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 Posted Monday, 08 March 2010, 03:36 PM By Cruise News Hound |
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I have yet to find an official release posted on Cunard sites, so will relay this news via Travel Today. There is also a story in the Sydney Telegraph/News.com today. This one will be one of the most sought after Australian cruises in 2012, and bound to sell out quickly.
Australia will welcome additional cruise ship capacity after Cunard announced that the Queen Mary 2 will embark on a 28-day circumnavigation of Australia in February 2012.
The deployment will be the longest in one country outside QM2’s northern hemisphere home ports of Southampton and New York.
Tickets for the “Royal Circumavigation of Australia” will go on sale in July, and are expected to be keenly sought after by not only Australians, but also international guests, said Ann Sherry, chief executive of Carnival Australia, which represents Cunard Line in Australia.
“This announcement is a signal that Cunard wants to capitalise on the growth in the Australian market,” Sherry said. “Australia is the fourth largest market for Cunard globally and Australia is the only place that will be getting this type of visit from the QM2. We have worked very hard with the itinerary planners globally to secure this cruise.”
The QM2 will call into eight Australian ports on the circumnavigation, including Sydney, Fremantle, Adelaide and the Whitsundays as well as maiden visits to Cairns (Yorkey’s Knob), Darwin, Melbourne and Brisbane. It will also stop in Bali.
Australians will be able to choose from three itineraries, a 20-night voyage departing Fremantle, a 22-night voyage departing Sydney, and a 21-night voyage departing Adelaide.
A website detailing the cruise will launch on Friday.
Source = Travel Today, Story by Olivia Collings
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| Posted Wednesday, 03 March 2010, 12:47 PM By Cruise News Hound |
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Extra to a solid rumour announced on Gene Sloan's column on USA Today last week, the following story has circulated today from Cruise Weekly.
www.OzCruiseClub.com.au
Holland America Line will base another ship in Australia next year while also expanding its Sydney season, including more roundtrip cruises to New Zealand and the South Pacific.
A week after Royal Caribbean revealed that Radiance of the Seas will join Rhapsody of the Seas in Sydney from October 2011, Holland America Line has indicated it will also deploy an additional ship here next season. Speaking to Cruise Weekly, Joseph Slattery, vice president, international sales and marketing, HAL, said Australia was its top international market and would “see more ships more often.” “We have made a commitment to more departures and more roundtrips from Sydney, and we hope to make an announcement in a few weeks,” Slattery said.
The name of the new ship and itinerary details are expected to be released in April. HAL currently bases the 1,432-passenger Volendam in Sydney during the international season and this year added 10 home-port sailings from the city to attract more local passengers. Up to 50% of passengers on Sydney roundtrips are Australians, with domestic bookings increasing last year by 45%.
To celebrate this success, HAL is offering a 45% saving and shipboard credits for bookings made before the end of this month on its Australia/New Zealand summer 2010- 11 program. Cruises aboard Volendam include five Sydney roundtrips to NZ or the South Pacific, such as a 16-day voyage spending Christmas and New Year at sea.
The season will begin on 05 November 2010 with a 14-day Pacific Treasures cruise to New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji – earlybird prices start at $2,060 per person twin share.
Source: Cruise Weekly
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| Posted Tuesday, 02 March 2010, 10:43 PM By Kiwi_cruiser |
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1st March 2010
The biggest cruise ship ever to visit the Bay of Islands arrives this Friday, bringing a record 4000 passengers and crew.
The Queen Victoria attracted 20,000 onlookers when she called into Napier recently and big crowds are also expected to see the Queen Mary 2, which dwarfs any other cruise ship that has entered Northland waters.
To cope with the massive influx of visitors a cruise committee has been set up to plan for the event, which will see 870 passengers head off on pre-booked tours and to tourist attractions for the day. The rest of the passengers and crew are expected to swarm into Paihia and Russell.
Planning for the day includes arranging parking in conjunction with the Waitangi National Trust, managing traffic on land and sea, organising shuttle buses, extra rubbish collections and toilet cleaning, and liaising with Bay of Island businesses.
Heinz Marti, of Business Paihia, said the monster ship's visit was a major opportunity for the Bay of Islands.
"The Queen Mary 2 is making only one other New Zealand stop, in Auckland, so this visit cements the Bay's status as a significant tourist destination."
The 345m liner brought Auckland traffic to a standstill on its first visit to New Zealand three years ago with vantage points around the harbour jammed with thousands of cars.
Facilities include 15 restaurants and bars, five swimming pools, a casino, ballroom, theatre, kennels, a nursery and the first planetarium at sea.
When launched in 2003 at a cost of $1.3 billion, the Cunard Line's flagship was the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship
ever built, with a crew of 1250 and a gross tonnage of 150,000 tons.
It will be the 28th cruise ship to visit the Bay of Islands this summer, with two more to come before the season winds down in mid-March.
Cruise ships will have brought a record 35,000 passengers and an estimated $6 million to the Bay of Islands this season.
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