Federal MP Warren Entsch: ‘Cairns still jewel in the cruising crown’

Cairns is still the “jewel in the crown” of cruising in Australia according to a Federal MP, as a major cruise line outlines home port opportunities in the coming months and years.

In a boon for the local economy, P&O cruises have confirmed its cruise liners will once again be calling Cairns home.

P&O Cruises will home port in Cairns in June 2023 and May 2024.

Home porting refers to when a cruise starts and ends at a port, as well as where it takes on board a majority of its supplies.

Ports North scheduling shows the P&O-operated Pacific Explorer will be making four turnaround visits from the end of May through June meaning passengers will embark and disembark in Cairns while the ship bases its operations out of Trinity Inlet for the month.

The two home port stints unveiled by P&O are a far cry from a longer-term contract which was in place for several years prior to 2019.

The benefits of a cruise ship home porting in Cairns lies in the massive amounts of fresh produce which would be supplied by local suppliers, maintenance contacts, and an increase in visitor spending into the Cairns economy.

Home porting from Cairns will likely draw visitors flying in and out to begin and end their journey, spending more time in the region than during a cruising stopover.

Ports North chair Russell Beer said he was quietly confident after ongoing talks that the region would likely see at least a couple cruise ships from P&O home ported long-term in Cairns in the near future as the industry continued to recover.

“Obviously before Covid, P&O had a ship home ported long-term in Cairns and it has always been the plan to get that back,” Mr Beer said.

“We have been in constant talks with P&O and other cruise operators and we certainly welcome them with open arms.”

Pacific Encounter can cater for 2600 guests and weighs in at a whopping 108,865 in gross tonnage. Picture: Supplied

On Saturday it was announced that P&O Cruises would commence port calls in Townsville in 2025.

“Our decision to add port calls in Townsville is independent of our operations in Cairns and we look forward to making our 2025 full program for Queensland available shortly,” a P&O spokeswoman said.

“Our footprint in Queensland is expansive with more than 118 port calls scheduled this year, injecting $500 million to the state’s economy.”

Any fears that such a move would take away from Cairns’ piece of the tourism pie were quickly brushed off by Federal Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch and Mr Beer.

Mr Entsch said that the addition of Townsville to the line-up just adds to the diversity that cruising in Queensland had to offer.

“Cairns is definitely still the jewel in the crown, we are definitely seeing a return of cruising at an accelerating rate lately and Townsville will just add to the overall package and experience,” he said.

The P & O Pacific Encounter on its maiden voyage to the Far North Queensland region, docking at the Cairns Cruise Liner Terminal. Picture: Brendan Radke

Mr Entsch was also confident on the return of cruiseliners calling Cairns a home port long-term in addition to the scheduled month-long stays.

“I am very confident that we will see them back home porting from Cairns in the longer term, all the discussions have been very positive,” he said.

“There are very few ports around the world where the boats can pull up and travellers can disembark straight into the city to enjoy all that it has to offer in terms of catering for international guests and the cruise companies definitely see the value there.”

Mr Beer said the entire cruise industry was coming back strong and Townsville being added as a port of call was a sign of this.

“We are already seeing a huge number of bookings coming in,” he said.

“We had set out in our business plans a goal of 150 cruise visits a year by 2030 and we are well on our way to already reaching that target either next year or the one following.”

“The addition of Townsville is a great result for Cairns, an overnight sail away is perfect for most liners looking to add to their list of visits.”

Originally published as Federal MP Warren Entsch: ‘Cairns still jewel in the cruising crown’