An OASIS Class or Quantum
Class ship will visit Australia
within a decade, according
to Gavin Smith, regional vice
president, Asia Pacific, Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Speaking to TD Cruise Update
at the Cruise3sixty conference on
Fri, Smith clarified a statement
made earlier by Sydney Ports
chairman Nicholas Whitlam who
said the wharf extension planned
for the Overseas Passenger
Terminal would accommodate
5,000-pax ships “that will visit
sometime in the near future”.
Speculation that the
redeployment of Allure of the
Seas to Europe in 2015 (TD Cruise
Update Thu) and this year’s
launch of Quantum of the Seas in
the US could mean one of Royal
Caribbean’s megaliners may head
down under within a couple of
years was “a misunderstanding”,
Smith said.
He explained: “They’re building
[a longer wharf at the OPT] to
accommodate those ships that
aren’t built yet, rather than
building it to accommodate ships
that are already built.”
The Australian market was not
yet a financially viable option
for the world’s biggest ships,
Smith added, and it was also not
ready for a vessel to be homeported
in Sydney year-round,
as it was a “no brainer” to send
the ships to Alaska or Europe
during our winter, “but Australia
will definitely have an Oasis or
Quantum Class ship within 10
years”, he confirmed.
MEANWHILE, the company
is set to reveal major news
next month, with a “global
announcement” touted to be
made in Sydney in early Mar.
