Carnival Cruise Lines today unveiled its greatest selection of itineraries ever published from outside the United States. The new program sees Carnival double the number of short cruises offered to guests, introduces Carnival’s first Melbourne Cup Cruise and features a record 99 voyages in 2014 and 2015.
This bumper program follows the recent announcement that Carnival Cruise Lines would soon have two ships calling Australia home, with Carnival Legend setting sail for the first cruise of her seasonal deployment out of Sydney in September 2014.
News of Carnival Legend’s move “down under” comes just seven months after the arrival of Carnival Spirit, the newest and largest ship home ported in Sydney year-round, and the first time the world’s largest cruise line has ever home ported a ship outside the United States.
Carnival Cruise Lines Director for Australia and New Zealand, Jennifer Vandekreeke, said Carnival Spirit and Carnival Legend would be sailing the highly popular 8-12 day cruises to the tropical Pacific Islands, including New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji and would be introducing some extra features for Australian guests.
“With two ships sailing from Sydney, we’ve taken the opportunity to add some extra spice to the program - we’ve doubled the number of weekend sampler cruises on offer, and we’re taking Carnival Spirit down to Melbourne in 2014 and 2015 for guests to experience the race that stops a nation, the Melbourne Cup,” Ms. Vandekreeke said.
Since arriving in Sydney in October 2012, Carnival Spirit’s popularity has proved that Australians and Carnival Cruise Lines are a great fit. Insights and feedback from the more than 100,000 guests that have booked on Carnival Spirit will be used to ensure Carnival Legend ticks all the boxes for its Aussie passengers.
“The Carnival Spirit crew quickly learned the unique differences between Aussie cruisers and the mostly US-based guests that sail on Carnival Cruise Lines’ other ships,” Ms. Vandekreeke said. “This has inspired us to roll out an extensive barista training program (to create the all-important perfect cup of coffee), add a wide variety of family activities to our onboard program and make further tweaks to the menu with more fresh Australian produce and a more international menu.
“What we’ve learnt so far about our Aussie guests will help us plan the upgrades for Carnival Legend prior to her arrival so she’s perfectly suited for her new summer home. In addition to her 16 bars and lounges, her breadth of wide open spaces and the super-chilled adults-only Serenity retreat, Carnival Legend will receive some key ‘Aussification’ upgrades too - such as our new and improved coffee, Australian menu selections, no tipping policy and Aussie power points,” Ms. Vandekreeke added.
Full details of the upgrades planned for Carnival Legend will be unveiled over the coming months.
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