The Australian cruise market is showing signs of strength, with close to home sailings booming and confidence in long haul cruising returning.
Speaking to Traveltalk at Cruise360, Angela Middleton, Director of Sales, AUS/NZ at NCL, said demand was building across both the company’s Australian and international programs.
“In my opinion, there is a lot of strength in consumer demand right now,” Ms Middleton said.
“Quarter three has been really successful for us and we’re seeing that across a range of different factors.”
A key driver has been Norwegian Spirit, which will spend the 2026/27 season in Australian waters, offering a greater range of short and regional itineraries than NCL has previously operated in the market.
“Close to home is definitely driving a lot of the demand, with Norwegian Spirit for the 26/27 season, because we have more itineraries designed for us,” Ms Middleton said.
She said the ship’s four night sailings had performed particularly strongly in recent weeks, while demand was also building for NCL’s South Pacific program in 2027.
“We’re absolutely committed to being here, no matter what, with future deployments in the pipeline as well,” she added.
While the first half of the year had been challenging for European cruising due to the disruptions in the Middle East, Ms Middleton said bookings were now showing signs of recovery.
“Certainly over the last month we’re seeing week-on-week improvements and strength in that market coming back for 27,” she said.
Ms Middleton also pointed to NCL’s decision to change the structure of its popular Free At Sea offer as an important development in communicating value to Australian consumers.
“We’ve always had Free At Sea included in the voyage fare. People needed to always take the drinks package and the specialty dining and all of those inclusions. Earlier this year we unbundled that to give them more choice.
“Now customers can choose whether they want to add it on for $59 a day. When you think about the value of $59 a day in Australian dollars, that’s great value as opposed to purchasing in U.S. dollars on board.”
The arrival of Norwegian Spirit is also a major focus for NCL, with the ship scheduled to make its first Australian appearance in Brisbane in December before heading to Sydney.
Ms Middleton said NCL was planning a range of activities with Australian travel partners ahead of and during the season, including ship inspections.
“We’re really excited about what we can do to showcase Norwegian Spirit to our trade partners.”
She also stressed the continuing importance of travel agents to the cruise line.
“Trade is the dominant channel for us within the Australasian market, Australia in particular,” she said.
“We’ve got all the tools to support our trade partners. That hasn’t changed. We’re looking at how we continue to strengthen that moving forward.”
The fly/cruise market was a popular topic during Cruise360 and Ms Middleton said it represented untapped potential for travel agents.
“The fly-cruise opportunity is what agents should be focussed on, because it allows them to add more accommodation, more touring and more flights to the overall booking. That’s definitely our focus.”
Looking at the enduring popularity of cruising with Aussie travellers, Ms Middleton believes it comes down to value and the ability to combine multiple destinations within a single holiday.
“There’s no better way to see the world than via cruise. The port intensive itineraries that we offer really allow you to get deeper into the destinations.”
Looking ahead, Ms Middleton said NCL were preparing for a very busy period.
“We’ve got CLIA Cruise Month just around the corner, which presents a lot of opportunities to work with our trade partners.
“We’ve got 2028/2029 season deployment still to come this year, which will be exciting because there will be some announcements around new ship deployments. Then all of a sudden it’s going to be Black Friday and Wave Season.
“So there’s plenty to look forward to and a lot of exciting things to share coming up.”
