2026 cruises already sold out?

[jennmaybe]

So, I have been looking at 2 different cruises in 2026 for Australia/NZ.  One is a 6-day and the other is a 8-day.  We had decided on the 6-day, but when I went out to book it last week, it is showing as sold out. Then, I checked the 8-day cruise since that was our back up, and when I chose 3 guests, it was also showing sold out. On that one, when I changed it to 2 guests, only interior rooms showed as available.  I have checked this several times now over the last week and received the same results.

 

My question is, how can these cruises already be sold out?  These seem to be the only two that are.  Is this common for Princess on AUS/NZ itineraries or is there a special event that has been booked that has taken the rooms?  When I started looking at these cruises, there were plenty of rooms available.

Super bummed…. looks like we may now have to wait until later in 2026.. 

 

[TRLD]

Most likely they are doing something on the system involving those a d other cruises. When they do so they sometimes show as sold out.

Edited April 29 by TRLD

[Arizona Wildcat]

Australia has always had a number of large groups or whole ship charters.

Remember the web site is wonky at best and hopeless often; thus gave you contacted Princess by phone, a TA , or a CVP.

I would never book on their website.  Too much $$ to be saved with my TA.

[symui]

Contact a travel agent, they probably can book it for you.  It's possible the cruise is sold out but more likely something else is going on. 

 

Unfortunately princess.com has been in continual state of decline the last 2 years in fact is the buggiest most unreliable website I have ever seen.  I have a good CVP with Princess, without her I probably would not sail on Princess.

 

That said, just off a two week cruise on the Discovery and it was one of the best cruises for us.  IMO, the onboard experience at Princess is very good for the price point. 

 

 

[jennmaybe]

Yeah we’ve sailed Princess before, so not a 1st cruise with them.  
 

Thanks for the feedback.  I always book our cruises online and I don’t use travel agents.  I am our travel agent. 😁

 

I’ll give them a call tomorrow and see what they say.  I wanted to check and see if my CC peeps had any insight first.  I find you guys way more reliable than I do customer service.  
 

Thanks ya’ll! 

[walkingsoon]

Sold out? Very unlikely.

Broken Princess website? Very likely.

 

"wanted to check and see if my CC peeps had any insight" 

Before making that call, seek that insight by mock booking, or at least searching, elsewhere. You can do it from this website, but you could do it more easily elsewhere. I'd list my preferences for that research but the local hall monitors would get upset. I see, btw, lots of availability on Crown, Discovery and Grand. Now I feel tempted to fly out there and join you 🙂

[boeckli]

Which specific dates and ship(s) are you looking at? 

[sunviking90]

This has happened to me before when logged in. I logged out and suddenly the pricing appeared for the cruise. Just an occasional glitch I think.

[icat2000]

Some cruises in Australia sell out very quickly. If you could post some dates I could also check too to see if its a glitch or it is sold out. 

[capriccio]

4 hours ago, icat2000 said:

Some cruises in Australia sell out very quickly. If you could post some dates I could also check too to see if its a glitch or it is sold out. 

Mini suites for our 2023 Round Australia cruise sold out within 2 hours of opening for elites in the US.  For the next 2 years only an occasional cabin would be available.

 

@jennmaybeAre your itineraries legs on longer cruises?  Sometimes they restrict the number of cabins sold for each leg.

[jennmaybe]

Well, I’ll called Princess.  He looked at both of the cruises I was looking at, and he said they are sold out except for some interior rooms on the 8-day.  That will not work for us, because we were going to book a penthouse suite.  (there will be 3 of us traveling).

 

None of the other cruises peaked our interest, so I guess I will have to start over looking at some other lines.  I had already looked at several and did not find any itineraries appealing. Princess had the best itineraries.
 

Unfortunately, we are limited to no more than 8 days.  My hubby and I still work and between days for flying and days pre-and post cruise, we cannot get more than 2 weeks off at a time.  Aah… hopefully the day will come when we can take very long vacations. 😄🏝

 

The cruises I have been looking at were the 6-day leaving 1/3/26, AUS/NZ and the 8-day leaving 2/20/26, AUS/NZ.

 

The representative did offer to put me on a wait list with no guarantees, of course, for a fee. I’d politely refused. I am not putting down money for a cruise that I may not get when I can put that money towards a cruise that I can actually book. 😟

[JordanF]

FWIW, just yesterday I was browsing a February 2025 cruise on RCCL's Serenade of the Seas, a 9 day Caribbean cruise out of Tampa.  This is an older ship, and yet, there were already only a handful of balcony cabins left.  I keep reading articles about how cruises are selling out and how prices are rising accordingly.  We are booked on the Emerald Princess in 2026, and the prices have gone up since we booked a few months ago.  I'm glad the industry is rebounding, but there were certain financial advantages to passengers during the downturn.  These days, supply and demand are not on our side!

[jennmaybe]

8 minutes ago, JordanF said:

FWIW, just yesterday I was browsing a February 2025 cruise on RCCL's Serenade of the Seas, a 9 day Caribbean cruise out of Tampa.  This is an older ship, and yet, there were already only a handful of balcony cabins left.  I keep reading articles about how cruises are selling out and how prices are rising accordingly.  We are booked on the Emerald Princess in 2026, and the prices have gone up since we booked a few months ago.  I'm glad the industry is rebounding, but there were certain financial advantages to passengers during the downturn.  These days, supply and demand are not on our side!

I agree!  Princess prices for AUS/NZ are the best I have seen yet. I can see why they are starting to sell out already for 2026. None of the other itineraries interested us so it looks like I will have to wait until they release their itineraries for later in 2026. Let’s say that I have learned my lesson and I will book as soon as they release! 😜

[Cruise Junky]

We’re booked on the 8 day. Wow, I had no idea it would be that popular.  There are three versions of that cruise though. It might be that more cabins are available for the full portion and not the smaller one. Keep your eyes out for more inventory.    
 

edit…just checked the 14 day version, there’s tons of availability for 3.  

Edited April 30 by Cruise Junky

[jennmaybe]

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

We’re booked on the 8 day. Wow, I had no idea it would be that popular.  There are three versions of that cruise though. It might be that more cabins are available for the full portion and not the smaller one. Keep your eyes out for more inventory.    
 

edit…just checked the 14 day version, there’s tons of availability for 3.  

I sure do wish we could do the 14 day one!  I will definitely keep checking to see if anything opens up.  I’m glad you got booked on it and I hope you guys have a wonderful time!  

[SDWalt]

FYI,

The AUS/NZ cruises first went on sale late last year.

So there's been a fair amount of time passed.  Could be why some are now fully booked.

We booked a 2 week RT AUS/NZ then, not sure if it's sold out now.

Hope you find something you're interested in pursuing.

[jennmaybe]

1 hour ago, SDWalt said:

FYI,

The AUS/NZ cruises first went on sale late last year.

So there's been a fair amount of time passed.  Could be why some are now fully booked.

We booked a 2 week RT AUS/NZ then, not sure if it's sold out now.

Hope you find something you're interested in pursuing.

Thank you!  Me too!  

Yeah, I started looking at these back in January and as of the first week of April they were still available.  We got together with my mother-in-law and we had finally narrowed it down to either of the two cruises that I mentioned earlier and when I went back out last week to book it, they were both sold out. 

[jennmaybe]

Does anyone have an idea of when they will be releasing the schedule for the rest of 2026 for AUS/NZ?