The 2026 northern hemisphere cruise season is just getting into full swing, and already a big batch of 2027-28 ocean cruising programs have been released to entice us. Time to draw up your latest cruising wish list.
Every fresh cruising season program offers numerous new destinations and maiden port calls. For example, Silversea’s 12-ship program for 2027-28 features 414 new sailings across all seven continents, covering more than 600 destinations in over 100 countries.
Multiply that across an ever-expanding global fleet, and the possibilities are endless. Peak industry body Cruise Lines International Association is expecting 80 new ships over the next decade, including Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas, Norwegian Luna, Viking Mira, MSC World Asia and Disney Adventure this year.
The choice for cruise fans is so vast that it can be bewildering, but we’re here to make it easy. And it’s an enjoyable task. As Olivia Newton-John would have put it so entertainingly, you’d better ship up, find the one that your heart is set on, the one that you want, ooh ooh ooh!
Hail the Hawaii of Europe
Tripadvisor’s top trending destination for 2026 is … (drum roll, please) … Madeira in the North Atlantic. This Portuguese archipelago is so lush it’s been called Europe’s Hawaii. Enticing ways to see it for yourself include:
- Combining it with a Mediterranean cruise, such as Celebrity Cruises’ 11-night ‘Spain, Portugal & Morocco’ sailing out of Barcelona on Celebrity Xcel in October. It’s a cool itinerary: You’ll visit Cadiz (for Seville), Lisbon, Tangier and Palma de Mallorca as well as Funchal, the archipelago’s attractive capital. And yes, there is fun to be had in Funchal, including taking the cable car up to Monte.
- If you’d prefer to totally immerse yourself in Atlantic island life, MSC Cruises has seven ‘Canary Islands and Madeira’ cruises on the MSC Fantasia that operate out of Funchal. There are also 17 more that depart from Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Arrecife de Lanzarote or Las Palmas.
New twists on the Med
Overtourism can be a problem in parts of the Mediterranean, but cruise companies are getting around it by focusing on places that are often overlooked and where the welcomes are warm.
Take Ponant’s ‘Isle of Beauty’ series. The Isle of Beauty, Italian shores & Malta cruise from Nice to Valetta, for example, visits Calvi and Saint-Florent in Corsica; Portoferraio on the island of Elba, Lipari in the Aeolian Islands, Taormina on Sicily and little Giglio island as well as splendid spots on the Italian mainland: Porto Ercole, Cinque Terre and Portofino. That’s a prime example of the joys of sailing on a luxurious small ship, in this case the Le Dumont d’Urville. With seven decks and a maximum of 184 guests in 92 staterooms and suites, it can get into scenic nooks and crannies.
For other exotic twists, consider itineraries that incorporate African ports in the Western Mediterranean and Atlantic, such as Algiers (Algeria), Tunis (Tunisia) and Tangier, Casablanca and Agadir (Morocco). MSC Cruises, Viking, Holland America Line, Oceania and Silversea have set the trend in this regard, and next year Carnival Cruise Line will make its first-ever African ports of call during its Med season.
Go with the new flow
The Persian Gulf, Red Sea and Arabian Sea are now a massive no-go zone, and cruise lines will rely more on routes around Africa for their repositioning and world cruises. Expect a lot more opportunities to visit the Canary and Cape Verde islands off the west coast of Africa, and those to the east of the continent, such as the Seychelles, Zanzibar and Madagascar.
Some Atlantic Ocean itineraries also include South American ports as an extra exotic touch. Viking’s new ‘The Mediterranean & South Atlantic’ cruise between Buenos Aires and Rome is a case in point. It visits Montevideo in Uruguay, Rio de Janeiro and Recife in Brazil, Mindelo on São Vicente Island in Cape Verde and Casablanca in Morocco, along with good doses of Spain, France and Italy.
If it’s an in-depth look at Southern Africa you’re after, MSC Cruises’ ship MSC Armonia will home-port in Durban and Cape Town, South Africa, for the first time for the 2026-27 summer season. Namibia, Mauritius and Réunion are all on its calling card, as are Mozambique’s Maputo, Pomeme and Portuguese Island, which is known for its pristine white-sand beaches.
Asia’s a-calling
Australians are showing more appreciation for Asia as a long-haul fly-cruise destination, spurred on by the fact that the haul isn’t that long! Plus, the itineraries are becoming more expansive and varied.
A case in point is Norwegian Cruise Line’s 14-day ‘Asia: Thailand & Vietnam’ cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore on Norwegian Jade in January 2027. It offers tropical island paradises at Coron, Boracay and Puerto Princesa in the Philippines, and stunning mosques at Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and Muara in Brunei Darussalam, before delving into Vietnam and Thailand. There are 12-day and 15-day variations too. Norwegian Jade is fresh out of a refurbishment that included a new adults-only outdoor oasis on deck 14; revamped restaurant and lounge areas, a new cafe, and refreshed common areas and staterooms.
Princess Cruises is also embracing more of Asia. In April, it announced an expanded Southeast Asia program for 2027-28 and its largest-ever Japan summer season for 2028. The new deployment features 96 departures across 61 itineraries, and two ships – Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess – homeporting in Tokyo for the first time. The Japan itineraries range from seven to 29 days, and you can blend Japan with good splashes of Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong too.
Green is for go
Greenland’s been in the news a lot recently. Better to see it before the greedy rare earth mineral detectors move in!
Azamara Cruises, which specialises in ‘destination immersion’, has comprehensive itineraries between Montreal in Canada and Reykjavik in Iceland on the Azamara Journey later this year, with good doses of Greenland in between.
For something special, try the 18-night ‘Solar Eclipse Cruise: Iceland, Greenland and Quebec‘ from Reykjavik to Montreal starting on August 8 2026. Eclipse viewing is out at sea on Wednesday, August 12. There are three ports of call in Iceland, three in Greenland (Nanortalik, Paamiut and Nuuk), and four in Canada along the way.
Other options in August and September are the 16-night ‘Canada, Greenland & Iceland’ cruise from Montreal to Reykjavik, and two sailings between Reykjavik and New York.
Get tropical
One of life’s big questions is: What’s so mysterious about Mystery Island? Solve the puzzle in the most pleasurable way by hopping on board Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas or Anthem of the Seas
Seas for week-long sorties to gorgeous South Pacific tropical islands from Australia’s east coast.
From October 2026 through to April 2027, Quantum of the Seas will have eight-night sailings on the ocean blue between Brisbane and Mystery Island, Port Vila in Vanuatu and Nouméa in New Caledonia, as well as some seven-night options covering two of the three.
Sister ship Anthem of the Seas will do the same out of Sydney over eight and nine nights. What the mystery is, we cannot say, but we know you’ll have fun finding out as you snorkel in the aqua waters and marvel at the abundant marine life.
Keep wondering
The Disney Wonder wowed families during its time in Australian waters, which, alas, has just come to an end, and we don’t know if a Disney ship will be back anytime soon (Singapore’s the new regional base).
But you could do Alaska in Disney-style with the kids and grandkids. Disney Wonder and Disney Magic will be there for the 2027 summer, cruising out of Vancouver to Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan and prime glacier viewing spots.
Dream big
The first time I saw the Amazon River, from the Brazilian city of Manaus, I was overwhelmed. It dwarfs mankind – I couldn’t even see a hint of the opposite bank on the horizon – and there’s something hypnotically soothing about the sheer volume of water gliding towards the ocean 1500km away. Alas, I had only a few hours to take it all in.
Next time I’ll visit it in depth and in style. Like on Viking Cruises’ new 22-day ‘From the Caribbean to the Amazon’ cruise, from San Juan, Puerto Rico return. It’s a delicious mix of Brazil’s Amazon cities
– Manaus, Belém (where you can delve into village life amid the myriad channels, above), Santarém and the fabulously festive Parintins – and huge sparkling chunks of the Caribbean such as Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Thomas Island.
Right up your glacial alley!
Not sure if you are game enough to sail the notoriously rough (some say treacherous) Drake Passage from Ushuaia in Argentina down to Antarctica? Neither am I.
I think first I’ll trial one of Holland America Line’s 14- or 15-day ‘South America Pathways: Chilean Fjords & Glaciers’ cruises that sail between San Antonio in Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina, before taking the plunge. I’ll see Puerto Montt in southern Chile’s Lake District, Chilean fjords, pretty Punta Arenas, Glacier Alley (below), Ushuaia, Stanley in the Falkland Islands and Montevideo on the way.
Rays in the sunshine
My first travel assignment for The Weekly was a beauty: sampling plush resorts and beautiful beaches at Los Cabos in Mexico. The snorkelling in the Sea of Cortez (dubbed “the aquarium of the world”) was astounding – with mobulas leaping out of the water, it was like being at an aquatic kite festival.
From October 2026 to April 2027, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean run cruises out of San Diego to Cabo San Lucas. Popular ports of call include Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, Ensenada and La Paz.
No place like home
While we’re looking at cruising seasons in far-flung parts of the world, let’s not forget that we can enjoy cruises at home on Carnival Cruise Line’s locally based fleet.
Need a short break? How about a four-day jaunt from Sydney to Tangalooma (Moreton Island), cruises from Adelaide and Melbourne that visit Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island, or a six-day Great Barrier Reef sailing out of Brisbane?
