Australian cruise industry set to reopen next month

Cruise enthusiasts can don their Hawaiian shirts as the industry is set to reopen from April 17.

Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice approaches the Sydney Opera House. Picture: iStock

Australian cruise enthusiasts will finally be welcomed back on the water next month, ending a two-year ban estimated to have cost the economy more than $10bn.

The federal government is poised to reopen the industry on April 17 following approval from the states, with a formal ­announcement expected on Wednesday.

Australia and China are the only major cruise markets to ­remain closed, forcing thousands of Australians to travel overseas to board ships.

A hard ban on cruise ships docking at Australian ports has been in place since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when the government ordered all cruise ships to leave Australian waters in March 2020 following a highly publicised outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess.

An inquiry later linked 900 infections and 28 deaths to the ship.

Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said he had been “pushing” for cruises to reopen for some time but the states had resisted. Seaports are controlled by state governments, placing the final decision in their hands, he said.

“The commonwealth wants to go. We’ve been ready to go for a number of weeks,” he said.

Mr Tehan said he believed the NSW, Victorian and Queensland governments would facilitate a lifting of the ban, reopening routes on the eastern seaboard.

“It’ll probably start domestically and then ramp up into internationally after that,” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

Cruise enthusiasts can expect a slow return of international companies to Australian waters as the industry heads into its winter off-season, according to Cruise Line International ­Association managing director Joel Katz.

“The 18,000 Australians who rely on the cruise industry for their livelihoods – and of course the more than one million Australians who love to cruise – are all looking for some certainty,” he said.

The declaration is welcome news for self-described cruise ­addict Honida Beram, who runs the Cruising with Honey blog.

“I’ve always said that as soon as we have a date and they lift the cruise ban, I’d be popping open that bottle of champagne,” she said.

“It’s currently chilling and ready to be popped.”

Ms Beram organised two ­rallies on Sunday calling for cruising to reopen.

The rallies in Brisbane and Sydney attracted dozens of cruise enthusiasts, including some watching online from the US, Britain and The Philippines.

“Hopefully that had some ­influence in tipping this over the edge,” she said.