Princess Cruises and Cunard will boycott Melbourne, Australia in 2025 and visit other nearby ports in response to the port authority's decision to raise port fees next year.
According to the Australian Associated Press, the port will increase fares from $28.50 to $32 per passenger. The increase will take effect on January 1.
“If the port operator imposes significant and unexpected increases, we cannot continue to plan our sailings to Melbourne. These types of steep price increases with little warning are unaffordable for any business, especially one at a vulnerable point in the recovery,” said Theresa Lloyd, chief strategy officer at Carnival Australia.
According to Australia's Sky News, she said Princess and Cunard were open to working with Ports Victoria and the Victorian government to “find a long-term solution together”.
Government officials have defended the Port of Melbourne's decision, saying it has been more than two and a half years since the last port fee hike and the cruise industry is booming.
“Let’s get some perspective here. This is a very profitable industry that has not seen growth for two and a half years. People are coming back. The cruise industry is healthier than it has ever been,” Ports Victoria Minister Mel Horne said, adding that the wharf needed maintenance.
Travel Weekly has reached out to Carnival Corp., parent company of Cunard and Princess, for comment.
A number of cruise lines, including Virgin Voyages, Viking and P&O Cruises, regularly call or homeport in Melbourne. Disney Cruise Line sailed its first Australian voyage in October, departing from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland, New Zealand.
Melbourne isn’t the only city to raise fares on short notice. The Bahamas had planned to raise fares in July in June, but eventually postponed some of the fare increases until January 2024 after a backlash from cruise lines.
The Mexican state of Quintana Roo, which includes Cancun and the Riviera Maya, is also considering a tax on cruise lines. According to Riviera Maya News, Quintana Roo’s legislature is considering a $5 tax per passenger, 30 percent of which would go to a trust fund to address natural disasters. The rest would go to a fund dedicated to tourism infrastructure. If approved, the tax would go into effect in January 2025.
