Princess Cruises revealed on May 7 that the Grand Princess will no longer operate in Australian waters starting October 2025. Instead, the vessel will be homeported in San Juan, Puerto Rico, marking a significant shift in deployment strategy.
Grand Princess’ exit from Australia will result in the cancellation of its 2025-2026 scheduled voyages there, with the redeployment commencing on October 12, 2025.
“We constantly review and revise our deployments as part of our ongoing product strategy,” Princess Cruises said in an official statement. “As a result, we have made some changes to our 2025/2026 itineraries and will be redeploying Grand Princess from her planned Australia summer season to San Juan, Puerto Rico, starting 12 October 2025 and running through 29 March 2026.”
The move aims to align Grand Princess with new market opportunities in the Caribbean.
The redeployment of the 2,610-passenger Grand Princess has led to the cancellation of several scheduled voyages in Australia. This includes a 2-night “seacation” from Sydney to Brisbane on October 16, 2025, as well as a number of Tasmania, Queensland, and New Zealand voyages through March 2026.
Cancellations and Rebookings on Princess Cruises
In response, Princess Cruises has arranged for affected passengers to be rebooked on alternative voyages aboard Crown Princess and Discovery Princess, which will now serve the Australian region with both amended and new voyages.
Guests affected by these changes will be automatically rebooked, receiving any adjustments to their fare to match what they originally paid, and any higher fare difference will be covered by the cruise line in an expression of goodwill for the inconvenience.
Crown Princess Cruise Ship (Photo Credit: Riccardo Arata)
“We are pleased to automatically rebook you on a replacement voyage that offers a similar itinerary,” said the cruise line, noting full details and booking confirmation would be delivered to passengers by May 31 via email.
Discovery Princess, which holds 3,660 passengers, is currently not scheduled to sail in Australia in October, December, or January 2025 and is traveling between Australia and Asia in November. Its first Australian cruise launches from Sydney on February 28, 2026. In March, Discovery Princess is also slated to provide a seacation and Queensland voyage.
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Conversely, the 3,090-passenger Crown Princess is not scheduled in Australian waters until December 2025, when it launches on a Southern Australia voyage. Departing from Fremantle, Australia, on December 10, the ship is slated to call in Margaret River, Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Hobart before arriving in Sydney. From there, Crown Princess will begin offering various cruise lengths between Sydney and Brisbane.
The cruise line, however, may change Crown Princess and Discovery Princess cruises to accommodate itinerary changes caused by the cancelation of Grand Princess. In its statement, it hinted additional cancellations would arise on both ships.
Discovery Princess (Photo Credit: Princess Cruises)
Besides the automatic rebookings, pre-booked shore excursions, spa, and dining reservations are also automatically canceled, with costs refunded back to passengers via the original form of payment.
For passengers on the 37-night Tahiti, Hawaii, and South Pacific cruise originally scheduled to depart from Sydney on October 16 and Brisbane on October 18, 2025, $250 additional onboard credit is being offered. To receive the compensation, passengers must rebook onto the 28-night Round Australia cruise from Sydney on November 23, 2024, or a similar 25-night voyage from Brisbane on November 26, 2025.
Guests on the 11-night Fiji holiday from Brisbane on December 24, 2025, will receive $200 EZair credit per person toward flights if rebooked on the 14-day sailing from Sydney on December 21, or a 3-night seacation on March 18, 2026.
Source: Cruisehive.com