For the first time in more than two years, guests embarked on a Princess Cruise ship in Australia today. Coral Princess, which arrived in the country last week, welcomed its guests from Brisbane’s new state-of-the-art cruise terminal.
Coral Princess is only the second cruise ship to resume operations in the country. Pacific Explorer, a P&O Australia cruise ship, departed from Sydney with the destination Brisbane on May 31.
Coral Princess Resumes Operations With Two Very Special Guests
The Coral Princess welcomed her first guests onboard in Brisbane since the global pause in operations. Sailing from the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal, the vessel is only the second cruise ship to set sail from an Australian port.
For the past nine days, the ship has been preparing for her voyage, taking on provisions and ensuring that the vessel is ready for the strict COVID-19 measures in Australia. Today, she welcomed the first guests, including two that will stay on board for the next two years.
Jessica and Marty Ansen, a couple from Brisbane, embarked on two years of back-to-back cruising today.
The Ansens have already cruised 31 times with Princess and spent 1,173 days at sea. They had been eagerly awaiting cruising’s return to indulge their love of holidaying on the high seas. From now until August 2024, the couple will sail on an incredible 53 different cruises, including two world cruises.
Jessica and Marty Ansen: “Cruising offers the ultimate holiday experience. You go onboard, you only unpack once, and you have all this amazing entertainment, exceptional food, great company and you can see the world. And, the crew deliver incredible service – that’s why we cruise.”
Cruising Has Significant Impact On Local Economy
Princess Cruises’ senior vice president for Asia Pacific, UK, and Europe, Stuart Allison, said last week the ship’s homeport season in Brisbane was set to inject an estimated AUD 60 million to the Queensland economy in crew and passenger spending, ship supplies, and port charges.
“Queensland will feature front and centre in a new winter program of sailings from Australia, which demonstrates Princess Cruises’ commitment to cruising Down Under and to the local travel agent community. Our focus on Brisbane also reflects the demand for cruise holidays among Queenslanders and the growing interest in domestic cruising.”
Coral Princess will offer guests a wide variety of cruises between July and August from the new cruise terminal. These range in length from 3-day short seacations to longer 12-day cruises along the Australian coastline.
The 91,627 gross tons Coral Princess, which has a capacity for 1970 guests, will have a short break from Brisbane between August and November. During that time the cruise ship will sail a 28-night circumnavigation of Australia. She returns to Brisbane in November, ready for the Australian summer cruise season.
Brisbane Looks Ahead To Busy Summer
The ships sailing from Brisbane now are a prelude to many ships calling to Brisbane during the Australian summer cruise season. From October onwards, the number of cruise ship calls will be increasing significantly.
Pacific Encounter, Carnival Spirit, Coral Princess, Majestic Princess, Noordam, Quantum of the Seas, Seabourn Odyssey, and Celebrity Eclipse have cruises sailing from or calling in Brisbane. While there are only five cruise ship calls in June, this number grows to an expected 22 calls in December.
The good news for guests is that the new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal has officially opened. For years, cruise ships longer than 270m had to call at the Port of Brisbane’s cargo terminals, as they were too large to turn around any further upstream. It did not provide guests with the most welcoming view of Brisbane.
As for Princess Cruises, the company will have three ships sailing in Australia this year, Coral Princess, Majestic Princess, and Grand Princess. Majestic Princess will sail on her first cruise on October 20.
Grand Princess will join the other ships in Australia on November 2, sailing from Sydney on a 2-night seacation to Melbourne.
