Princess Cruises to New Zealand

New Zealand cruising with a classic onboard style

Princess Cruises is the most popular line for this route, and it is easy to see why. The fleet deployed here is well suited to New Zealand’s mix of open-ocean crossings and close-up coastal scenery — and the onboard style, from the specialty dining restaurants to the MedallionClass® technology, is consistent across every ship. Whether you are looking at a focused New Zealand circuit or a longer transpacific voyage that weaves the country into a broader journey, there is a shape of sailing here to suit most travel styles. Sailings run from short getaways of 4 nights up to extended voyages of 129 nights, with a median of around 26 nights — so this is a page where the longer, more immersive trips are genuinely in the majority.

It is also worth knowing that most sailings are one-way rather than round-trip, which opens up interesting options. A voyage that departs Sydney and finishes in Auckland, for example, can be combined with a short domestic flight home — and Cruise1st can take care of that connection as part of the booking if you want everything in one place.

Where do these sailings go?

Close to home — New Zealand, the Pacific and Australia and New Zealand combined

The largest share of sailings close to home covers combined New Zealand itineraries and those that pair New Zealand with the Australian coast. These are the voyages most likely to suit someone who wants to focus on this part of the world without a long transpacific crossing. Sailings in this group most commonly depart from Sydney or Brisbane — if you are local to either port, you can walk up the gangway without a flight. From other Australian capitals, a short domestic connection puts you at the ship.

A smaller but well-represented group heads into Polynesia, adding island stops in the South Pacific to a New Zealand itinerary. These tend to be longer voyages and are a strong option if you want more variety within a single sailing.

The long haul — Transpacific and round-the-world

Transpacific sailings are the single largest group — more than any other region — and they use New Zealand as either an embarkation or a disembarkation point on a crossing between the South Pacific and the Americas. Many of these voyages end in Los Angeles, Vancouver or Honolulu, which makes them a natural fit for anyone building a longer trip that combines the cruise with time on the US or Canadian west coast. Cruise1st can add the flights, hotels and transfers on either side so nothing is left for you to piece together yourself.

A smaller number of sailings are part of round-the-world itineraries, where New Zealand is one section of a voyage calling at ports across multiple continents. These are substantial commitments in time and budget, but for the right traveller they represent the most complete version of this kind of cruising.

Which ships sail to New Zealand with Princess?

Five Princess ships appear across these itineraries. Each has its own personality, and the right one depends partly on the type of voyage you are doing.

Royal Princess

Royal Princess carries the largest number of sailings to New Zealand in this collection. The ship’s most talked-about feature is the SeaWalk — an 18-metre glass-bottomed walkway that extends over the side of the ship, 40 metres above the ocean. It is genuinely dramatic. For dining, Crown Grill and Sabatini’s handle the specialty evenings, while the 24-hour International Café covers everything in between. MedallionClass OceanNow® means you can order food and drinks to wherever you happen to be on the ship — a genuinely useful feature on a longer voyage. See Royal Princess cabins and deck plans to compare grades and positions before you book.

Grand Princess

Grand Princess is a familiar and well-loved ship for sailings from Brisbane and Sydney, including voyages up toward the Reef. Movies Under the Stars® — a giant poolside screen with free popcorn and blankets — is exactly the kind of feature that earns its place on a longer sailing. Crown Grill has been named USA Today’s ‘Best Cruise Steakhouse’, and Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria rounds out the specialty dining options. OceanNow delivery works here too. For a full breakdown of grades and deck positions, visit the Grand Princess cabins and deck plans page.

Coral Princess

At 91,627 GT, Coral Princess is the slimmest ship in this group — a practical advantage when an itinerary includes narrower waterways or smaller island ports that the larger ships simply cannot reach. The Universe Lounge is one of the more unusual features at sea: three revolving stages used for cooking demonstrations, cabaret and fashion shows. Crown Grill, Sabatini’s and The Sanctuary adults-only retreat on the top deck complete the picture. Check the Coral Princess cabins and deck plans to find the cabin that works for your voyage length.

Crown Princess

Crown Princess returned from a 2025 dry dock in Singapore with refreshed dining — Crown Grill and Sabatini’s both worth booking early — plus a new O’Malley’s Irish Pub and redesigned entertainment spaces. She also sails some of the fuller Australian circumnavigation itineraries, departing from Sydney and other Australian ports. Cabin grades and deck layouts are on the Crown Princess deck plans page.

Sapphire Princess

Sapphire Princess completed a refit in 2025 and homeports Fremantle for the 2027–28 season — a good option if Western Australia is your starting point. The refit added Crown Grill and Makoto Ocean Sushi by Chef Makoto Okuwa as new specialty venues. MedallionClass here runs via a wearable Medallion rather than the app, so no phone required. See the Sapphire Princess cabins and deck plans for more detail. For Western Australia sailings, Princess Cruises from Fremantle in 2027 and Princess Cruises from Perth (Fremantle) cover this in more detail.

Which cabin grade suits you?

Princess offers four broad cabin types across these ships. Here is how they compare on Royal Princess as a representative example — see the individual deck-plan pages linked above for the equivalent grades on each ship:

• Inside cabin IA — from A$1,001 pp*: At 15.4 m², this is the most affordable way onto Royal Princess. Minibar, safe and desk are all included. Middle-deck positions on Grand Princess (14.9 m²) and Coral Princess (14.5 m²) offer minimal ship motion and easy access to lifts.
• Sea-view cabin O6: 20.0 m² with a large panoramic window facing forward — natural daylight and a sightline of the open ocean that an inside cabin cannot give you.
• Deluxe Balcony cabin DA: 23.4 m² with a private balcony — your own outdoor space for breakfast or sundowners at sea.
• Penthouse Suite S3 with aft balcony: 54.5 m² of living space at the top of the grade range, significantly more room than any mini-suite or standard cabin. On Grand Princess the equivalent Grand Suite S1 comes with a private hot tub at 67.8 m².

What do Princess Cruises fares include?

Princess offers 2 main fare tiers on these sailings:

• Princess Standard is the base cruise fare — the voyage itself is covered, and you choose any extras (drinks, Wi-Fi, gratuities, casual dining) separately.
• Princess Plus bundles 4 casual dining meals per voyage, beverages up to A$15 each (up to 15 drinks per day), MedallionNet® Max Wi-Fi, pre-paid crew appreciation, unlimited digital photographs plus 3 prints, and reserved theatre seating. For a longer voyage, this tier tends to represent solid value compared to paying for each element individually.

Are there any discounted sailings?

Some sailings carry a reduced fare — measured against the price previously listed for that cabin grade on that sailing. The maximum reduction across current sailings reaches 21%, though that applies to a single departure; most reduced sailings are closer to 4% off. If timing is flexible, it is worth asking our team which departures currently carry a discount — that is exactly the kind of detail our Australian cruise experts can pull up quickly.

Why is this an easy win for travellers from across Australia?

Around 59% of these sailings depart from an Australian port — Sydney and Brisbane cover the majority, with Fremantle relevant for Western Australian travellers thanks to Sapphire Princess’s homeport position there. If you are based near one of those ports, this is a cruise you can reach without a long-haul flight; a short domestic connection covers the rest of the country. The Sydney round-trip option is worth a look if you want to start and finish at the same port, and for Brisbane departures the 2027 Brisbane sailing calendar gives you the full picture. If you want to explore options closer to home on cruises around Australia, that is covered too.

For the 41% of sailings that begin or end in the United States, New Zealand or Canada — including those finishing in Los Angeles, Vancouver or Honolulu — the voyage is naturally the centrepiece of a longer trip. Cruise1st can add return flights, hotels on either side and transfers so it all sits on one booking. Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades) and Miami are about half an hour apart if a Florida embarkation is on the table, so it is worth checking both — our team can advise which works better for connecting flights from Australia.

If Easter 2027 departures from Sydney suit your calendar, those are worth checking separately. And if you are curious about Princess’s wider 2027–28 programme across Australia and the South Pacific, the Princess 2027–28 season launch page covers the fleet and itinerary highlights including Grand Princess, Royal Princess and Sapphire Princess.

Make it a complete holiday

Cruise1st is a cruise specialist — every booking is a cruise or a cruise-inclusive package. Our team can add flights, hotels, tours, transfers and insurance around your Princess sailing, either as a Cruise1st Package or a fully custom arrangement. One booking, one point of contact, and our Best Price Guarantee behind the whole thing. Our Australian cruise experts are available seven days a week if you want to talk through the options before you commit.

For a broader look at what is sailing to New Zealand across all cruise lines, the New Zealand cruise deals page covers the full picture. If you want to compare Princess against other lines sailing this region, Princess Cruises deals gives you the line overview, and lines such as Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Azamara and Oceania Cruises also have sailings on this route. The full cruise search lets you filter by line, region and departure port together.

For Princess cruises with a Tasmania focus, see Princess Cruises to Tasmania 2027. And if you are interested in what Princess is doing around Australia more broadly in 2027, Princess Cruises around Australia 2027 is the place to start. Christmas sailings to New Zealand are covered on the Christmas cruises to New Zealand page if the festive season is your window.

*Prices are per person based on 2 people sharing, and are subject to change. This price is not kept up to date and therefore does not reflect live pricing and availability. Prices and any discounts shown were checked on 14 October 2026.

Where a discount is shown, it is a reduction from the price previously listed for that cabin grade on that sailing, not a comparison between cabin grades or against a brochure rate. Discounts and prices shown are not kept up to date: the reduction available now may be smaller, or may have ended, and prices may have changed.