Traditionally, cruises from Australian ports have been to the islands of the South Pacific. In the early days of cruise ships, cruising was very much restricted to the wealthy or were a "once in a lifetime" experience for working class people. In the 1970s Australia's cruise ship operators introduced what were marketed as "cruises to nowhere" which made cruising affordable for working class people. The focus of a "Cruise To Nowhere" was the voyage itself; it had no destinations (which equated to high fees for the use of port facilities that had to be passed on to customers) and so was cheaper to run than a traditional cruise. Because the ship had no set destination to reach, the voyage could be as long or as short as the cruise operator determined, thus it was now possible to offer affordable cruises that could be as short as a weekend that gave people a taste of life on board ship that didn't cost a fortune and could be easily fitted into everyone's schedule, even people with the busiest of lifestyles.
Cruises to Nowhere still exist, but as the novelty of the concept began to wear off, so the term fell out of use. In the next stage of the development of the ocean cruise, cruise operators, always looking for something new and different to tempt people aboard, combined the idea of a "cruise to nowhere" with the traditional "cruise to somewhere". To keep the voyages short (and thus the cost down), cruises to nowhere where extended to include local ports that were no more than a day's sailing away from the port of departure. These new coastal cruises were able to be kept short, and thus relatively inexpensive, but also included a port to visit. These kinds of cruises operate out of most of Australia's capital cities during our the peak cruising season, which generally extends from November to March.

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