This year’s wave season will see a whole new fleet of ships which will make their inaugural trips to Australia. And over the next 12 months, there will be more new ships than ever before.
The newbies are a testament to how popular cruise holidays are amongst the Aussies and there are ships suited to every taste, style and budget.
There will be 70 maiden calls to ports in Australia, New Zealand as well as the South Pacific.
First out of the block and arriving on December 15 is Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas. She will be Australia’s ;largest homeported ship with amazing technological advancements like the iFly which is a sky diving simulated ride, or the Bionic Bar where guests are served drinks made by a robot. She will be sailing on 15 itineraries to destinations like Tasmania, New Zealand as well as the Pacific islands.
In January, the super luxury Seabourn Encore will sail in fresh from her christening in Singapore. She will make nine maiden calls to ports from Darwin to Geelong.
The Emerald Princess will be joining her sister ships Down Under and after calling at Fremantle and Melbourne, she’ll be homeported in Sydney where she’ll be sailing to Tasmania, New Zealand and the Pacific.
Azamara will be sending the newly refurbished Azamara Journey. After the success of her sister, the Azamara Quest the Journey will sail six cruises in Australia and New Zealand.
The beautiful Europa 2 from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is visiting Australia and New Zealand between December and January and Oceania Cruises, the Oceania Sirena is also making an inaugural visit to the region.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Star will be sailing from Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Australia from January to March. Her sister, the Norwegian Jewel will be based in Sydney from December 2017.
