PRINCESS Cruises’ 2019/2020 Australian cruise season will be its largest in history. The record-breaking 900-plus day deployment will see Princess carry more guests than ever onboard five ships on itineraries from Sydney, Perth (Fremantle), Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland.
The historic season will be spearheaded by the maiden arrival of the 3,080 guest Ruby Princess and the second season return of the 3,560 guest Majestic Princess. Cruising 444 cruise days out of Sydney, Majestic and Ruby will carry over 100,000 guests, a 25 per cent increase on the current season.
Princess will also spend an unprecedented 141 days deployed in Fremantle while South Australia will also see a surge in cruise ships sailing to and from the region, with Golden Princess, Sun Princess and Majestic Princess completing itineraries to and from Adelaide.
There will be a record three international round-trip voyages over the 2019/2020 season, including a new 18-day Fiji cruise on Golden Princess and a new 55-day Indian Ocean and South Africa Odyssey cruise on Sun Princess.
In Brisbane, Sea Princess itineraries will span two to 35 days, to destinations across New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Coral Sea, South Pacific, and Hawaii. Highlights include a new 10-day voyage to Tasmania, with calls to Burnie, Port Arthur, Hobart and Sydney.
In Melbourne, Golden Princess will sail to destinations in New Zealand, South Australia and the South Pacific. Highlights include a new 14-day Queensland cruise with calls to Airlie Beach, Yorkey’s Knob, Port Douglas, Brisbane, Newcastle and Sydney and a new seven-day Southern Australia Explorer with late night calls in Adelaide.
Bookings are now open.
Travel agents, 132-488, www.princess.com
SILVERSEA has announced a new collection of ballet and opera-themed sailings. The voyages will feature evocative opera shows performed by the world-renowned Accademia Teatro alla Scala and classic ballet performances by soloists from such legendary companies as the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Along with lectures and Q&A sessions, guests will have the chance to mingle with the artists at a signature cocktail party.
Daria Khokhlova and Artemy Belyakov, acclaimed ballet solo performers of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia are returning to Silversea for an exclusive engagement aboard Silver Muse's August 19, 2018 sailing from Venice to Monte Carlo.
Silver Muse's March 21, 2019 voyage from Singapore to Hong Kong will feature soloists from a yet-to-be-announced ballet company. The 13-day voyage will feature calls in Koh Samui, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.
The Opera voyages include Silver Spirit which departs April 25, 2019 on a seven-day voyage from Barcelona to Rome and Silver Shadow which departs October 22, 2019 on an 11-day, roundtrip voyage from Athens with calls in Mykonos, Crete, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Limassol, Haifa and Ashdod.
Travel agents, (02) 9255-0600, www.silversea.com/opera-cruises.html, www.silversea.com/ballet-cruises.html
LUXURY cruise line Cunard has announced that its world-famous Queen Elizabeth will be based in Australia for an unprecedented 101 days over the 2019-20 summer.
Queen Elizabeth will sail on six roundtrip cruises from Melbourne and two from Sydney during the season, which will feature an array of itineraries to South Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between December 2019 and March 2020.
The new 2020 Australian deployment will be almost double the length of Queen Elizabeth’s scheduled 54-day season Down Under early next year, which will see the ship sailing from Sydney and Melbourne during February-March 2019.
