That’s over $240/person/day. 😱

I agree for an inside cabin plus airfares, I too will be looking elsewhere.

[arxcards]

These are typical of $AU prices for lots of overseas Princess offerings. I don't know if we are being overpriced as Aussies, or if this is relative to what others are paying around the world. Even late last year I was looking at a cruise around the UK for June/July next year, and the prices are scary. It seems now that the base price has jumped, although the Balconies & minis have only gone up as much as the base price has and appear to be better value in comparison.

 

Just a couple of randoms around the world for a similar date, Princess.com inside guarantee standard prices:

10 night, around UK Aug 25 2025 - $2582pp ($258pp per day)

7 night Alaska ex Seattle Aug 30 2025 - $1885pp ($269pp per day)

 

[arxcards]

There may be some more cycling about to happen.

At this stage on the Princess site, there is a gap in Crown Princess itineraries between 21st December & 21st March. It could be that all of those cruises have sold-out (possible), but would appear to have been withdrawn from sale while they do a shuffle.

 

Christmas/New Year cruises could well be sold out by now. However, on 7th March she is supposed to be departing on a 3 night cruise from Sydney, yet now also has a port booking in Port Douglas. It got me digging further. Dec 21st to Fiji RT from Sydney per the schedule, yet she is also booked in Brisbane on 24th Dec. 

 

There may be some altered itineraries to dual port, however it looks like Brisbane has lost the Grand but scored a few months of Crown Princess instead. The BICT page has updated. Grand Princess dates have been removed, while these dates are up for Crown Princess:

24th December 2025

4th January 2026

12th January

22nd January

2nd February

16th February

2nd March

10th March

18th March

There is a booking for Newcastle on 20th March during her return back to Sydney on 21st March. Great that QLD is not missing out after all, and I am ready to book the 3 nighter for 18th March.

 

 

[arxcards]

On 5/9/2024 at 7:55 AM, phoenixx said:

This absolutely stinks! 🤬

My Jan and Feb 2026 bookings on Crown have been cancelled. I'm particularly upset that the 5 night Auckland to Auckland has been cancelled, it would have been my dd first cruise and no, there isn't anything else suitable!🤬

So no Auckland departures at all! 😭

As I noticed a short while ago, all of the those itineraries are changing due to Crown relocating to Brisbane from late Dec 2025 for a 3 month season. Hopefully they will offer an Auckland to Brisbane itinerary when the altered itineraries are available.

[arxcards]

On 5/9/2024 at 11:16 AM, ceeceeDee said:

Yes, now I'm beginning to wonder. We were toying with the idea of a cruise to NZ return in 2026. Due to work commitments, we are 'locked in' to a time frame, so a cancelled cruise would leave us high and dry so to speak. I guess we'll keep watching the situation before making a final decision about booking with Princess or looking at other lines.

Looks like it is back on the table - just a different table.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

18 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

The base lead-in price for an interior cabin on a 9 day cruise is $2,184. That’s over $240/person/day. 😱

 

Prices have certainly gone up a lot in the last year. I would normally pay around $300 solo per day for interior or ov obs. Around $480, forget it. Japan is flavour of the month in travel destinations so no doubt the ship will be full even at those prices.

I'll look for Drop and Go fares (not always cheap) or go see some more grain silos.

[Sparky74]

3 hours ago, sewgood said:

I agree for an inside cabin plus airfares, I too will be looking elsewhere.

 

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

These are typical of $AU prices for lots of overseas Princess offerings. I don't know if we are being overpriced as Aussies, or if this is relative to what others are paying around the world…

 

 

45 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

Prices have certainly gone up a lot in the last year...

I’m guessing although they are quoted in Australian Dollars, that the prices for Princess cruises from non-Australian ports do not include gratuities. 🤔

Edited May 11 by Sparky74
Typo

[arxcards]

26 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

 

 

I’m guessing although they are quoted in Australian Dollars, that the prices for Princess cruises from non-Australian ports do not include gratuities. 🤔

Good guess. Add that to your fare.

[Sparky74]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Good guess. Add that to your fare.

So about an extra $24/person/day at the current exchange rate. 😬

[robncruise]

For comparison I cruised solo on Diamond Princess in Japan in July last year.  

9 days  $1780 solo !  Gratuities  $16 USD per day additional.

So I won't be sailing again at the current prices.

[OzKiwiJJ]

18 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

Today I received an email advertising an expanded 2025 Japan and 2025/26 South East Asia Program for the Diamond Princess. The base lead-in price for an interior cabin on a 9 day cruise is $2,184. That’s over $240/person/day. 😱

Beyond my merger pocket book I’m afraid. 🤷‍♂️

We paid $3,821 for a mini-suite, Plus fare, on Diamond last year for a 9 night itinerary. Now they want $5,159 or more!

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 5/9/2024 at 3:19 PM, 2022cruisey said:

The furphy about port increases in Melbourne is an excuse.  Yes it increased but was shown to still be less than most other ports in Australia. 

 

On 5/9/2024 at 3:33 PM, Relaxing Robbies said:

I agree completely. What were Princess thinking when they decided to have Diamond Princess in Melbourne doing cruises to New Zealand in early October and November when the seas and weather are likely to be bad, and then moving it to Brisbane to do Northern Queensland cruises from mid December just when it is becoming unbearably hot and humid up north? It would have been much better the other way round.

 

Definitely a furphy!

 

My guess is that there is something that needs to be done to Station Pier that the Victorian authorities aren't telling anyone but has caused them to limit or stop any disembarkations/embarkations from Melbourne .

 

That may explain why the Diamond itineraries have ended up as they are. I suspect the original plan was for Diamond to homeport for the whole season in Melbourne but Princess had to change things due to whatever is going on with Station Pier.

 

Princess isn't the only cruise line to pull out. Cunard is no longer coming here other than as port stops on it's world cruises. Virgin has also redeployed. 

[reeves35]

12 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

 

Definitely a furphy!

 

My guess is that there is something that needs to be done to Station Pier that the Victorian authorities aren't telling anyone but has caused them to limit or stop any disembarkations/embarkations from Melbourne .

 

That may explain why the Diamond itineraries have ended up as they are. I suspect the original plan was for Diamond to homeport for the whole season in Melbourne but Princess had to change things due to whatever is going on with Station Pier.

 

Princess isn't the only cruise line to pull out. Cunard is no longer coming here other than as port stops on it's world cruises. Virgin has also redeployed. 

Unfortunately, Victoria is stony broke so nothing will be spent on Station Pier until the debt is under control.....ask again in 2150!!!

[sewgood]

3 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

So about an extra $24/person/day at the current exchange rate. 😬

Pretty much spot on.

I calculated the daily rate for a future Europe cruise on Princess that we have booked and came out at $24.27 per person per day.

For a couple you may as well budget for an extra $50 AUS between you each day.

[ceeceeDee]

On 5/11/2024 at 12:21 PM, arxcards said:

Looks like it is back on the table - just a different table.

A cross between the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and Musical Chairs (Ships) 🙄

I can't make up my mind whether Princess is Juggling or practicing Sleight of Hand. Either way, I wish they'd get their act together. I'm easily confused.😂

[arxcards]

49 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

A cross between the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and Musical Chairs (Ships) 🙄

I can't make up my mind whether Princess is Juggling or practicing Sleight of Hand. Either way, I wish they'd get their act together. I'm easily confused.😂

Still one less ship.

Sharing is caring!

 

Yes, I like to have some degree of confidence that my cruise isn't going to change because of a change of mind. Have already lost 3 ports from our Dover to Sydney cruise next year - starting to look like a 57 night cruise to nowhere.

[cruiser3775]

On 5/9/2024 at 1:18 PM, MicCanberra said:

On 5/9/2024 at 11:17 AM, Cruise Junky said:

If you’re ok with flying have a look at HAL Noordam Sydney to Seattle in a March 26 is an awesome itinerary. She also has a nice itinerary in January which I think is round trip Sydney.  

I liked it.

I did Vancouver to Sydney last October on HAL. Great cruise!