Queensland’s cruise industry is sailing towards further growth, with P&O Cruises announcing it will base an unprecedented three ships in Brisbane in 2018.
The nation’s biggest cruise line, P&O has revealed that its 2000-guest superliner Pacific Jewel will offer cruises departing Brisbane from September to November 2018, joining Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria which are homeported in the city year-round.
The move means that P&O will carry more than 215,000 holidaymakers on a record 126 cruises from Brisbane throughout 2018, compared to 185,000 passengers on 105 cruises in 2017.
Announcing the three-ship deployment, P&O Cruises President Sture Myrmell said the cruise line expected its itineraries would inject more than $150 million into the local economy next year, with its fleet making more than 300 calls to Queensland ports in 2018.
“Queensland is made for cruising. Not only is it the second biggest source of cruise passengers in the country, it offers more cruise destinations than any other State, with our ships sailing to 10 ports along the coastline,” Mr Myrmell said.
“In 2018, we’ll not only sail on 126 cruises from Brisbane, we’ll have a further seven voyages from Cairns, plus we’ll make more than 100 visits to Queensland destinations, with our itineraries from Brisbane including some wonderful seven-night Great Barrier Reef cruises and plenty of short four-night cruises to the Whitsundays.
“These calls will deliver valuable funds to communities throughout the State, with spending across a range of areas including provedoring, guest and crew shopping and port charges.”
Next year’s record deployment is outlined in P&O’s new brochure, which includes its latest 2018-19 summer season offerings.
Options for Queensland holidaymakers range from three to 14-night cruises, with a record 27 shorter Sea Break itineraries on offer from Brisbane and Cairns.
In addition to its popular Christmas and New Year cruises, P&O will also offer an Australia Day cruise to Sydney from Brisbane in January 2019 and a roundtrip Melbourne Cup cruise from Brisbane in November 2018.
Queenslanders will also be able to enjoy six 10-night cruises to Papua New Guinea, each featuring five exotic ports including a visit to the beautiful and untouched Conflict Islands.
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