Australia and New Zealand $$$

[Seafan22]

Does anyone have any idea why the NCL Cruises are so expensive in Australia and New Zealand?  I have a trip in a couple months out of New York and I am looking at another one going from Sydney to Auckland.  The cost per night in Australia is more than double the New York trip.  I like NCL, but I am looking to go with Princess going at the same time, a day longer trip and it costs 68% of the NCL price.

[www3traveler]

Is there a difference in the number of passengers each can carry?

 

In  the past, NCL has used smaller ships (1800 or few passengers) for the Austraila/ New Zealand market.

[RB9643]

3 hours ago, Seafan22 said:

 I like NCL, but I am looking to go with Princess going at the same time, a day longer trip and it costs 68% of the NCL price.

 

I'm skeptical. Can you give us more detail? Dates? Cabin? Drink package? Specialty dining, etc?

 

 

[Seafan22]

The dates of the trips I am comparing are a week apart in February 2025.  They are two balcony cabins with no add-on (speciality dining, drink packages etc.).  The Princess ship is larger (Royal Princess at 3,600 passengers) and NCL Spirit (at a little over 2,000).  

 

I would love to sail on NCL, being Sapphire level, but this is the only ship they use down there. I'm not sure why people would go on it at those prices.

[MeHeartCruising]

It all comes down to supply and demand (and revenue)!  If NCL's sales and marketing department believes (and/or has historical cruise data to compare) that they can fill that ship at the higher rates, you can bet they are going to price that cruise at the higher rates.  Why would they not?  If they don't need to be competitive to fill a ship, why bother being competitive?  Being the cruise is over a year away, there is plenty of time for NCL to drop that price IF they feel the bookings are behind a level they want them to be at this point in time.  

[Philandjulie]

Port fees, taxes, supplies, wages are all higher I think which causes the extra cost.  We find it nearly the same price to fly to either UK or USA and do a TA than to cruise around home without airfares.

[RB9643]

11 hours ago, Seafan22 said:

 

I would love to sail on NCL, being Sapphire level, but this is the only ship they use down there. I'm not sure why people would go on it at those prices.

 

 

We just booked the 2/8/2025 cruise on the Spirit. I'm a little confused by your post. Is there something about the Spirit you don't like? Is it more expensive than Princess once you add a drink package and specialty dining and excursion credits to the Princess cruise?  

 

Can you expand on your post a little bit? I'm also in a balcony, and I'm curious what price you're seeing.

 

 

 

 

[timf2001]

The biggest issue I have with Spirit is it's the oldest ship in the fleet yet since the refurbishment NCL is charging prices on par with the Prima class ships.  It doesn't have Haven, the rooms are smaller, and it doesn't have the same variety of venues.  For a similar price with perks you can sail on Celebrity Edge which does have all the modern amenities.  Hopefully once they deliver the next couple Prima class ships they send one down under, then the price may be worth it.

 

Incidentally when I was trying to price out the 2025 sailings it was telling me they are sold out, so I had to do my pricing comparison for 2024.  I wonder if they're redeploying.

[RB9643]

1 hour ago, timf2001 said:

Incidentally when I was trying to price out the 2025 sailings it was telling me they are sold out, so I had to do my pricing comparison for 2024.  I wonder if they're redeploying.

 

We booked Spirit Feb' 2025 a week ago. I did a Princess Plus mock booking yesterday and it was indeed 1/2 the cost of Spirit. Something is going to have to give at some point. Either NCL will drop (and I'll drop with it) or Princess will increase as they get some bookings and then need to actually make money.

 

My guess is it will be a combination of both.

[dexddd]

7 hours ago, timf2001 said:

The biggest issue I have with Spirit is it's the oldest ship in the fleet yet since the refurbishment NCL is charging prices on par with the Prima class ships.  It doesn't have Haven, the rooms are smaller, and it doesn't have the same variety of venues.  For a similar price with perks you can sail on Celebrity Edge which does have all the modern amenities.  Hopefully once they deliver the next couple Prima class ships they send one down under, then the price may be worth it.

 

Incidentally when I was trying to price out the 2025 sailings it was telling me they are sold out, so I had to do my pricing comparison for 2024.  I wonder if they're redeploying.

I love the Spirit but they've been throwing crazy high prices on that ship.  They have it doing some more exoctic routes the last couple years.  Saw a $33,000 OS listing recently.

[DCGuy64]

I'm interested in this thread because we also would like to do an Australia-New Zealand cruise in the next couple of years. I agree with @Seafan22 that NCL's pricing is much higher than some others, notably Princess and RCL, but even Celebrity. For me, one HUGE caveat is that most of those cruises are EITHER Australia OR New Zealand, not both. For the most part, the New Zealand ones start in Australia (Sydney or Brisbane) and then spend most of the time in New Zealand, with 2 days of cruising each way. The Australia cruises are only Australia. The only exceptions I found were with HAL and I've read that's mostly an older crowd. The advantage with the NCL Spirit is that you get 4 stops in Australia and a bunch in NZ, too. Given the distance from the USA, ideally we'd like to see some of both countries instead of just one. Also, NCL's site doesn't go beyond 2024 and due to other plans for 2024, we'd like to look at 2025.

Edited June 13, 2023 by DCGuy64

[jenf22]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

I'm interested in this thread because we also would like to do an Australia-New Zealand cruise in the next couple of years. I agree with @Seafan22 that NCL's pricing is much higher than some others, notably Princess and RCL, but even Celebrity. For me, one HUGE caveat is that most of those cruises are EITHER Australia OR New Zealand, not both. For the most part, the New Zealand ones start in Australia (Sydney or Brisbane) and then spend most of the time in New Zealand, with 2 days of cruising each way. The Australia cruises are only Australia. The only exceptions I found were with HAL and I've read that's mostly an older crowd. The advantage with the NCL Spirit is that you get 4 stops in Australia and a bunch in NZ, too. Given the distance from the USA, ideally we'd like to see some of both countries instead of just one. Also, NCL's site doesn't go beyond 2024 and due to other plans for 2024, we'd like to look at 2025.

 

We did Celebrity this January, starting in Sydney and ending in Auckland.  It did have one stop in Melbourne, but all the other ports were New Zealand.  We did talk to some folks on one tour who were on the Spirit.  We chose Celebrity because it was cheaper than NCL and we thought a better itinerary since it wasn't RT Sydney.  We prefer NCL over the other lines we've cruised (except maybe the Oasis class RCL ships).  We did Princess for the British Isles last summer because a similar NCL itinerary was crazy priced.  Like you guys, I don't get their pricing.

[RB9643]

7 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

 Also, NCL's site doesn't go beyond 2024 and due to other plans for 2024, we'd like to look at 2025.

 

We just booked a Feb. '25 Aus/NZ cruise on Spirit. It's available.

[RB9643]

26 minutes ago, RB9643 said:

 

We just booked a Feb. '25 Aus/NZ cruise on Spirit. It's available.

 

 

I stand corrected. It is no longer available on the NCL website, nor are the late 2024 sailings. It is still showing on CruisePl*m.

 

This is a copy/paste from my confirmation email:

 

BOOKING SOURCE: NCLWEBC

SHIP: NORWEGIAN SPIRIT

SAILING: 8-Feb-2025 to 20-Feb-2025

CATEGORY / STATEROOM: BA / 11566

ITINERARY: 12-DAY AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND FROM SYDNEY TO AUCKLAND EMBARKATION: SYDNEY

DISEMBARKATION: AUCKLAND

 

Maybe they'll cancel and give me a 10% FCC!  😄

 

 

[julig22]

1 hour ago, RB9643 said:

 

I stand corrected. It is no longer available on the NCL website, nor are the late 2024 sailings. It is still showing on CruisePl*m.

 

This is a copy/paste from my confirmation email:

 

BOOKING SOURCE: NCLWEBC

SHIP: NORWEGIAN SPIRIT

SAILING: 8-Feb-2025 to 20-Feb-2025

CATEGORY / STATEROOM: BA / 11566

ITINERARY: 12-DAY AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND FROM SYDNEY TO AUCKLAND EMBARKATION: SYDNEY

DISEMBARKATION: AUCKLAND

 

Maybe they'll cancel and give me a 10% FCC!  😄

 

 

Interesting.  I booked the Sydney to Bali cruise, Dec 2024. Because it actually spends time in Australia -5 ports in addition to Sydney. I book for itinerary, not the ship.

As to the Spirit, it was more or less gutted when refurbished so yea the ship is older but interior is newer.  

But as of now, who knows why nothing is showing past next April on the website. My reservation is still active in my account.

[Goldconnection]

In 2019 we completed a b2b Sydney to Auckland to Sydney on the Jewel (21 days). The Sounds were spectacular. Loved every port in New Zealand. We spent Christmas in Sydney. We felt it was worth every penny.

[Aquarius_traveler129]

I have the spirit booked for Australia and New Zealand January 2024, and Alaska to Hawaii 2025… seeing all of the itineraries disappear as my friend tried to book was shocking. 
 

I think they will be cancelling and giving out credit 

[DCGuy64]

10 hours ago, Goldconnection said:

In 2019 we completed a b2b Sydney to Auckland to Sydney on the Jewel (21 days). The Sounds were spectacular. Loved every port in New Zealand. We spent Christmas in Sydney. We felt it was worth every penny.

That sounds lovely. I'd like to do that kind of a cruise once I'm retired. Right now 21 days would be next to impossible due to work schedules. But one day!

[RB9643]

13 hours ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

II think they will be cancelling and giving out credit 

 

They did, and they have. 20% FCC for any Spirit cruise between now and April 2024 or 10% FCC on any future cruise until Dec. 2025.

 

Looks like my booking on a whim last week may pay some dividends.

 

 

 

 

[julig22]

On 6/14/2023 at 10:56 AM, RB9643 said:

Looks like my booking on a whim last week may pay some dividends.

I'm a little jealous - but it depends on where they are redeploying. My cruise isn't on the chopping block at the moment but I'm open to choosing something else if the price is right!  The cruise I have booked is really spendy... Probably my most expensive to date.

[Seafan22]

On the NCL site the trip I hade been talking about has been pulled.  I talked to a consultant on line and they confirmed that it is no longer available. 

 

I am going to Princess for my trip.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, Seafan22 said:

On the NCL site the trip I hade been talking about has been pulled.  I talked to a consultant on line and they confirmed that it is no longer available. 

 

I am going to Princess for my trip.

Enjoy! Remember your medallion thingy

[sanger727]

On 6/13/2023 at 10:28 AM, DCGuy64 said:

I'm interested in this thread because we also would like to do an Australia-New Zealand cruise in the next couple of years. I agree with @Seafan22 that NCL's pricing is much higher than some others, notably Princess and RCL, but even Celebrity. For me, one HUGE caveat is that most of those cruises are EITHER Australia OR New Zealand, not both. For the most part, the New Zealand ones start in Australia (Sydney or Brisbane) and then spend most of the time in New Zealand, with 2 days of cruising each way. The Australia cruises are only Australia. The only exceptions I found were with HAL and I've read that's mostly an older crowd. The advantage with the NCL Spirit is that you get 4 stops in Australia and a bunch in NZ, too. Given the distance from the USA, ideally we'd like to see some of both countries instead of just one. Also, NCL's site doesn't go beyond 2024 and due to other plans for 2024, we'd like to look at 2025.

 

Just my 2 cents. Australia is too large for it to be efficient to be seen by cruise. Plus you would completely miss the outback. I would do the cruise around New Zealand and then fly over to Australia for a land trip if you are tight on time. 

[Seafan22]

My plan is to do four days in Australia touring around, then take the cruise over to Auckland and then stay there for another three days.

 

1 hour ago, cruiseny4life said:

Enjoy! Remember your medallion thingy

 What is the Medallion?

[cruiseny4life]

9 minutes ago, Seafan22 said:

My plan is to do four days in Australia touring around, then take the cruise over to Auckland and then stay there for another three days.

 

 What is the Medallion?

Princess can describe it better than I! It basically does what your room key does on other lines.

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-destinations/cruise-tips-advice-and-information/what-is-medallion-class.html