Port of Auckland handled 932,209 TEU in the year to June 2026 with a record NZ$111.2 million underlying profit, while the cruise season now running — about 69 calls and 135,500 passengers — berths ships at Queens and Princes wharves, literally at the foot of Queen Street.
Port of Auckland is the country's largest import port, wholly owned by Auckland Council. The FY2026 result: containers up 5.5% to 932,209 TEU, vehicles up 17.7% to 202,555 units, RoRo tonnage up 27.2%, and rail's share up 64.4% to 172,410 TEU — all translating into a record NZ$111.2 million underlying profit and about NZ$1 million a week returned to ratepayers in trading dividends.
The next chapter is consented: fast-track approval for a new berth at Bledisloe wharf and completion of Fergusson North will make the port big-ship capable and create Auckland's newest cruise terminal — the Te Waharoa and Bledisloe North facilities due to open during 2027, while freeing waterfront space for public access.
Auckland's cruise luxury is geography: Queens Wharf — Shed 10 — and Princes Wharf sit directly downtown. Passengers walk off into Commercial Bay, the Viaduct and the ferry terminal; the city's attractions begin at the gangway, with Waitematā (Britomart) station two blocks away.
The 2026/27 season opened on 29 August 2026 with Crown Princess and runs to late June 2027: about 69 calls, roughly 135,500 passengers and 59,000 crew. Royal Princess makes six calls, Celebrity Edge and Solstice, Anthem of the Seas, Seven Seas Explorer, Viking Venus and Orion fill the summer, and October–November 2026 already stacks Carnival Splendor, Celebrity and Princess calls back to back.
Our read: Auckland is the easiest cruise call in the southern hemisphere — no shuttles, no tenders, just a gangway and a city. Use a long call the way locals use a weekend: ferries to Devonport for lunch, Waiheke if you have nine hours, the Maritime Museum if you have two. And note the pattern: ships calling at Fergusson wharf mean the downtown berths are full — that is when the harbour is worth photographing.
Subscribe to the digest and receive key market signals every two weeks.