Sydney Harbour has a new permanent resident, at least for part of the year. Grand Princess, a 2,610-guest ship in the Princess Cruises fleet, arrived this morning after a repositioning run from Los Angeles via Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. By the afternoon she was gone again, sailing a 15-night roundtrip to New Zealand — the first of many sailings that will keep her in Australian waters all year round.
That 'year-round' part matters. Cruise lines have traditionally based ships in Australia only for the summer high season, then redeployed them north. With Grand Princess staying put, travellers can book an Aussie-based cruise in any month, whether that's a short coastal getaway or something far more ambitious — she'll also run long international voyages from Australia, including a 79-night Circle Pacific itinerary.
The ship herself is a veteran with pedigree. At 289 metres and 107,517 gross tonnes across 17 decks, she was the first of Princess's Grand Class, built by Fincantieri in Italy and christened in 1998 by Oscar-winning actress Olivia de Havilland. She carries up to 2,610 guests looked after by about 1,150 crew, and has logged nearly three million nautical miles — roughly 130 laps of the planet.
Grand Princess isn't flying solo. Princess's 2026/27 season brings 62 departures across 42 itineraries in the region, with Royal Princess returning to Sydney for a third season after a drydock refit, and Coral Princess visiting during her world cruise from Fort Lauderdale. One-third of the entire Princess fleet will be in the Asia Pacific that season, reflecting demand for Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and the South Pacific. The line has also already released its 2028/29 Australia and New Zealand program, so early planners have plenty to work with.
The demand figures back it up. More than 1.45 million Australians cruised in 2025, and 1.16 million of them stayed local — sailing within Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Princess expects its 2026/27 season to inject around $350 million into the Australian economy; cruise tourism as a whole contributed $7.32 billion nationally last financial year and supports more than 22,700 jobs.
There's a nice bit of history here too. Princess has been sailing in Australia for 50 years, and its first Sydney call was Pacific Princess back in 1975 — the ship that later starred in The Love Boat. Crown Princess has meanwhile kicked off the Western Australian season from Fremantle.
For anyone who's been putting off a cruise because dates never lined up, a year-round homeported ship solves that. Book a summer sailing to the South Pacific, or chase whale season, shoulder-season New Zealand fjords, or even a multi-month Pacific odyssey without ever changing ships.
