Cunard Down Under!

Cunard has to be one of my favourite cruise lines.  I love the fact that the Cunard ships are still very traditional for cruising.  Cunard have just unveiled their plans to base the much loved Queen Elizabeth in Australia in 2019.   The ship which holds 2068 passengers will do a two month stint in Australia.  it will set sail from Sydney and Melbourne doing 7 nights cruises.  It will cover Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania.  The vice President of Cunard’s International Development has said that them moving to Australia really reflects the growing demand of cruise lines down under.  The news was announced when last weekend the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary 2 had a Royal Rendezvous in Sydney as they were in the same port.  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 then will go on sale March 30th.  The sailings will include round trip voyages from New Zealand, Sydney and Melbourne and round trip voyages including Tasmania.  Cunard think that the news of Queen Elizabeth will double the number of Australians and New Zealanders travelling with them.    I am not too sure what I make of the news.  Cunard are a very British Cruise Line and attract lots of passengers from the British market without having to take it Down Under.  I suppose it isn’t as though they are fully moving the ship over there but it is still a couple of months.  Hopefully Queen Elizabeth will be back sailing from Southampton for the summer months.  Cunard are definitely one of my favourite.  I love the whole traditional Afternoon tea on board and feel they offer very good food and entertainment.  It will certainly be interesting to see what other Cunard past passengers think of the move.