Last ship sails after record summer season

DEMAND for cruising holidays soars as go-getter Aussies jump on board to catch the sea travel bug and travel in style.

Carnival Spirit Cruise

AUSTRALIA'S record cruise season ends today when the last visiting ship, Sea Princess, leaves our waters.

The ship will end her six-month deployment in Australia when she sails through Sydney Harbour Heads bound for the United States.

International Cruise Council Australasia general manager Brett Jardine said cruise ship capacity in Australia had grown by 40 per cent this summer and was forecast to rise by another 25 per cent over the 2012/13 season.

"That level of growth is giving many Australians the opportunity to experience cruising for the first time,'' he said.

Six ships made their maiden visits to Australia this summer, including the Radiance of the Seas, Celebrity Century and the Sea Princess.

February was the busiest month, with a record 26 ships making 33 visits, up from 27 the previous year.

Five more new ships will visit 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.

Others include Celebrity Solstice, Seabourn Quest and Oosterdam.

Ports Authority figures show 214 ships will visit Sydney Harbour this financial year - a 43 per cent increase on last year.

Mr Jardine said Australians loved cruising because it was such great value.

"The cost of a cruise today is probably less than it was five years ago,'' he said.

A half a million Australians took a cruise holiday last year and the industry is on course to achieve the goal of a million passengers taking a cruise holiday by 2020.

The Australian cruise sector makes up more than four per cent of the global cruise market in terms of passenger numbers, compared to less than two per cent five years ago.

As well as ships that visit Australia over the busy summer period, several other ships are based in Australia year-round.