Princess Cruises has announced its planned resumption of cruising in Australia, with Coral Princess set to debut in Brisbane on June 16 for its inaugural season down under. In a move worth an estimated $60 million to the Queensland economy, the 2,000-guest ship will be homeported in Brisbane for 11 new departures, ranging from three to 12 nights between June and August before returning for another 10 cruises this summer from November.
The MedallionClass ship will make 48 calls to the state’s ports this year, including its first visits to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, Cairns and Port Douglas. Meanwhile Coral Princess’ sister ships, Grand Princess and Majestic Princess, will make a further six calls to Queensland ports as part of their scheduled Australian season sailing from Sydney and Melbourne.
Princess’ new winter program reflects anticipation that state governments around Australia will soon welcome the return of cruise ships to their shores. Unveiling the program, Princess Cruises Senior Director Sales, Marketing and Service Nick Ferguson said the new Queensland season would see Princess Cruises inject an estimated $71 million into the state economy in crew and passenger spending, ship supplies and port charges. Ferguson said the cruise line’s focus on Brisbane reflected the demand for cruise holidays among Queenslanders, as well as the growing interest in domestic cruising.
He said he expected Coral Princess to be a popular choice among Australian travelers. The 91,627-tonne ship offers a mix of premium staterooms including more than 500 private balcony staterooms and over 200 suites and mini-suites. Highlights of the new winter program include six short getaway cruises from Brisbane and Sydney; five seven-day Queensland roundtrip cruises from Brisbane, sailing to Cairns, Port Douglas, and Airlie Beach (for the Whitsundays); a new seven-day New South Wales Coast roundtrip from Brisbane, with a maiden call to Eden (Sapphire Coast), Sydney, and Newcastle; a new 12-day Queensland and New South Wales voyage, sailing roundtrip from Brisbane and a new 12-day Queensland and the Conflict Islands voyage, roundtrip Sydney or Brisbane, crossing the Coral Sea to visit the stunning and remote Conflict Islands in Papua New Guinea.
Ferguson said Coral Princess would reposition to Sydney and resume its previously announced Australia and New Zealand program for the 2022-23 summer season which currently includes voyages to the Pacific, Round Australia, Queensland, and New Zealand. As part of the summer fleet, Majestic Princess is planned to return to Sydney on October 20, with voyages that currently include New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania and Fiji, while Grand Princess will make its debut down under sailing out of Melbourne on November 4 with roundtrip voyages that currently include New Zealand, Queensland and South Australia. Ferguson added that Majestic Princess will also offer a new 11-day Queensland voyage, sailing roundtrip from Sydney on Majestic Princess in February 2023.
More information about Coral Princess can be found at https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/co-coral-princess/
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