Cruising is set to be bigger than ever in 2016, with industry body Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) reporting that worldwide nearly 24 million passengers are expected to cruise this year - up from 15 million 10 years ago. Meanwhile, cruising continues to grow locally, with Australia having seen a six-fold increase in passenger numbers during the past decade.
Reflecting this growth in passenger numbers is the level of investment in new ships - CLIA says its members are scheduled to debut 27 new ocean, river and specialty ships this year. Asia and Australia are two of the biggest growth areas for cruise lines, which are increasingly including WA on their itineraries, with 15 cruise ships set to make 62 visits to Fremantle this year. 
Reflecting the growth of cruising Down Under, P&O Cruises Australia recently announced it will build what it says will be the first new cruise ship constructed specifically for the Australian market. The ship, to be launched in 2019, will carry more than 4200 passengers in 2100 guest rooms. The announcement follows the recent addition of Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden to P&O's three-ship fleet, with Pacific Explorer to follow in 2017. P&O's parent company Carnival currently has a total of 17 new ships scheduled for delivery by 2020. 
In a further indication of the growing importance of the Australian market to international cruise lines, Royal Caribbean's high-tech new ship Ovation of the Seas will use Sydney as a home port for the 2016-17 cruising season, arriving in our waters in   December following its launch in   April. Ovation will be the fifth ship in Royal Caribbean Australia's fleet for the season, joining Voyager, Explorer (which made its Australian debut late last year) and Radiance of the Seas, which will all cruise out of Sydney, and Legend of the Seas, which will home-port in Brisbane. 
Fellow Royal Caribbean line Azamara Club Cruises made its first visit to Australia last month, when Azamara Quest called at Darwin. The ship will cruise in Australian and New Zealand waters until the middle of next month, while fleet-mate Azamara Journey will cruise in Australian waters in early 2017 and 2018. Quest will return in late 2018, when it will make its maiden visit to WA. And sibling company Celebrity Cruises has Celebrity Solstice and Millennium cruising Australian and surrounding waters until   April, with Solstice set to return in   October. 
Late this year will also see Norwegian Cruise Line return to Asia and Australia for the first time since 2002, with the recently renovated Norwegian Star cruising in South-East Asia, New Zealand and Australia;  ports of call will include Sydney, Darwin, Cairns, Airlie Beach and Brisbane.
Seabourn will send its new luxury ship Seabourn Encore to Australia shortly after its launch in   December, with various cruises available in our region from   January 2017 before it heads back to the waters of the Mediterranean in time for the northern summer. (Seabourn Odyssey is currently cruising in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.) Sibling company Carnival has expanded its Australian cruise program, with Carnival Legend joining Carnival Spirit (which is based Down Under year round) for extended summer seasons both in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Cunard, meanwhile, has added two new Australian ports - Margaret RiverBusselton and Port Arthur - to its 2017 World Cruises, which will see Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria circumnavigate the globe, with various sectors available in our part of the world. 
Ponant's small ship Le Soleal recently made its maiden Australian port call and will cruise in and around Australian waters until   March, with its sister ship L'Austral arriving in   December. 
Other ships that have visited Australia for the first time during the 2015-16 cruise season include Holland America Line's MS Noordam and Princess Cruises' Golden Princess, which is offering itineraries from its Melbourne home port.