Cruise line to explore Queensland as international voyages delayed

One of Australia’s most popular cruise lines has announced that its international voyages scheduled for late 2022 won’t be going ahead as planned.

One of Australia’s most popular cruise lines has announced that its international voyages scheduled for late 2022 won’t be going ahead as planned.

Carnival Cruise Line Australia this morning advised that its October and November cruises across the South Pacific would instead be converted to domestic trips, with Queensland capturing the market.

Guests will glide through the Whitsundays, stopping to explore the vibrant rainforests of North Queensland and the marine life on the Great Barrier Reef.

The decision was met with mixed reactions online, with some passengers expressing their disappointment in yet another delay to their overseas cruise plans.

“We love cruising, however we also live in North Queensland directly between Airlie and Cairns and have kept all our holidaying local during the pandemic; this cruise no longer suits us and we would like our options please,” one guest wrote.

Carnival Cruise Line advised that guests booked on the cruises were being contacted directly with flexible options if the new itinerary didn’t suit.

The cruise line, which recently repositioned two cruise ships from Australia to North America, said the recent itinerary change would allow opportunities to support local tourism and explore Australia’s back yard.

Some guest threw their support behind the move.

“As long as Cruise I’ll be happy. Thanks Carnival for doing the best you can under the circumstances,” a woman commented.

Another wrote, “Oh well there goes New Zealand again! But I’m very happy to cruise to northern Queensland.”

Carnival Cruise Line Australia VP Kara Glamore said the new itineraries would cater to demand from Australians with research showing 54 per cent were planning at least one domestic trip to treat themselves.

“Carnival Cruise Line also recently conducted research into the fun and holiday habits of Australians, which found that a third of the nation believes that Queensland would be the most fun state to visit,” Ms Glamore said.

“In these new itineraries guests will have the chance to explore some of the state’s highlights including the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays, Cairns and Port Douglas and rainforests of Tropical North Queensland as well as the world’s third largest sand island, Moreton Island (Tangalooma).”

Ms Glamore said Carnival was planning to deliver all scheduled cruises from December 2022.

“But as always, Carnival will advise guests directly if there are changes that may affect their booking,” she said.

She said domestic cruise resumption as a whole would have a huge knock-on effect for the Queensland tourism industry.