Cruise & Maritime Voyages plans
to base the Astor in Fremantle
for at least three seasons.
THREE months after Western Australian lost
its only ship, Athena, another cruise line has
stepped in to fill the gap.
The 620-passenger Astor is scheduled to arrive
in Fremantle on 11 December 2013 and offer
15 cruises through to the end of March 2014.
It will then return for the 2014/15 and
2015/16 summers.
Itineraries are set to include many Asian
cities as well as local ports such as Albany,
Esperance, Bunbury, Broome, Kangaroo Island,
Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns,
Darwin, Port Arthur and Eden.
International destinations include Bali,
Lombok, Komodo Island, Singapore, Port Klang
(Kuala Lumpur), Langkawi, Phuket, Phi Phi
Island and Penang.
Passengers will also be allowed to board in
various ports around Australia – not just the
homeport in Perth.
“Astor is an absolutely beautiful ship, which
will take Fremantle homeporting into a totally
different stratosphere,” Vilma Rovedatti, the
company’s sales and marketing manager, told CW.
“We have very different itineraries and we go
to ports that other bigger ships can’t get into.”
According to Rovedatti, Australians can be
assured that the ship is here to stay.
“Cruise & Maritime Voyages has been
operating in the UK for a number of years – we
are very well established and this decision was
not taken lightly.
“We have done careful research and committed
to three seasons, and we already have support
from key industry personnel and agents.”
The Astor was supposed to spend the
upcoming four-month period in Europe but
CMV “jumped into the Australasian market”
when they saw the opportunity created by the
withdrawal of Classic International Cruises’
Athena, Rovedatti said.
The mid-size 20,606-tonne ship, which was
built in 1987 and underwent an $18m refurb in
2010, has a wide choice of cabins, two
swimming pools, four restaurants, five lounges,
a sports deck and golf driving range.
For a limited period, CMV Australia is offering
early booking deals for the inaugural season.
Saver Fares offer discounts of up to 25% on
full published fares, applicable to a limited
number of twin and single cabin bookings
made before 15 May 2013.
Voyager Fares also provide further savings on
selected cruises with limited availability ‘cabin
guarantees’, and passengers who book two
consecutive cruises at the same time can save
an extra 5%.
For details, contact a travel agent or see the
new website at www.cmvaustralia.com.au.
