Australian cruises deliver bumper crop of ships to ports
With about 70 vessels heading to Australian waters from now until April, it’s a bumper time for sailors.
Cruising is back with a vengeance, a variety of vessels, and no vaccinations required. The recent removal of Covid requirements means cruises have reopened to everyone – just in time for the peak period, known as “wave season”, from October to April next year.
About 70 cruise ships will operate in local waters, which represents a meaningful increase from the 60 scheduled to sail pre-pandemic over the summer of 2019-20. The upcoming flotilla includes some the world’s most luxurious ships as well as first-time visits from Disney Cruise Line and the adults-only Virgin Voyages and Scenic.
NSW
Sydney will see the most ships from the mainstream cruise companies – Princess, P&O, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Holland America Line and Norwegian Cruise Line – as well as many more upmarket brands.
Bringing a new experience of family-friendly entertainment, with musical productions such as Frozen, Disney Wonder is scheduled for 12 cruises from Sydney between October and February. Launched in May this year, Virgin’s Resilient Lady will offer short trips to Melbourne, Burnie and Hobart in January and February, plus a 15-night cruise to Bali and Singapore in March. Passengers can look forward to lively parties, retro-styled cabins, and drinks and wi-fi included in fares.
Scenic is set to sail in its homeland for the first time, with an unusual departure from Newcastle, where the company was founded. The Chairman’s Voyage: East Coast Islands and Reefs is aboard the Scenic Eclipse II discovery yacht, departing April, ending in Cairns.
Celebrity Cruises will also introduce a new ship, Celebrity Edge, in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, running from December to April.
Other luxury options to New Zealand will be offered by Viking Orion, Seabourn Odyssey, Crystal Symphony, Regent Seven Seas’ Explorer, Oceania’s Regatta, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth and Silversea’s Silver Muse and Silver Whisper. Silversea and Crystal will also go to Bali and Singapore, while Regent’s Navigator, Mariner and Explorer are heading to the South Pacific and Southeast Asia.
Cunard has a range of cruises in the region, including the South Pacific, Asia, and full and semi-circumnavigations of Australia. The trio – Queens Elizabeth, Victoria and Mary 2 – then continue on their round-the-world voyages, offering the chance to travel as far as New York or Southampton, Britain. The Sporting Greats and Wellness Voyage departs February 13, featuring talks by Brett Lee, Adam Goodes, Karrie Webb, and Mark Beretta.
Oceania’s Regatta, Insignia and Nautica will sail around Australia, Indonesia and the South Pacific, with world cruise segments available to Los Angeles and Cape Town. A 35-night circumnavigation departs Sydney on December 23. Azamara Journey has a 14-night cruise to Perth departing February 6, while Azamara Onward sails from Sydney to Hong Kong on March 1.
On February 20, Seabourn Sojourn leaves our shores in style on a 72-night Asian cruise ending in Singapore, with shorter segments to Taipei or Shanghai. On February 21, Seabourn Odyssey will spend 80 nights sailing to Vancouver via Asia and Alaska, with options to disembark earlier in Bali, Hong Kong or Japan.
On February 27, Viking Orion departs on a 79-night cruise to Queensland, Thursday Island, Darwin, Komodo Island, Lombok, Bali, Semarang, Singapore and Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur), and then all the way to Vancouver.
Princess Cruises will have five ships – Royal, Grand, Majestic, Island and Coral Princess. Among the more interesting itineraries is a 35-night round-trip from Sydney to Brisbane, Suva, Pago Pago, five Hawaiian ports, Papeete and Moorea in Tahiti, Auckland and Bay of Islands (Paihia).
QUEENSLAND
Brisbane will welcome a dozen cruise lines throughout the season. Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, P&O’s Pacific Encounter and Carnival Luminosa are the biggest ships sailing around Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. Disney Wonder also has five short cruises (two to five nights) in December.
The most luxurious ships will be based in Cairns. On December 9, Windstar’s Star Breeze heads down the east coast to Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand.
A special fly-cruise itinerary starts on December 17 with three nights on land at Thala Beach Nature Reserve, before a flight to Melbourne to board the ship for the crossing to New Zealand.
Ponant’s Le Laperouse plans to sail south from Cairns to Brisbane via the Great Barrier Reef, followed by a round-trip to Papua New Guinea. Silversea’s Silver Muse has a 14-night cruise to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji, ending in Auckland.
VICTORIA
Melbourne’s busy season starts on October 23 with Grand Princess kicking off 18 cruises around Australia, to New Zealand or Fiji. The city will also serve as the home port for two first-timers: Virgin Voyages’ Resilient Lady, which sails to Tasmania, Sydney or New Zealand, and Disney Wonder, sailing to Eden, Sydney, Hobart or Auckland.
Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth has multiple cruises including a 14-night round-trip to New Zealand for Christmas, the Great Australian Culinary Voyage departing January 5, and Melbourne to Tokyo departing March 7.
Ships offering one cruise from Melbourne include Azamara Journey, Silver Muse, Star Breeze, Hapag Lloyd’s Europa and Coral Expeditions’ Coral Geographer, while P&O’s Pacific Explorer will offer 14 departures.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
After the Kimberley season wraps up, two Coral Expeditions ships will make their way down the west coast to offer cruises from Fremantle to the Abrolhos Islands and Broome, as well as across the Great Australian Bight.
Cunard returns in November with a cruise to Melbourne on Queen Elizabeth, while Queen Mary 2 heads to Asia in February, offering options to disembark in Sydney, Singapore or Hong Kong. On February 20, Azamara Journey will also sail to Hong Kong on a 16-night cruise via Bali, Singapore and Vietnam.
Crystal Symphony has a one-time special: a 14-night itinerary to Auckland, departing December 6. Ports of call include Busselton, Adelaide (overnight), Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand’s Bay of Islands. On March 27, Crystal Serenity will sail from Fremantle to Mumbai on an 18-night cruise via Broome, Bali, Singapore and Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Azamara Journey has two voyages to Melbourne in December and Hong Kong in February while, on March 1, Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas departs for Sydney, calling in at Esperance, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Picton, Christchurch, Dunedin and Milford Sound.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
From Adelaide, cabins are selling out on Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess, which has five departures to Melbourne, Queensland or New Zealand between October and January. Small ship Coral Geographer also offers five cruises focused on the food, wine and walking trails around South Australia’s islands. Through February and March, P&O’s Pacific Explorer will hop around Kangaroo Island, Melbourne, Tasmania and New Zealand.
TASMANIA
Ponant’s Le Laperouse will circumnavigate the island for nine nights from December 14. On December 23, a special itinerary spends Christmas Day in Tasman National Park before witnessing the end of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the New Year fireworks in Constitution Dock, and Australia’s biggest food and wine festival, Taste of Tasmania. Other highlights include King Island, Maria Island, Port Davey and the Tamar Valley wine region.
Coral Expeditions also offers adventures around Tasmania in January and February, but only a handful of cabins are left.
NORTHERN TERRITORY
A few small vessels start in Darwin for convenient access to north of Australia. In October, Ponant’s Le Laperouse will linger along the idyllic isles of Indonesia for 11 nights, while Le Soleal sails to Papua New Guinea. Coral Discoverer is visiting Indigenous communities in Cape York and Arnhem Land; in March, Coral Geographer explores Indonesia for two weeks.
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