Australia South Pacific Cruise Season 2027, Holland America

Published on Nov 21, 2025, 2:19 pm CST

8 min read

Key points

From September 2027 to March 2028 three Holland America ships will sail 14 to 35 day Australia New Zealand and South Pacific cruises
New overnight stays in Melbourne Cairns and Lautoka give guests more time ashore in key Australian and Fijian ports
Itineraries include more than 100 wildlife and nature tours plus access to 13 UNESCO World Heritage sites
Legendary Voyages connect Australia New Zealand Hawaii Tahiti and Fiji on 26 to 35 day routes for deep regional exploration
Have It All premium package bookings on 2027 28 South America and Antarctica cruises add prepaid crew appreciation and upgraded beverage and Wi Fi perks
Mariner Society members can receive up to $400 onboard credit per stateroom when they book eligible 2027 28 cruises by early 2026 according to current offers

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: The biggest changes affect travelers planning longer Australia South Pacific cruises 2027 who now have more 14 to 35 day options with overnight calls in Melbourne Cairns and Lautoka
Best Times To Travel: September through March covers Australia and New Zealand spring and summer so travelers who want milder weather may favor October and November while those seeking peak warmth and daylight aim for January and February
Onward Travel And Changes: Many Legendary Voyages begin or end in Sydney Auckland San Diego or Seattle so travelers should build at least one buffer night on each side of the cruise to absorb flight delays or long haul misconnects
What Travelers Should Do Now: Compare 14 to 35 day itineraries by ship and route decide whether overnight ports or specific UNESCO sites are must haves and lock in Have It All and Mariner bonuses before their booking deadlines
Budget And Value Considerations: Travelers who would normally buy drinks Wi Fi and specialty dining a la carte are most likely to see real savings from the Have It All and Early Booking Bonus offers on longer voyages

Holland America Line has opened bookings for a new wave of Australia South Pacific cruises 2027, a season of longer sailings that stretches from September 2027 through March 2028 and leans into slow travel around Australia, New Zealand, and key South Pacific islands. Three ships, Westerdam, Zaandam, and Koningsdam, will rotate through 14 to 35 day itineraries that add new overnight calls in Melbourne and Cairns in Australia and Lautoka in Fiji, so cruise travelers have more time on shore instead of sprinting through single day port calls.

In practical terms, the new program reshapes how travelers can approach the region, shifting from the typical 10 to 14 day loop to a mix of two to five week itineraries that stack multiple countries, remote islands, and repositioning routes into a single trip. Guests who prioritize immersive itineraries over quick hits, including repeat cruisers and long haul visitors from North America and Europe, get more options to combine Australia and New Zealand with Hawaii, French Polynesia, and Fiji in one booking.

The net change is that the Australia South Pacific cruise season 2027 uses longer voyages and new overnights to give travelers deeper access to regional highlights, while connecting those deployments to separate early booking bonuses on Holland America's 2027 to 2028 South America and Antarctica program for guests who buy the Have It All premium package.

Key Itinerary Highlights For 2027 2028

Across the season, Holland America groups its Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific sailings into a blend of regional circuits and longer Legendary Voyages. The backbone is Westerdam's series of Australia and New Zealand sailings, with multiple 14 day runs between Sydney, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand, that fold in ports such as Melbourne, scenic cruising in Milford Sound, and calls in classic New Zealand harbors.

A standout itinerary is the 26 day Australia, Coral Sea and Fiji Legendary Voyage on Westerdam, scheduled to depart January 4, 2028, from Sydney to Auckland with 14 ports and overnight stays in Cairns and Lautoka. Other long sailings include a 34 day Legendary South Pacific Crossing from Seattle to Sydney on Westerdam and 35 day Hawaii, Tahiti and Marquesas voyages on Zaandam and Koningsdam, both roundtrip from San Diego, which tie the South Pacific deployment to North American homeports.

On shorter ends of the spectrum, Westerdam also runs targeted New Zealand Discovery and South Australia Discovery Holiday sailings in the 14 to 16 day range, which cluster multiple New Zealand ports, Melbourne, and scenic cruising into compact but still port dense itineraries.

Nature, Wildlife, And UNESCO Sites

The line is explicitly pitching this as a season for travelers who care about landscapes and wildlife as much as sea days. Holland America's own materials and independent cruise roundups count more than 100 nature and wildlife focused shore excursions, including visits to working sheep farms, guided walks into glowworm grottos, and chances to look for little blue or fairy penguins in their coastal habitats.

These itineraries also promise access to 13 UNESCO World Heritage sites scattered across the region. Examples in the promotional material include the lagoons of New Caledonia, Australia's Gondwana Rainforests, and Sydney Opera House, in addition to headline draws such as the Great Barrier Reef and New Zealand landscapes that often feature in South Pacific and trans Tasman cruise marketing.

For travelers, the practical takeaway is that this is a season where you can realistically stack multiple UNESCO visits and wildlife outings into one trip instead of treating them as separate vacations, especially on the 26 to 35 day Legendary Voyages that cross several island groups and coastal regions.

Destination Dining On Board

On board, Holland America is using its Destination Dining program to underline the regional focus instead of running a generic menu. Across the three ships, promotional menus highlight Australian style meat pies, pavlovas, New Zealand green lipped mussels, a range of tropical fruits, and locally sourced mahi mahi, giving travelers some sense of the region's food culture even on sea days or in less time rich port calls.

The point is not that every dish is unique to these itineraries, but that a portion of the main dining room and specialty offerings will track the Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific routing, which matters if you treat food as part of destination immersion rather than just onboard entertainment.

How The Have It All Bonuses Work

The Australia South Pacific cruises 2027 sit alongside a separate but related incentive for travelers looking at Holland America's 2027 to 2028 South America and Antarctica program. For a limited time, guests who book eligible South America and Antarctica voyages with the Have It All premium package receive the standard bundle of shore excursion credit, specialty dining, a Signature Beverage Package, and Surf Wi Fi, plus extra value in the form of prepaid crew appreciation and free upgrades to the Elite Beverage Package and Premium Wi Fi tier.

Those upgraded inclusions can matter on longer itineraries, where bar tabs, tips, specialty meals, and higher speed internet quickly outpace the base fare if bought a la carte. The precise value depends on cruise length and how heavily you use the included amenities, so travelers should still read the current terms and conditions and compare a base fare plus separate add ons to the bundled Have It All price before committing.

Mariner Society Early Booking Credit

On both the Australia South Pacific cruises 2027 and the South America and Antarctica season, Holland America is layering in early booking incentives for its Mariner Society loyalty members. Trade and consumer outlets summarizing the launch note that past passengers who book the new Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific itineraries within the initial launch window can receive up to $400.00 (USD) in onboard credit per stateroom, scaled by voyage length.

One widely cited deadline for the Mariner Society bonus on these itineraries is February 16, 2026, although some agency promotions define their own cutoffs based on local booking campaigns, which is another reason to confirm the date and amount either directly with Holland America or with a travel advisor before assuming a specific onboard credit figure.

Who These Voyages Fit Best

Because so many of the new sailings run 14 days or longer, the sweet spot for this program is travelers who can be away for at least two weeks and who value days at sea as part of the experience. The 26 to 35 day Legendary Voyages will particularly appeal to guests who want to amortize a single long haul flight over a month of travel, or who are comfortable treating a Sydney, Auckland, Seattle, or San Diego embarkation as the backbone of a trip that also includes overland touring before or after the cruise.

Travelers who are more schedule constrained but still want a focused look at Australia or New Zealand can use the 14 to 16 day sailings as an upper middle ground between typical one week cruises and the full Legendary Voyage model, especially if they are prepared to add one or two independent nights on either end to explore anchor cities such as Sydney and Auckland on their own terms.

Background

Holland America's Legendary Voyages label covers longer, more geographically complex sailings, usually in the 25 to 59 day range, that string together multiple regions, scenic cruising segments, and extended port calls as a slower alternative to a world cruise. The 2027 to 2028 Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific season essentially plugs that concept into the southern hemisphere summer, while using Westerdam, Zaandam, and Koningsdam to keep a mix of medium length and extended itineraries in play.

The Have It All package, which is central to the South America and Antarctica promotion and commonly offered across Holland America deployments, is a paid upgrade to the base cruise fare that bundles a beverage package, specialty dining, Wi Fi, and shore excursion credit for a flat per day charge instead of per use pricing. For 2027 and 2028, the early booking bonus version of Have It All on selected longer voyages adds prepaid gratuities and upgrades beverage and Wi Fi tiers, effectively moving more of the onboard spend into the upfront cruise budget for travelers who prefer predictable costs.

For travelers and advisors, the main structural shift here is that Australia South Pacific cruises 2027 are less about slotting a simple loop around New Zealand or the Australian east coast and more about deliberately engineering longer, UNESCO heavy, overnight rich itineraries that can be paired with bundled onboard packages and loyalty incentives. Anyone planning to build multi region itineraries over the next few years should treat these deployments as blocks that can anchor broader trips across the Pacific and down into South America rather than standalone cruises.