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Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth heads Down Under for longest stay yet

Luxury cruise line Cunard will deploy its Queen Elizabeth ship in Australia for an “unprecedented” 101 days during the 2019/20 summer, reflecting the importance of the Australian market.

Luxury cruise line Cunard will deploy its Queen Elizabeth ship in Australia for an “unprecedented” 101 days during the 2019/20 summer, reflecting the importance of the Australian market.

The 2080-guest vessel will operate six roundtrip cruises from Melbourne and two from Sydney with destinations including South Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Queen Elizabeth interior KarryOn Cunard

It’s almost double the length of the ship’s 2018/19 season deployment in Australian waters. It will sail from Sydney and Melbourne for a total 54 days during February and March 2019.

“Over the past few years we’ve seen unprecedented growth in demand for the Cunard experience in Australia so it made sense for us to invest further in the market and extend the sailing season of Queen Elizabeth even more in 2020,” Cunard Senior Vice President Simon Palethorpe said.

“Our new 2019-20 summer season will not only feature more cruises, it will also offer some exciting new itinerary options which we hope will entice even more Australians to experience Cunard’s legendary service and style.”

The program also recognises Melbourne’s strengthening status as a cruise hub, Palethorpe explained. The Victorian capital will be the ship’s homeport for two months of its Australian stay.

With her arrival scheduled for December, Palethorpe also pointed out that Queen Elizabeth will spend Christmas in local waters sailing from Melbourne to New Zealand.

Queen Elizabeth lounge Cunard KarryOn

Other cruises from Melbourne include voyages to South Australia and Tasmania.

Among the Sydney itineraries are a new 14-night cruise to Papua New Guinea, featuring maiden calls to the Conflict Islands and Kiriwina in the Trobriand Islands.

Other maiden visits will include Cunard’s first call to Esperance in Western Australia, while Queen Elizabeth will be making her inaugural visits to Albany, Whitsunday Islands and Darwin.

Full details of the 2020 World Voyage season will be released on March 13, with the program scheduled to go on sale on March 20, 2018.

 

Would you like to spend Christmas aboard Queen Elizabeth?