Cruise ship Azamara Quest makes port in Darwin for first time

A LUXURY cruise ship made its first port of call on its maiden Australian voyage in Darwin on Monday

Captain Carl Smith sailed the Azamara Quest into Darwin for the first time making its debut into Australia early Monday morning.

A LUXURY cruise ship made its first port of call on its maiden Australian voyage in Darwin yesterday.

The Azamara Quest arrived with more than 680 guests and 400 crew after three years of planning to bring the 180m long cruise ship to the country.

Captain Carl Smith said Australia had proven to be a popular destination for cruise guests.

“We were full almost immediately for the entire season, (so) full we’ve put our sister ship on the sailing next year and the following year we come back again and 2018 is also packed.”

The Azamara Quest. PICTURE: Supplied

The cruise industry injected $54 million in the Territory economy last financial year.

The 2015-16 season is expecting a record number of cruise ships to make port in Darwin, with the Azamara Quest just one of 46 ships with more than 70,000 passengers to visit.

Tourism NT market development manager Richard Schoonraad said the impact of the cruise industry was wide-reaching.

“The (biggest) impact is in the smaller shops – in the cafes, pharmacies, supermarkets, liquor stores,” he said. “Darwin’s usually the first point of call for a ship or the last port of call out of Australia so people either stock up on stuff they’ve missed on their voyage in, or they stock up on stuff so they don’t miss out, so we probably see a bigger impact compared to other cities.”