Three queens in Oz

• Cunard has revealed that all three of its Queens will be visiting Australia during its newly unveiled 2023/24 itineraries.
• The bulk of local sailings will be undertaken by Queen Elizabeth, which will homeport Down Under for 105 days between 27 Nov 2023 and 10 Mar 2024. Elizabeth’s highlights will include a series of short roundtrip voyages from Melbourne and Sydney, new Queensland voyages from Sydney to Brisbane, Airlie Beach, Cairns and Port Douglas, as well as an inaugural South Pacific voyage from Sydney.
• Meanwhile Queen Mary 2 will stop by Australia during its 108-day World Voyage on 17 Feb 2024, while Queen Victoria will do similarly on her global voyage, calling in Sydney on 03 Mar 2024.
• Queen Elizabeth’s 105-day homeport season Down Under
  • Extended explorations of Australia and New Zealand await guests sailing on Queen Elizabeth in 2023 and 2024. The luxurious ship is starting her Australian residency with a 6-night voyage from Fremantle on 27 November 2023 before embarking on a series of short break and roundtrip voyages from Melbourne and Sydney totalling 47 ports of call. Some of the highlights of Queen Elizabeth’s season include an all-new 10-night exploration of Queensland’s incredibly magnificent coast and islands, the ship’s inaugural 14-night roundtrip calling into exotic ports of the South Pacific, and Cunard’s highly sought-after Christmas and New Year voyage to New Zealand. Queen Elizabeth then departs Sydney en-route to Japan on 10 March 2024 finishing her 105-day homeport season Down Under.
  • Season highlights:
    • All new Queensland voyages from Sydney to Brisbane, Airlie Beach, Cairns and Port Douglas
    • Inaugural South Pacific roundtrip voyage from Sydney, including Isles of Pines (New Caledonia), Lautoka (Fiji), Suva (Fiji), Port Vila (Vanuatu), Luganville (Vanuatu), Noumea (New Caledonia)
    • Queen Elizabeth’s popular Christmas Voyage to New Zealand spending NYE in Auckland
    • Exploration of the Sapphire Coast with a port call in Eden
    • Overnight port calls in Hobart, Wellington and Auckland
• Queen Anne’s maiden voyage
  • Queen Anne is scheduled to call at more than 32 ports across the world during her maiden season, all sailing out of Southampton. Following her maiden voyage to the enchanting city of Lisbon, the newest Queen will embark on a collection of enticing sailings in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Northern Europe as well as an Eastbound Transatlantic Crossing.

Holland America Line Adds a Season of New Cruises to Australia

• In anticipation of the ports in Australia and New Zealand fully welcoming cruise ships back to their shores, Holland America Line opened bookings for a season of new itineraries aboard Westerdam starting in fall 2022. The new voyages, offered from Sept. 25, 2022, through March 13, 2023, explore Australia’s rich culture, the lush landscapes of New Zealand and the enchanting history and culture of Southeast Asia. 
• Two new cruises conclude the Alaska season and reposition the ship Down Under from North America. Itineraries in Australia and New Zealand sail roundtrip from Sydney, Australia, or between Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand, and include scenic cruising in Fiordland National Park. A special Holiday Cruise departing Dec. 20 celebrates the New Year exploring New Zealand.
• Highlights of the new itineraries:
• Nov. 8: 15 days, roundtrip from Sydney. Ports include Port Chalmers (Dunedin), Lyttelton (Christchurch), Kaikoura, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga (Rotorua), Auckland and Waitangi, all in New Zealand, with scenic cruising in Fiordland National Park.
• Nov. 23: 13 days, roundtrip from Sydney. Ports include Eden, Port Arthur, Hobart (overnight), Adelaide (overnight), Penneshaw, Melbourne and Phillip Island, all in Australia.
• Dec. 6: 14 days, Sydney to Auckland. Australian ports include Melbourne and Hobart; New Zealand ports include Port Chalmers (Dunedin), Lyttelton (Christchurch), Kaikoura, Wellington, Napier and Tauranga (Rotorua), with scenic cruising in Fiordland National Park.
• Dec. 20 Holiday Cruise: 14 days, Auckland to Sydney. Ports include Tauranga (Rotorua), Napier, Kaikoura, Lyttelton (Christchurch), Port Chalmers (Dunedin), Hobart and Melbourne, with scenic cruising in Fiordland National Park.
• Jan. 3: 16 days, Sydney to Singapore. Ports include Newcastle, Airlie Beach, Cairns and Darwin, Australia; Komodo Island, home to the infamous Komodo Dragon; and Lembar, Lombok, and Benoa, Bali, both in Indonesia. A highlight of this voyage is two days spent scenic cruising in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef where guests can marvel in the coral cays and sun-soaked islands above the surface, along with the thousands of reef systems below water.
• Feb. 3: 11 days, roundtrip Singapore. Ports include Phuket, Thailand (overnight); Port Blair, Andaman Islands, India; and the Malaysian ports of Porto Malai, Langkawi; Georgetown, Penang; Malacca and Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur).
• Feb. 14: 13 days, roundtrip Singapore. Ports include Tanjung Priok (Jakarta), Probolinggo, Surabaya and Semarang (Borobudur), on Java, in Indonesia; Komodo Island; Benoa and Celukan on Bali; ending with an overnight at Singapore.
• Feb. 27: 14 days, Singapore to Yokohama (Tokyo), Japan. Ports include Puerto Princesa, Boracay and Manila, Philippines; Kaohsiung and Keelung (Taipei), Taiwan; and Ishigaki, Naha and Kochi, Japan.
• Book Back-to-Back Cruises with a Collectors’ Voyage
• Ranging from 24 to 51 days, Collectors’ Voyages are perfect for avid explorers seeking a more extensive cruise experience. The voyages combine back-to-back, nonrepeating itineraries and represent the best per-day value for guests.

Carnival Cruise Line Announces First Sailing Out of Australia

• In exciting news for cruise fans, Carnival Cruise Line today announced its first cruise back in Australian waters in over two years, with the cruise on sale now.
• Departing from Sydney on 02 October 2022, guests on board will have the opportunity to reacquaint themselves with the fabulous Carnival Splendor on this three-day getaway cruise.
• With over 45 onboard activities to explore including the exhilarating Green-Lightning thrill-slide, family-friendly shows, delicious dining experiences and more, Carnival Splendor’s first Australian cruise in over 930 days is the perfect sampler to reignite your love for cruising.

Carnival celebrates the restart of its entire fleet

• With the departure of Carnival Splendor from the Port of Seattle today, Carnival Cruise Line celebrates the restart of its entire fleet of ships and Carnival becomes the first major cruise line in the U.S. to achieve that milestone.
• Carnival Splendor is the 23rd and final Carnival ship to welcome guests back on board after Carnival’s resumption of cruising from the U.S. last July.  Guests are set to depart from Seattle, Wash. today on an eight-day Alaska cruise, completing an impressive and successful restart of guest operations and setting the pace for the rest of the U.S. cruise industry. Carnival Splendor’s summer itineraries to Alaska are part of a three-ship deployment, along with Carnival Spirit from Seattle and Carnival Miracle from San Francisco – the largest-ever cruise program Carnival has sailed to Alaska.

Le Ponant to cruise Kimberley in 2023

• Ponant has announced the Australian debut of its iconic three-masted ultra luxury yacht Le Ponant (pictured), which will cruise the Kimberley region next year.
• New bespoke itineraries will showcase the region’s stunning beauty aboard the sailing yacht, which has capacity for just 32 passengers after a major refit which has doubled the size of its staterooms.
• Exclusive features include a private scenic flight aboard one of Paspaley’s vintage Gurmman Mallard flying boats to take guests to or from their embarkation point, as well as access to Paspaley’s pearl operations in Kuri Bay.
• The deployment will see Le Ponant operating in the Kimberley alongside two of her fleetmates, with Le Laperouse and Le Soleal to also return for next year’s Kimberley season.
• Bookings will open later this month for the season, which will operate between Apr and Oct 2023 along with a curated complementary selection of pre- and post-cruise land arrangements featuring upmarket accommodation in Western Australia, such as El Questro Station, Berkeley River Lodge, and more.

 Three Additional Princess Cruises Ships Return to Service

• Three additional Princess Cruises ships are returning to service welcoming guests back onboard – Crown Princess, Island Princess and Royal Princess. This milestone marks a total of 12 ships, 80 percent of the fleet, that will have resumed cruising since July 2021, for the world’s leading international cruise line.
• Island Princess departed Ft. Lauderdale on April 27 on a Panama Canal cruise; Royal Princess sailed from Vancouver on May 2 for the popular “Voyage of the Glaciers” Alaska season; and Crown Princess is scheduled to depart Seattle on May 7 for a summer program of Inside Passage Alaska cruises.
• Island Princess – Panama Canal – Departed Ft. Lauderdale on April 27
  • Celebrating the 55th anniversary of the cruise line sailing to the engineering marvel of the Panama Canal, Island Princess departed on a 14-day Ocean-to-Ocean Panama Canal voyage from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles on April 27, and will return on a subsequent voyage from Los Angeles to Ft. Lauderdale on May 11. Princess first sailed to the Panama Canal in 1967 aboard Princess Italia. Island Princess will then depart Ft. Lauderdale for Europe, sailing various British Isles, Northern Europe (including Iceland and the Arctic Circle) and Mediterranean voyages.
• Royal Princess – Alaska – Departed Vancouver on May 2
  • Sailing on the cruise line’s top-rated “Voyage of the Glaciers” itinerary, Royal Princess departs on back-to-back northbound and southbound cruises from Vancouver and Whittier (Anchorage). Every sailing includes two days of glacier viewing featuring Glacier Bay National Park, plus Hubbard Glacier (southbound) or College Fjord (northbound). Port visits include Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway. These cruises can also be combined with one of the cruise line’s 20 cruisetour options featuring an unforgettable land tour visiting the magnificent Denali National Park and Princess Wilderness Lodges.
• Crown Princess – Alaska – Scheduled to Sail from Seattle on May 7
  • Departing on Saturdays from Seattle, Crown Princess is scheduled to depart on 19, seven-day Inside Passage voyages to Alaska through September 10, 2022. She will then move to Los Angeles for a season of California Coast and Hawaii sailings.
• Return to Service Schedule – All 15 Princess Ships
  • The cruise line’s fleet of 15 ships are currently sailing or are scheduled to return to service by September 2022.

Wonder of the Seas arrives for European Debut

• The world’s newest wonder, Royal Caribbean International’s Wonder of the Seas, arrived in Barcelona, Spain, to kick off a summer full of memorable holidays in Europe. The fifth in the cruise line’s revolutionary Oasis Class line-up sets course for the Mediterranean on 7-night cruises from Barcelona and Rome beginning Sunday, 8th May. With a combination of brand-new thrills and signature favourites on board, Wonder is the getaway where holidaymakers of all ages can make memories as they sail to explore sought-after destinations such as Florence, Naples and Capri, Italy; Provence, France; and Malaga, Spain.
• Wonder’s western Mediterranean sailings will continue through October, rounding out a summer splash in Europe with eight action-packed ships, including Odyssey of the Seas – also marking its first season in Europe. In November, Wonder will return to the U.S. to sail from its new year-round home in Port Canaveral, Florida, to explore the Caribbean and The Bahamas, including the cruise line’s private island destination, Perfect Day at CocoCay.

Azamara Onward Officially Joins Azamara Fleet Following Monte Carlo Naming Ceremony

• Azamara, an upmarket cruise line and leader in Destination Immersion® experiences, has officially added Azamara Onward to its now four-ship fleet today following a festive naming ceremony in Monte Carlo. The christening ceremony was led by the President of Azamara, Carol Cabezas, and Azamara Onward Godmother, Beth Santos, founder and CEO of global community and lifestyle brand Wanderful.
• On the embarkation day of Azamara Onward’s maiden voyage, the ship’s traditional christening ceremony was held shipside at the Port of Monte Carlo, attended by Azamara’s loyal partners, with a warm welcome toast by Cruise Director Eric De Gray, musical performance by Chœur d’enfants, and blessings by Rabbi Howard Apothaker and Father John McCrone. Azamara President, Carol Cabezas and Godmother, Beth Santos, each delivered meaningful words to attendees followed by the Godmother’s ceremonial bottle breaking tradition to close out the christening of Azamara Onward and to bring good fortune to the vessel in its future voyages.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines unveils new hand-crafted program of cruising for 2023/24

• Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has unveiled its full program of cruising for 2023/24, with more than 100 hand-crafted sailings and the introduction of new Journey Navigators across its fleet of smaller ships.
• The new program includes opportunities to witness Norway’s famous Langfoss Waterfall in the spring, when the water is at its heaviest, explore the remote islands of the Azores, and visit Lapland in the summer months.
• Durations range from two to 93-nights, with regional departures from Liverpool, Newcastle, Rosyth, Southampton, Dover, London Tilbury and Belfast. In addition, the program features the return of a fly-cruise program, with Braemar to be based in the Caribbean for the winter months.

Quark Expeditions Announces Start of its Arctic 2022 Season

• Quark Expeditions, launched its Arctic 2022 season on May 3, 2022, with a 7-day “Spitsbergen Highlights: Expedition in Brief” voyage. This much-awaited sailing also marked the inaugural Arctic voyage of Ultramarine, Quark Expeditons’ game-changing new ship.
• Quark Expeditions’ Arctic 2022 season features diverse regions, including Spitsbergen, Greenland and the Canadian High Arctic, on multiple small polar vessels.