With the local 2027\/2028 cruise season at full steam ahead, Cruise Critic UK & Australia executive editor Adam Coulter \u2013 in Sydney recently for CLIA\u2019s Cruise360 \u2013 looks at the market, breaking down what the shift from balcony to outside cabins means even as advertised prices climb.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Cruise Critic\u2019s click data shows balcony share of interest fell from 61% in H1 2025 to 47% in H1 2026, while outside cabins rose from 15% to 23%. Advertised prices rose in every tier, from 5.5% for outside cabins to 14.4% for inside. The data is based on Cruise Critic campaign response and is best read directionally with Coulter saying the shift reflected a mix of pressures.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople aren\u2019t disappearing from the funnel \u2013 they still want to cruise \u2013 it\u2019s just they are trading down due to economic pressures,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it\u2019s a combination of affordability stress and value-seeking \u2013 cruisers want to get the best bang for their buck and they are prepared to trade down a tier as long as they still get to cruise.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAgents need to be mindful of that, and skilled ones will be able to tempt cruisers back into booking a balcony cabin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Wave season is as strong as expected, with January and February accounting for 23% of the year\u2019s clicks (FY25\/26). But August stands out as a quieter second peak, at 8.6% of annual clicks, when luxury ocean lines over-index well above their yearly average alongside a lift in Mediterranean and European interest.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cJanuary and February are exactly the spike you\u2019d expect from wave-season promotion \u2013 23% of the whole year\u2019s clicks in those two months alone,\u201d Coulter says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBut look at August: nobody plans a campaign around it, and it\u2019s quietly the third-biggest month, bigger than March.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cLuxury\u2019s real moment is August, right alongside a genuine lift in Mediterranean and Europe interest. So if you\u2019re chasing a luxury client, don\u2019t save your best pitch for wave season,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cStart planning by contacting their luxury clients well ahead of time, seek out promotions and offers and make sure they are looking well ahead for luxury deals \u2013 sometimes two years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For the first time, Cruise Critic split its Find a Cruise data by Australian and New Zealand users. New Zealanders over-index on the South Pacific (20.5% of interest, versus 17.8% for Australians) and Alaska (4.1% versus 2.8%). Australians over-index on Asia (13.7% versus 10.7%) and Norway (2.1% versus 1.1%).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Cruise length also differs. New Zealand\u2019s most-searched length is three to five days (24.5% versus 19.2% in Australia), while Australians lean towards 10-14 day itineraries (21.0% versus 17.9%).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNew Zealand clients are looking for \u2018closer-to-home\u2019 destinations such as South Pacific and Alaska, so make sure you do your research on both these destinations,\u201d Coulter says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAustralians have more of a long-haul appetite and over-index on Asia, particularly Japan, and Norway.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNZ\u2019s single most-searched length is three to five days. Australians over-index instead on 10-14-day itineraries. Quick-getaway campaigns land better with NZ; the extended itinerary has more room with Australians.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs always, this is about knowing your client and the market; research and training are key \u2013 use all the resources available to make sure you make the most of both.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Analysis of member reviews found Australian and New Zealand cruisers flag currency and billing issues at a rate of 9.6 mentions per 1,000 review insights \u2013 2.6 times the rate of US cruisers (3.6) and British cruisers (3.9) \u2013 largely over onboard spend being billed in US$ rather than AU$. Cruise line excursion operations were also rated worse than the ports or tours themselves.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Asked what single conversation advisers should have with a client before sailing, Coulter says it comes back to understanding the client.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy advice is simple: sit down and find out exactly what your client wants and tailor your suggestions appropriately,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWith cruise, you often only get one shot to get it right, so make sure you know what they want, where they want to go and who they are going with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Shopping volume for 2027-28 sail dates is already building, particularly for long-haul fly-cruise destinations. So when should advisors start looking to book in clients?<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNow! It\u2019s almost 2027,\u201d Coulter says. \u201cLook for where is hot \u2013 still Japan, shoulder seasons, hot and cold expeditions, Royal Caribbean\u2019s private island Lelepa, Norwegian fjords and European rivers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the local 2027\/2028 cruise season at full steam ahead, Cruise Critic UK & Australia…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2548\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A second peak outside wave season<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Australia and New Zealand are not one market<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Sea-Princess-in-Fiordland.jpg\"\/)
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Sea-Princess-in-Fiordland.jpg\")
Setting expectations before sailing<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Looking to 2027<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"10](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Cruise-ship-Japan-e1759299938266.png\"\/)
![\"10](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Cruise-ship-Japan-e1759299938266.png\")