Cunard have just unveiled plans to base Queen Elizabeth in Australia in 2019.
The 2,068 passenger ship will have a two-month stint in Australia and will sail from Sydney and Melbourne on seven cruises to New Zealand, Australia and Tasmania.
They will include two round-trip New Zealand voyages, one from Sydney and one from Melbourne, plus three round-trip voyages that include Tasmanian itineraries- two from Melbourne and one from Sydney.
Cunard’s Vice President International Development, David Rousham, stated that the move will reflect the growing demand down under for the line’s cruises. He announced this news in the wake of last weekend’s ‘royal rendezvous’ in Sydney, when both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 were in port.
He furthered: ‘Whenever Cunard’s itineraries have included round-trips from Australian ports and visits to New Zealand, the demand has always been immense. This will be the first time that Cunard has featured so many voyages to and from Melbourne in addition to Sydney, and will give Australians a much greater number of options to experience Cunard than ever before’.
Melbourne is due to have five turnarounds: each worth around $1 million to the local economy, including passenger and crew spending in the city, food and transport, local supplies and port charges.
Ahead of her Australia deployment, Queen Elizabeth will have recently undergone a refit. Full details of the cruises, which will operate from February to April 2019, will be released on March 14th, and go on sale March 30th.
Australia is Cunard’s number three source market after the UK and US, and Rousham said he expected the 2019 deployment to double the number of Australians and New Zealanders travelling with the line.
What are your thoughts on today’s news? Do you feel that Cunard should stay true to Britain? Are you a fan of the idea of Queen Elizabeth temporarily moving over to Australia? Which ship from the fleet have you sailed with? Leave us your comments…
