The cruise industry is continuing to rebound sharply in 2022 with Australians returning to cruising and taking advantage of offers from cruise lines and trying new itineraries and product coming to Australia for the first time.
Ashkan Ghasemi, Managing Director Australia and UK for Dreamlines, which packages cruise holidays as CruiseAway and Cruise1st says that a number of cruise lines are now very active in this region as the market recovers considerably.
He singled out P&O Cruises Australia, Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Holland America as some of the most prominent, along with Cunard and Norwegian Cruise Line.
“An investment in infrastructure and new product is clearly resonating with cruise fans,” Mr Ghasemi said.
“Brisbane’s new international cruise ship terminal has just welcomed P&O’s newest vessel Pacific Encounter for the start of a new cruise season with a number of its voyages already sold out.
“We’re also thrilled that New Zealand has now opened its maritime borders and provides so much choice as far as cruise itineraries and experiences are concerned.”
Plethora of New Cruise Vessels
Sydney will be the home port for one of P&O’s biggest Australian ships Pacific Adventure featuring 135-m-long dual racing waterslides and accommodating around 2,600 guests.
Royal Caribbean is bringing Quantum of the Seas for the first time to Australia and also will be home porting in Brisbane. The cruise line is also bringing Brilliance of the Seas to Australia for the summer season in 2023.
Virgin Voyages is bringing Scarlet Lady, for over 18s, to Australia and home porting her in Melbourne for the season in 2023. Scarlet Lady and Valiant Lady mark Richard Branson’s Virgin Group’s first foray into cruising.
Celebrity Cruises is bringing Celebrity Eclipse to Australian waters for the first time in 2022 and Celebrity Edge in 2023 to sail from Sydney.
In November 2022 Carnival Luminosa from Carnival Cruise Line will operate out of Brisbane and MSC Cruises are bringing MSC Magnifica to Sydney for the first time.
Mr Ghasemi said he believes that cruise demand will continue to increase particularly for closer-in sailings as well as ‘bucket-list’ packages.
“People who were booking pre-Covid regularly have been able to save their holiday spending and are now looking for more once-in-a-lifetime, longer trips than they might previously have booked,” Mr Ghasemi said.
“During the height of the pandemic, it was only the die-hard cruise enthusiasts booking once-in-a-lifetime experiences, however, we are now seeing a much wider demographic returning to cruising.”
Industry Covid Response
Mr Ghasemi said that the industry had responded extremely strongly to Covid concerns.
“Cruise ship safety requirements are the most stringent across any travel and leisure industry and are well monitored,” he said.
“The cruise lines whilst having down time during the pandemic worked extremely hard to make changes to their ships and protocols to ensure they are not only meeting the government requirements, but offering a safer environment for all passengers.
“The industry has met and indeed, exceeded government mandates and protocols throughout the pandemic and continues to do so.
“I believe being on a ship is one of the safest places to be. Even pre-Covid, there was always a strong focus on hygiene and cleanliness.”
