CLASSIC International Cruises’ 580 guest cruise ship, Athena, returned to Sydney for the first time in seven years yesterday during its one off Round Trip voyage from Adelaide to Eden, Sydney and Melbourne. The popular ship is in the midst of its most successful season in Australia, with CIC mdfor Australia, Grant Hunter telling guests at a lunch held onboard yesterday that repeat cruise passengers were extremely high”. “Business is up 7% and repeat passengers are up 52% on long cruises and 30% on short cruises,” he said. Athena will spend 191 days in Australia this season a big jump from the 98 days she sailed in her first season in 2008, and according to Hunter, by the end of this year she will have carried a cumulative total of around 86,000 guests in the region since her debut season.Pictured above at yesterday’s lunch is: Nuraini Rifai and Suzanne Silva, Creative Cruising; Chrissy James, Dean Sinclair and Marita Lam, Cruise Co and Jan Harrington, FC Head Office.
