Royal Caribbean International’s season in Australia is going to be about as big as it’s ships with a record number of vessels sailing around our waters.
For the first time ever, all three Royal Caribbean International brands (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises) will be based in Australia with seven of the company’s ships sailing from the country.
The first of the seven, Radiance of the Seas, arrived in Sydney late last week, kick starting the record breaking season for the group.
In addition to the usual fleet, Royal Caribbean International will also welcome four new ships to Australia this season, including Legend of the Seas, which will be the first Royal Carribean ship based out of Brisbane. There’s also Explorer of the Seas, Azamara Quest and Celebrity Millennium.
Azamara Quest will be the first Azamara Club Cruises ship to visit Australia.
According to Royal Caribbean’s Vice President of Asia-Pacific, Gavin Smith, the cruise line will carry a quarter of a million guests over the five-month season. The majority will be local cruisers, while around 60,000 will travel from overseas to cruise around our shores.
Passengers will have some 95 itineraries to choose from, with the majority departing from Sydney and Brisbane to New Zealand, the South Pacific, Asia and around Australia.
“We will double our guest capacity, introduce a new cruise brand to the region and offer a total of seven ships.”
Gavin Smith, Royal Caribbean Vice President of Asia-Pacific
“For nearly a decade we have delivered the world’s biggest and best ships to Australians, offering them a cutting edge cruise product and a style of holiday that they would previously have had to travel overseas to experience.”
Also new to Australia this season is Legend of the Seas.
Among the new vessels is Azamara Club Cruises’ Azamara Quest. The 686-passenger vessels arrives in Darwin on 28 December as the first of three new ships to join the local fleet this season.
Meanwhile, Explorer of the Seas is currently en route to Sydney. The 3,800-passenger megaliner will take the title of Australia’s largest cruise ship from her twin sister, Voyager of the Seas, and the ships will meet in beautiful Sydney Harbour on Saturday evening on 28 November for a historic big-ship harbour rendezvous.
Finally, Royal Caribbean International will base a ship in Brisbane for the first time. From 8 December, Queenslanders will have their very own world class ship, Legend of the Seas, when she commences sailing from Portside Wharf, Hamilton with no less than 15 itineraries.
The seven ships will make 185 port calls and 85 turnarounds in Australia this season, which is expected to inject more than $185 million into the local economy in passenger spending alone.