Cruise ships to make 140 Queensland stops after Brisbane terminal opens

Cruise ships will make more than 140 stops at Queensland destinations this year after companies were given the green light to start using the $177 million Brisbane International Cruise Terminal from June 2.

Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises president Marguerite Fitzgerald said, “after two years of uncertainty” she was excited to be in Brisbane on Friday to formally announce the return of passenger ships.

Marguerite Fitzgerald announces the return of cruises to the state amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.Credit: Matt Dennien

Ms Fitzgerald confirmed P&O’s Pacific Explorer would be the first cruise ship - with passengers - to arrive at the new terminal.

“After that you will have 140 calls in Queensland over the rest of the year, all the way up and down the coast,” she said.

“All the way from Cairns in the north, Airlie Beach, Townsville, bringing the economic activity.

“We estimate at least $165 million in economic activity this year.

“This is the only purpose-built cruise terminal in Australia. It is fantastic, and it really is the linchpin of the Queensland cruising industries.”

P&O’s Pacific Explorer - pictured here in Sydney - will be the first cruise ship to arrive at the new Brisbane International Cruise Ship Terminal on June 2. Credit: Wolter Peeters

A second P&O ship, Pacific Encounter, will be the first based at the terminal, from August 20.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said new health protocols for the cruise industry meant all passengers, crew and entertainers would be double-vaccinated.

“There will be COVID-19 testing before and after embarking. These are added measures to make sure people are feeling safe when they go onto a cruise ship, and when they disembark.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Minister for Tourism Stirling Hinchliffe at the Brisbane International Cruise Ship Terminal.Credit: Matt Dennien

She predicted the terminal would triple Queensland’s cruise industry, valued at between $570 million and $1 billion a year before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms Palaszczuk acknowledged “something might have to be done” about the road network to the terminal, an issue identified six years ago.

The terminal, at Luggage Point, was completed just before COVID-19 hit, but has been used more as a vaccination hub than a tourist hub.

The Pacific Dawn called Brisbane home before the pandemic hit, and has since been given a new route - and name - in Europe.Credit: Paul Harris

The terminal has been largely abandoned since it was finished in late 2019, with cruises banned to stop the spread of COVID-19.

It is designed to take the large cruise ships - longer than 270 metres in length - because it is at the mouth of the Brisbane River and close to Moreton Bay.

Queensland derives the second-largest economic boost generated from the cruise industry in Australia, according to Business Queensland.

Brisbane International Cruise Terminal in 2021. Credit: Tony Moore

The federal government announced this week it would not extend its ban on cruise ships from April 17.

Major cruise lines are filling their Australian schedules with voyages, and are set to include Brisbane’s new terminal, which will be available for much larger ships than could be accommodated at Portside Wharf.

Carnival Cruise Line had planned regular three, four and five-day cruises from Brisbane to the Great Barrier Reef, Port Douglas and Airlie Beach from May 2022, but they are being rescheduled.

In January, the company reported it was doing deals with north Queensland tour groups, and later sought to promote links to the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays and the tropics.

Carnival Australia, which owns P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises, appeared to be targeting October as a possible start date for domestic cruises departing Brisbane.

After starting Australian voyages from Sydney at the end of May, P&O Cruises expected Melbourne departures in November and Adelaide in February 2023.