Cunard has touched down on the shores of Fremantle, marking its long-awaited return to Aussie waters.
Queen Elizabeth straight away reminded local communities of the money Cunard will be injecting into the economy, preparing for her seven-day voyage to Sydney by loading over 20 tonnes of local produce in Fremantle. For a picture, this included nearly 18,000 eggs, 200kgs berries, 1400kgs of potatoes, and 200kgs of cheese from Western Australia.
The vessel hasn’t been in Fremantle since December 2019, having arrived at the end of a 29-day sailing from Barcelona, with stops in Greece, the Suez Canal, Singapore, Jakarta, and Bali along the way.
Highlight itineraries for the season ahead include a 25-night circumnavigation of Australia, Australia’s first Gardening Journey, and a Great Australia Culinary Journey headlined by Matt Moran.
Cunard VP, of Commercial for North America and Australasia, Matt Gleaves, said energy is high across the cruise line as they look forward to Queen Elizabeth’s homeport season and the 121-days and 61 calls, including eight in WA, packed into it.
Mr. Gleaves said: “The natural rugged beauty, incredible food and wine and abundance of nature and wildlife in Western Australia ensure our port calls throughout the state are some of the most desired by our passengers.
“Our eight calls across the state see us visit Fremantle, Busselton, Albany, and Esperance, injecting upwards of $6.8 million to state and regional economies.
“We are proud to be provisioning a variety of premium local WA produce including fruit, vegetables, and dairy products, and to showcase this world-class produce onboard Queen Elizabeth.â
Steven Biviano, Group General Manager at Select Fresh Providores said: “We are very excited for the return of Cunardâs Queen Elizabeth, one of the worldâs most iconic international cruise ships arriving back to Australia.
“The cruise industry not only boosts tourism, they are also crucial for many local farmers and suppliers of produce after a challenging time of catastrophic weather events. Cunardâs guests can expect nothing less but some of the best fresh, local provisions loaded in Fremantle and throughout the season.â
Tourism is important for the economy. As this article points out not only the provisioning of the cruise ship with local produce but also the amount spent by 2,000 passengers and the crew of over 1,000 also provides benefits to local shops, restaurants and tour operators.