Disney Cruise Line Says Goodbye to Australia and New Zealand

The rumors are true. Disney Cruise Line is permanently leaving Australia and New Zealand, at least for now.

Many DCL fans suspected as much as Disney Wonder, which is the Disney ship deployed to the Land Down Under, was noticeably absent from port schedules for the 2026/2027 season.

And indeed, the 2025/2026 Australia cruise season, which will run from October 2025 to February 2026, will be the last for the 84,130-gross ton ship.

But now, the most magical cruise line at sea has confirmed the news in no uncertain terms that the Disney brand will be sailing elsewhere for the foreseeable future.

“We are currently going to be sailing in the Australia and New Zealand region up until February 2026. We will not return for the 2026/2027 season,” Tristan, a representative from Disney’s shoreside guest services leadership team, confirmed to Yahoo News.

Disney Wonder’s final round-trip voyage in the region will be a 3-day cruise to nowhere from Sydney, Australia, that embarks on January 30, 2026.

The 2,713-guest ship will then set sail on a 14-night one-way voyage from Sydney to Honolulu, Hawaii, on February 2, 2026.

Disney’s tenure in Australia was ultimately quite short. The brand only entered Australian waters for the first time ever at the end of 2023 when Disney Wonder embarked on her inaugural “Disney Magic at Sea” cruise.

The final itineraries show a good variety in length, ranging from 3-10 days and embarking from Melbourne, Auckland, and Sydney.

While some feature ports of call, others are cruises to nowhere that allow guests to really embrace the entertainment onboard.

Why is Disney Leaving?

As much as inquiring minds would like to know, Disney Cruise Line has not released a reason for why the brand has decided to pull out of Australia and New Zealand.

That said, the powers that be are always keeping in mind supply and demand, as well as the company’s future goals.

When looking at our Cruise Hive booking feature, Disney Cruise Line’s sailings in the region are significantly more expensive than comparable sailings offered by brands like Carnival Cruise Line – which may be a contributing factor.

“We’re always looking at different destinations to explore with our guests, along with our crew members,” Tristan, the Disney representative, added.

“Sailings from Australia and New Zealand remain on our list for future consideration, however since future itineraries have not been released past the 2026/2027 season, we’re not able to make any comments on that regrettably,” he said.

As Disney has historically released new itineraries 15-18 months in advance, those sailings should be released really any time now.

DCL fans were not upset by the news, and were excited to explore new locations with Disney. Some hoped that Disney Wonder would be assigned to more domestic homeports.

“I feel ok if it means more San Diego sailings,” one cruiser said.

“I’m hoping at some point the Wonder makes its way to Galveston (or New Orleans if that resumes). We’re from Missouri and those are my closest home ports,” another chimed in.

Of course, the cruise line is also expanding to another brand new market this year with the debut of Disney Adventure in Singapore in December.

Disney Adventure is not only the largest ship to ever join the fleet, but she is also the first to be designed for the Asian cruise market.

With four more new ships on the horizon, including a fourth Wish-class ship that has just begun construction this month, there are plenty of deployment opportunities.

Catie Kovelman

Catie is an award-winning journalist and researcher. By day, she helps market new movies and TV shows as a senior research manager. But by night, she loves writing cruise news. In addition to Cruise Hive, Catie has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines, and other online publications, such as The Plaid Horse, Unwritten, YourTango, Fangirl Nation Magazine, Chapman Magazine, the Orange County Register, and Voice of OC.