Jacqui Lloyd: Cruise Association CEO on Disney Cruise Line exiting New Zealand

Cinderella and Mickey Mouse are packing their bags and heading offshore as Disney Cruise Line confirms its exit from New Zealand. 

The company operated its Disney Wonder ship across the Tasman since 2024 but will relocate to another part of the world from 2026. 

Cruise Association Chief Executive Jacqui Lloyd told Mike Hosking the fees imposed on ships is playing a big role. 

She says the costs imposed on ships in New Zealand and Australia is expensive. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Perhaps not surprisingly, having made this country the most expensive
place to bring a ship in the world, Disney Cruisers
have announced they're off and will not be back. They
pulled the plug on the New Zealand Australia market. The
twenty five to twenty six season is going to be
the last. Jackie Lloyd's the boss of the New Zealand
Cruise Association and as with us, Jackie, very good morning
to you. Nan. Can we lay this on the doorstep
of Australia and blame them or is it all our fault?

Speaker 2 (00:22):
It's a little bit of a mix of both, Mike,
it's both New Zealand and Australia. I feel this time round.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Are they as expensive as we are to come and look, I'm.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Not one hundred percent sure. We don't have that full detail,
but there is an indication that both New Zealand and
Australia within the region, the charges that we are putting
in are quite expensive. So while New Zealand differently is
very expensive, I think Australia is cooking at our heels
a little bit.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
See. I asked the Prime Minister about this the other
day because this concerns me immeasurably given out to a situation.
He says they're working on it. Do you know that
to be true?

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Absolutely, yes, I do. We've had some really good meetings
with government. We've got some very engaged ministers with Minister Upston, Hoggard, Costello,
Meager and also Minister Brown and we've been working really
closely with them on solutions. So it is a little
bit of a moment to sort of turn the dial,
but we are getting good steps in with government.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
If you could kill the cost and the red tape,
would it materially make a difference.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yes, it would. We would still need to do some
additional promotion because ships are leaving, we'll need to actually
go back out to market them to bring them back,
but definitely would make a big difference. And we've had
an indication from the line so that if we do
get things right, we'd be able to see you change
as early as twenty seven twenty eight season. We're too
late for twenty six twenty seven at the moment, but

(01:42):
it would definitely make a difference.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
So there is hope because the numbers are dropping, they're
falling off a cliff.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Yes, yes, and it doesn't sound very good, does it,
But no, there is hope. There is absolutely hope, and
we certainly have hopes for Disney too. They've said that
the door is open. They're interested in coming back to
New Zealand and Australia, and we'll give their guests the
best possible experiences this summer to ensure that they have
great memories and they want to come back in future.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Good fingers crossed, let's see we can get director together
Jacki Lloyd, who's the New Zealand Cruise Association boss. For
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