Two popular Carnival Australia cruise lines will stop sailing from Melbourne because the travel giant says it cannot cope with a 15 per cent jump in port fees.
In 2025-26, Princess Cruises will no longer home port at Station Pier while Cunard will bypass Melbourne entirely.
Carnival Australia’s chief strategy officer Teresa Lloyd said the decision was down to Ports Victoria “unexpectedly” raising charges by 15 per cent to pay for maintenance at Station Pier.
“Fifteen per cent doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s significant,” Ms Lloyd told reporters on Wednesday.
“A port call in Melbourne already is one of the highest (priced) in the world, Australia is a very expensive region so any incremental cost really hurts.”
The decision impacts 23 port visits carrying a total of 70,000 passengers, with those cruises set to instead begin and end in Sydney and Brisbane.
Ports Minister Melissa…