Princess Cruises has today announced its planned resumption of cruising in Australia, with Coral Princess set to debut in Brisbane on June 16 for her inaugural season Down Under, and with Travel Advisors earning an extra 5% bonus commission for every booking made on these sailings .
In a move worth an estimated $60 million dollars to the Queensland economy, Princess Cruises’ 2000-guest ship will be homeported in Brisbane for 11 new departures ranging from 3-12 nights between June and August before returning for another 10 cruises this summer from November.
The MedallionClass ship will make 48 calls to the State’s ports this year, including her first visits to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Cairns and Port Douglas.
Meanwhile, Coral Princess’ sister ships, Grand Princess and Majestic Princess will make a further six calls to Queensland ports as part of their scheduled Australian season sailing from Sydney and Melbourne.
Princess says its new winter program reflects anticipation that state governments around Australia will soon welcome the return of cruise ships to their shores, working with the cruise industry to establish protocols for the resumption of cruising.
Princess Cruises Senior Director Sales, Marketing and Service Nick Ferguson said: “After two years of rolling pauses, we are delighted to be featuring Queensland in an exciting winter program of cruises from Australia, which demonstrates our commitment to cruising Down Under and the local travel agent community.”
Mr Ferguson said to further support the recovery of the critical travel agency network after a very challenging two years, agents would earn an extra 5% bonus commission for every booking made on these new Coral sailings via Polar Online before May 31, 2022.
“This is in addition to the 25% extra commission earning potential for upgrading clients to our inclusive Princess Plus fares which include our premium beverage package and MedallionNet fastest WIFI at sea.”
Highlights of the new winter program include:
- Six short getaway cruises from Brisbane and Sydney – perfect seacations for those with busy schedules.
- Five 7-day Queensland roundtrip cruises from Brisbane, sailing to Cairns, Port Douglas, and Airlie Beach (for the Whitsundays).
- A new 7-day New South Wales Coast roundtrip from Brisbane, with a maiden call to Eden (Sapphire Coast), Sydney, and Newcastle.
- A new 12-day Queensland and New South Wales voyage, sailing roundtrip from Brisbane.
- A new 12-day Queensland and the Conflict Islands voyage, roundtrip Sydney or Brisbane, crossing the Coral Sea to visit the stunning and remote Conflict Islands in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Ferguson said Coral Princess would reposition to Sydney and resume her previously announced Australia and New Zealand program for the 2022-23 summer season which currently includes voyages to the Pacific, Round Australia, Queensland and New Zealand.
As part of the summer fleet, Majestic Princess is planned to return to Sydney on October 20, with voyages that currently include New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania and Fiji, while Grand Princess will make her debut downunder sailing out of Melbourne on November 4 with round trip voyages that currently include New Zealand, Queensland and South Australia.
The winter program will be open for sale from 9am AEDT on 24 March, 2022.
For more information, visit www.princess.com.