Australians all at sea over cruise holidays

RECORD surge in cruising holidays shows more Aussie travellers are ditching planes in favour of the high seas.

Sun Pricess milford Sound

AUSTRALIANS are choosing holidays at sea in record numbers, with a 34 per cent surge in cruising holidays last year.

The rise to nearly 624,000 cruising holidays was the biggest since records began ten years ago and the highest in the world.

Cruising experts attributed the growth to the great value of cruise holidays, more ships coming to Australia, convenience and accessibility.

The growth represents a tripling in the popularity of cruising over the past five years alone, according to the annual International Cruise Council of Australasia report.

New Zealand was the fastest-growing destination for Australian cruisers, increasing by 80 per cent last year.

It was followed by the South Pacific, which rose 34 per cent, while Australia grew 33 per cent and Europe by 30 per cent.

The figures show nearly three per cent of the nation took a cruise holiday last year - the second highest proportion in the world after the US.

International Cruise Council of Australasia chairman and Royal Caribbean Australia managing director Gavin Smith said cruising represented great value for money.

"Cruising today is cheaper than it was in 1990,'' he said.

"While there's so much competition in the market the price of cruising is very competitive.''

Around 150 ships are expected to dock in Sydney - Australia's cruising capital - during the upcoming summer season.

Five ships will make their maiden visit to Australia next season, including the superliner Voyager of the Seas, which has the region's first ice-skating rink at sea, and Carnival Spirit, which has the world's fastest and steepest water slide on the ocean.

Carnival Australia CEO Ann Sherry said Australia would likely surpass its goal of one million cruise holidays a year by 2020.

"When we first said that four or five years ago it looked like a pipe dream but look at it now,'' she said.

"Cruising is a great way to see places that are hard to get to any other way. You can sail into Milford Sound in New Zealand.

"People want experiences. P&O is beginning cruises to Papua New Guinea and those itineraries are selling at twice the rate of any other.

"To fly you'd have to go to Port Moresby, spend a night in a hotel surrounded by barbed wire and take your chances on a light plane.''

Ms Sherry said many Australians live on the sea and therefore cruising was incredibly convenient.

Of all Australians who took a cruising holiday last year 40 per cent live in NSW, 24 per cent in Queensland, 16 per cent in Victoria, 9 per cent from Western Australia and 6 per cent from South Australia.

Showing Australians are making the most of last-minute bargains, most cruise holidays were booked less than six months before departure.

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