Tag Archives: record

Diamond Princess Kicks Off Record New Zealand Cruise Season

Posted: October 10, 2022

Countries, Press Release, , , , ,

Auckland’s biggest ever cruise season is now underway, with Princess Cruises’ megaliner Diamond Princess heading up a flotilla of ships sailing local waters over the coming months.

The 116,000-tonne, 2670-guest Diamond Princess arrived in the harbour city this morning – the first of more than 30 different ships which will visit Auckland between now and April 2016.

The most frequent cruise line visitor to New Zealand, Princess Cruises has six ships scheduled to make more than 200 calls to local ports over the coming months – accounting for about one-third of all cruise ship visits. The majority of the ships’ passengers will be Australian, with Princess Cruises carrying more Australians across the Tasman than all other cruise lines combined.

The visiting Princess ships include newcomer Golden Princess which will make her maiden visit to New Zealand this Saturday (October 10) when she berths in Auckland.

Princess Cruises Vice President Australia & New Zealand Stuart Allison said Princess’ ships visits would deliver close to $100 million to the New Zealand economy in passenger and crew spending, supplies and ports charges over the coming months.

Mr Allison said New Zealand continued to be a very popular destination for Australian cruisers, with almost 90,000 Australians cruising across the Tasman in 2014.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“New Zealand offers a diverse range of ports, each featuring remarkable scenic beauty and memorable experiences yet all positioned in relative proximity to each other, which is why it’s such a great cruise destination,” Mr Allison said.[/pullquote]

New Zealand ports now account for seven of Princess’ top 10 ports in the Australasian and Pacific region, and five of the cruise line’s top 30 ports around the world, with one-third of the cruise line’s global 18-ship fleet visiting the country this summer.

Mr Allison said Princess’ ships would call at 10 different New Zealand ports during the season, from Bay of Islands in the north to Dunedin in the south.  A new addition for Princess this season is Gisborne, which will receive 10 calls from Princess ships.

Auckland is one of Princess’ most frequent ports of call, with 27 Princess visits scheduled for the city this summer.

Mr Allison said that in addition to being a great cruise destination, New Zealand was also developing as a nation of cruisers, with close to 70,000 Kiwis taking a holiday at sea last year.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“More and more New Zealanders are recognising cruising as an easy and great value way to travel so we’re now responding to local demand and offering new opportunities for New Zealanders to cruise direct from their doorstep on Princess’ ships, sailing to destinations from Australia to Tahiti, South America and beyond,” he said. [/pullquote]

All Aboard As Carnival Australia Embarks On Record Summer Cruise Season

Posted: September 30, 2022

Australia, Onboard Features, Press Release, , , , ,

The country’s largest cruise operator Carnival Australia has launched Australia’s biggest ever summer cruise season, with the Sydney arrival of Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess today.

Over the coming months, Carnival Australia will have an unprecedented 22 ships from its seven cruise lines sailing in local waters, including more than 170 calls to Australia’s cruising gateway, Sydney.

Speaking at Circular Quay today, Carnival Australia CEO Ann Sherry said the ships represented nearly a quarter of Carnival Corporation’s worldwide fleet.

Ann-Sherry-and-Diamond-Princess-Chef-Nilo-Palma

Between them, the 22 ships will carry more than 530,000 cruisers – more than the population of Tasmania – over the summer period. In total the ships will make 538 turnaround and transit calls to Australian ports from today through to the end of April 2016 – 21 per cent more than in 2014-15 – adding significantly to the industry’s estimated $4 billion economic contribution.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Each year for the past decade we have announced that another record summer cruise season is imminent and, with more than one million Australians a year now cruising, this year is no exception,” Ms Sherry said.[/pullquote]

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“In 2005-2006, we heralded a bumper cruise season with 10 ships from across our fleets sailing locally and making 141 calls to Australian ports. A decade on the number of ships has more than doubled and the number of local calls has more than tripled.”[/pullquote]

The 22 ships sailing in Australian waters represents a 10 per cent increase on last year’s summer season and includes P&O Cruises’ latest ships, Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, which will join the cruise line’s existing three ships in November; six Princess Cruises’ ships, including Golden Princess on its maiden Australian deployment, and two Carnival Cruise Line ships.

Meanwhile, three Holland America Line ships will sail here over summer including Noordam on its maiden visit, along with world voyage visits by all three Cunard Queens, two ships from P&O Cruises World Cruising and one Seabourn vessel.

Ms Sherry said one of the standout features of cruise season was the vast quantities of Australian primary produce that Carnival Australia’s brands purchase including around 1.5 million kilograms of beef annually.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The huge quantities we purchase in a typical year making the local agriculture sector one of the big winners from cruising,” Ms Sherry said.[/pullquote]

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Cruise tourism continues as the standout success of the Australian tourism sector and with every cruise season the number of suppliers who benefit from its long value chain continues to grow.”[/pullquote]

Key purchases include:

Princess Cruises

  • 4 million kg of fresh vegetables and 1.1 million kg of fresh fruit
  • 188,083 kg of beef for local ships and 600,000 kg across the rest of Princess’ global fleet
  • 57,196 kg of lamb locally (Princess Cruises exclusively uses Australian lamb globally)
  • 226,425 dozen eggs, 600,000 individual yoghurts and 493,736 litres of milk 

P&O Cruises Australia

  • 1700 tonnes of fresh vegetables and 1200 tonnes of fresh fruit
  • 380,000 kg of fresh seafood and 600,000 kg of poultry
  • 580,000 bottles of wine (mostly Australian vintages)

Carnival Cruise Line

  • 9 million kg of produce
  • 600,000 litres of milk
  • 300,000 kg of rice and 300,000 kg of flour

Holland America Line

  • 18,232 kg of beef, 32,018 kg of poultry and 7099 kg of lamb
  • 139,989 litres of milk products
  • 545,040 individual eggs

Record Number Of Cruise Ships Sailing Down Under This Summer

Posted: September 8, 2022

Australia, New Cruise Ship, Press Release, , , , ,

Australians’ enthusiasm for cruising has fuelled the country’s greatest ever summer cruise season, with a record flotilla of cruise ships cruising Down Under over the coming months – including numerous newcomers to our shores.

As indicated by top cruise industry body Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia, 38 ships from its member cruise lines will cruise in Australian waters this summer, with an uncommon eight ships making their maiden visits to Australia. Over the 2014-15 summer cruise period, 36 CLIA member cruise ships visited Australia, including three ships making their inaugural visit.

CLIA Australasia Commercial Director Brett Jardine said the growth in maiden ship visits was another clear indicator of the surging popularity of cruising.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Cruise lines around the world are looking for new destinations and new homeports for their ships – and Australia is hot property right now,” Mr Jardine said.  “Not only do we have fantastic ports to visit and great weather, we also have a population that can’t wait to cruise, and that’s encouraging more cruise lines to send more ships our way.”[/pullquote]

Mr Jardine said the eight ships making their maiden visits this summer ranged from super liners to boutique-sized ships, providing a wide range of cruise experiences.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The huge range of ships now calling to Australia just illustrates that cruising is popular across all age groups and holidaymaker types – there really is a cruise ship for everyone.”[/pullquote]

Mr Jardine said more than one million Australians took a cruise in 2014, with Australia leading the world in terms of growth in cruise passenger numbers and market penetration.

CLIA’s new cruise season insights, which harmonise with the beginning of CLIA’s fourth national Cruise Week promo, demonstrate that there will be 38 member cruise line ships cruising neighborhood waters over the top summer cruise season which runs from the end of September through to April 30, 2016. Between them, the ships will make more than 800 calls to Australian ports.

The cruise season will kick off with the arrival of Princess Cruises’ Diamond Princess in Sydney on September 29, with the ship based in Sydney for a season of 14 cruises over summer.

The bumper 2015-16 season will see Azamara Club Cruises make its first ever call to Australia with its ship Azamara Quest touching base in neighborhood waters in January 2016. Different ships making their Australian debut amid the season incorporate Costa Cruises’ Costa Luminosa, Holland America Line’s Noordam, P&O Cruises’ Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, Ponant’s Le Soleal, Princess Cruises’ Golden Princess and Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas.

[wds id=”6″]

Accross the nation there will be a noteworthy 40 maiden port calls by cruise lines to a scope of cities and regional towns from Lizard Island, Gladstone and Port Douglas in the north to Burnie and Hobart in the south, serving to spread the financial advantages of cruising across the country.

Mr Jardine said 21 ships would make a total of 330 roundtrip cruises from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Fremantle over the 2015-16 summer, with these cruises expected to generate more than $300 million for the economy through passenger and crew spending.

The figures are a significant increase on last year’s 253 round-trip cruises.

The 38 ships cruising nearby waters this summer incorporate nine which are situated in Australia year round, another 12 which will be sent for all or some piece of the summer cruise season and 17 ships which will visit Australia. Between them they will convey a huge number of Australian and worldwide visitors.

Mr Jardine said highlights of the upcoming cruise season included P&O Cruises’ five-ship spectacular in Sydney on November 25, the deployment of Princess Cruises’ Golden Princess to Melbourne where it will take the mantle as the largest ship ever to be based in Victoria and Royal Caribbean’s first Brisbane season with Legend of the Seas sailing from the Queensland capital.

New cruise ships to hold a record 6,600 passengers

Posted: June 16, 2022

New Cruise Ship, Press Release, , , ,

The largest cruise line plans to push the limits of cruise ship capacity.

Carnival will introduce the world’s largest cruise ship by passenger count — although not by size - -with four new vessels capable of accommodating 6,600 passengers alongside hundreds of crew members. The large-capacity cruise ships will set sail between 2019 and 2022.

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] As part of the news, Carnival sought to stress that the experience won’t make the new vessels any more crowded than other options in its fleet. “A major part of the innovative design involves making much more efficient use of the ship’s spaces, creating an enhanced onboard experience for guests,” the company said Monday in a news release. [/pullquote]

That means about a 99.9999 percent chance you won’t find bumper cars, skating rinks, or a full-size basketball court, some of the amenities now offered on rival ships with fewer passenger cabins.

The extra space for all the people will come from harvesting some space from the ships’ public areas, keeping the space ratio and cabin sizes the same as on Carnival’s other ships.

Lido Deck

[pullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “It won’t feel congested, it won’t feel confined,” Carnival Chief Executive Arnold Donald said Monday in an interview on Bloomberg TV. “People will find it to be a great experience.” [/pullquote]

The ships will sail as part of Carnival’s European brands, with the first two planned for German-based AIDA. The other two are also expected to be deployed in Europe, either with AIDA or Costa, the company’s brand in Italy. The AIDA brand targets a younger, more active German traveler who doesn’t want much of the formality of a traditional cruise.

The largest cruise ship by size is Royal Caribbean Cruise’s Harmony of the Seas, which is under construction in France and scheduled for delivery next spring. That ship will carry 5,479 passengers and is about seven feet longer than the two other Oasis-class ships in RCL’s fleet, which can hold 5,400 passengers. When fully packed, the Oasis-class vessels can hold more than 6,300 passengers and nearly 2,400 crew. These megaships boast a multistory waterfall water ride and are designed with the idea that the ship is the destination.

The new Carnival ships will top 180,000 gross tons, a measure of a ship’s internal volume, making them the largest vessels in the company’s fleet-yet far smaller than the 227,700 gross tons of Harmony of the Seas.

In addition to being the largest by passenger count, the new Carnival ships will be the first in the industry to be powered by liquefied natural gas in an effort to reduce their carbon output. The technology, which has become common for municipal??buses and airport shuttles, is designed to eliminate soot emissions and meet strict European greenhouse gas regulations.

Record number of cruise passengers through Fremantle ports

Posted: May 31, 2022

Australia, , , , ,

Holidays on the high seas are increasingly back in fashion, with the number of cruise ship passengers in Fremantle at its highest point for more than 40 years. More than 100,000 passengers have passed through the Fremantle Passenger Terminal during the 2014-15 cruising season.

The last time that many holiday-goers went through the port city on cruise ships was back in 1972-73. The current numbers are a far cry from the number of passengers that jumped on a ship back in the 2006-07 season when only 9498 people passed through the port.

Trade development manager Thor Elliott said with two ships still to visit Fremantle before the end of the financial year, the passenger numbers were expected to rise. “We estimate the final total will be about 117,000 passengers from 43 ship visits,” he said. “With 56 ship visits scheduled for next year, the figures can only improve.”

And it appears Australians as a whole can’t get enough of cruising, with the recent figures released by Cruise Weekly this week showing that more than a million people took to the water last year.

Cruise Lines International Association Australasia chairman Gavin Smith said Australians’ obsession with cruising was only matched by France. “The expansion of our industry in recent years means there’s now a huge range of ships and itineraries on offer across the globe and I think Australians, who are inveterate travellers, are responding by increasingly factoring a cruise into their holiday plans.”

“Five years ago, the industry thought that it might be possible to achieve one million passengers a year by 2020 – to reach that number in 2014 is an amazing result and shows the true passion Australians have for cruise holidays.

CruiseWorld manager Khush Santoke said people were streaming through their Perth doors looking to book a cruise. “People with young families [through] to grandparents are going on cruises,” she told Fairfax Media. “People don’t want to fly overseas much and with a cruise you just unpack and pack just once. “It’s really taken off over the last years – we are seeing cruise numbers go up every year.

Ms Santoke said there was a cruise for just about everyone. “It’s about getting people on the right ship, otherwise they won’t come back,” she said. “Australians still want to travel to Europe, but a lot of people are going to places like China and Japan.”

Tourism WA chief executive Stephanie Buckland said cruise shipping contributed more than $116 million to the state’s economy, with a warm Mediterranean climate in the south and tropical weather to the north supporting year-round business.

Ms Buckland said Tourism WA had worked closely with the Cruise WA Committee. “And this work is starting to come to fruition,” she said. “For example in 2012-13, Fremantle Ports welcomed 17 cruise ships with 49,000 passengers. In 2014-15, Fremantle will attract 43 ships with more than 110,000 passengers and the forecast for 2015-16 is 54 ships and 150,000 passengers.”