The departure of Sea Princess
from Sydney on Sunday marked
the official close of Australia’s
bumper 2011-12 summer cruise
season.
THE last of the visiting international ships
left our shores over the weekend, signalling
the transition from the busy summer to
quieter winter season.
Princess Cruises’ 77,000-tonne Sea Princess
set sail for the United States on 15 April after
six months based in Sydney.
It will spend the next six months cruising the
Northern Hemisphere before returning to
Sydney in October 2012 for an extended
deployment.
But there will still be plenty of activity in
local waters over the coming months, according
to Carnival Australia CEO Ann Sherry.
“Years ago, it used to be that the winter
season was a quiet time for the cruise
industry, but the continued growth of our
sector means we still have a packed schedule
ahead,” Sherry said.
“Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle will all have
cruise ships sailing from their ports over the
winter period, and in any week at least 10,000
Australians will be enjoying a cruise on a local
ship.”
Carnival Australia, which represents seven
cruise brands including Princess, P&O and
Holland America Line, had a record 19 ships
from across its fleets sailing in the region over
the summer.
Six of those ships are based in Australia fulltime.
Holland America Line’s Volendam left
Sydney on 10 April and will return on 21 October.
Carnival’s main competitor, Royal Caribbean
Cruises, had two ships based in Sydney in
summer but has none over winter.
Its last remaining vessel, Rhapsody of the Seas,
left on 13 April and will return on 14 October.
Radiance of the Seas comes back on 12
October, kicking off the 2012-13 summer season.
The upcoming season, which should perhaps
be renamed the spring-summer-autumn
season, sees several first-time visitors and
additional Australian-based ships.
New home-ported ships for Sydney will
include Holland America’s slightly larger
Oosterdam, Carnival Cruise Line’s fun ship
Carnival Spirit, Celebrity Cruises’ luxurious
Celebrity Solstice and Royal Caribbean’s
massive Voyager of the Seas.
Bookings are open for all vessels.
For details, find a local cruise specialist on
www.cruising.org.au.
