Cunard has announced that its magnificent Queen Mary 2 will make her maiden visits to Dunedin and Tauranga as part of a stunning circumnavigation of New Zealand from Sydney in early 2018.
The 13-night New Zealand cruise will be the centrepiece of Queen Mary 2’s extended season in local waters during her 2018 world voyage.
Departing Sydney on February 24, 2018, guests on the Cunard flagship will enjoy scenic cruising through the beautiful waters of Milford Sound, Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound in Fiordland National Park before visiting Dunedin on February 28. Queen Mary 2 will then call at Akaroa (March 1), Wellington (March 2), Tauranga (March 4), Auckland (March 5) and Bay of Islands (March 6) before her return to Sydney. Fares for the cruise start from NZ$3969* per person double occupancy.
Announcing details of its new 2018 World Voyages program, which goes on sale on April 13, Cunard said overwhelming demand for Queen Mary 2’s shorter cruises from Australia in 2017 had prompted it to schedule more roundtrip cruises from Australia in 2018 as part of the liner’s world cruise itinerary.
In addition to the New Zealand cruise, Queen Mary 2 will offer a four-night cruise to Kangaroo Island from Melbourne, departing February 18, 2018, with fares from $1279* per person double occupancy.
Guests onboard Queen Mary 2 will be able to enjoy a range of new features following an extensive two-month remastering of the liner this year.
In all, the liner’s 120-night world voyage will visit 45 ports across 23 countries with prices for the full east-west world voyage, which departs Southampton in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2018, priced from $36,509* per person double occupancy.
Shorter sectors are also available with a 26-night cruise from Auckland to Hong Kong via Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam priced from $8319* per person double occupancy.
As part of the 2018 world voyage program, Queen Mary 2’s younger sister Queen Elizabeth will also visit New Zealand, with calls to Auckland on February 23 and Bay of Islands on February 24, 2018, forming part of a classic western circumnavigation of the globe which will feature a Panama Canal transit and visits to 39 ports in 25 countries.
During her voyage Queen Elizabeth will make eight maiden calls including her first visits to Moorea in French Polynesia, Ocho Rios in Jamaica and Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala.
Fares for Queen Elizabeth’s full 122-night world voyage start from $37,269* per person double occupancy, while a 20-night cruise from Auckland to Osaka, including calls to Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane in Australia, Rabaul in Papua New Guinea and Okinawa in Japan, is priced from $6429* per person double occupancy.
The 2018 program also includes an exciting new voyage concept for Cunard – an exotic 75-night circumnavigation of South America by Queen Victoria, including calls to the Caribbean, Central America and transits of the Panama Canal, Beagle Channel and the Magellan Straits.
Guests on the voyage will enjoy overnight stays in Port Everglades, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Charleston as well as scenic cruising near Cape Horn and the Amalia and Pio XI glaciers in Chile as the voyage visits 26 ports in 15 countries.
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