The Discovery Princess made her maiden call to Auckland on Monday, the newest and largest Princess ship to visit New Zealand.
Her arrival comes as Princess Cruises director sales and Marketing Asia Pacific Nick Ferguson reports healthy interest from New Zealand. “Particularly for our FlyCruise destinations, Japan, the Mediterranean and Alaska continue to perform extremely well with Kiwi travellers.”
He says Kiwi trends are emerging, with strong interest in repositioning voyages where guests join the ship in Auckland and sail to destinations such as Los Angeles or Vancouver. There is also a growing preference for longer and more immersive itineraries, he adds. “Many Kiwis are choosing to combine three back-to-back seven-day Mediterranean cruises into a single 21-day journey to fully experience the region.”
The ship has 1830 staterooms, 20 eateries and bars, 19 decks, four pools, and a 922-seat theatre—and will visit Auckland six times over the summer season. Sister ships Crown Princess, Island Princess and Coral Princess will also make calls to AKL. Princess’ vp Asia Pacific Matthew Rutherford says her arrival for the 2025/2026 summer season marks its commitment to this region.
Other 2026 Princess Cruises milestones include the addition of Star Princess to the fleet, operating the largest World Cruise in its history in terms of combined guest numbers from Australia and New Zealand and expanding its Princess Local Partnerships program. Princess is celebrating 50 years of Princess Cruises in Australia and New Zealand, which it says makes it the longest-serving cruise line in this region.
