Princess Announces Restart Plans in Australia - Coral Princess to Sail from Queensland

Coral Princess to call Australia home from June

The world’s leading premium cruise line, Princess Cruises today announced its planned resumption of cruising in Australia, with Coral Princess set to debut in Brisbane on June 16 for her inaugural season Down Under.

In a move worth an estimated $60 million dollars to the Queensland economy, the 2000-guest ship will be homeported in Brisbane for 11 new departures ranging from 3-12 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 her 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, working with the cruise industry to establish protocols for the resumption of cruising.

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.

Mr 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.

“After two years of rolling pauses, we are delighted to be featuring Queensland in an exciting winter program of cruises from Australia, which demonstrates our commitment to cruising Down Under and the local travel agent community.”

Mr Ferguson said he expected Coral Princess to be a popular choice among Australian travellers. The 91,627-tonne ship offers a mix of premium staterooms including more than 500 private balcony staterooms and more than 200 suites and mini-suites.

“Coral Princess is a great mid-sized ship, which carries 2000 guests yet offers a wide range of public spaces and amenities normally only found on much larger ships, so she provides a very affordable way to see Australia and the world in comfort and style.

“And with Princess’ MedallionClass our guests can easily stay connected with their friends and family while at sea and experience a more personalised and effortless cruise holiday.”

Highlights of the new winter program include:

• Six short getaway cruises from Brisbane and Sydney – perfect seacations for those with busy schedules.
• Five 7-day Queensland roundtrip cruises from Brisbane, sailing to Cairns, Port Douglas, and Airlie Beach (for the Whitsundays).
• A new 7-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.
• 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.

Mr Ferguson said Coral Princess would reposition to Sydney and resume her 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 her debut down under sailing out of Melbourne on November 4 with round trip voyages that currently include New Zealand, Queensland and South Australia. Mr Ferguson added that Majestic Princess will also offer a new 11-day Queensland voyage, sailing roundtrip from Sydney on Majestic Princess in February 2023.

Princess Cruises delivers the ultimate in effortless, personalised cruising featuring the world-class dining and entertainment the cruise line is renowned for, all elevated with the Princess MedallionClass Experience. On all ships in the Princess fleet, it begins with the Medallion®, a dollar-sized, wearable device that enables everything from expedited contactless boarding to locating loved ones anywhere on the ship, as well as enhanced service like having whatever guests need, delivered directly to them, wherever they are on the ship. In addition, guests can share their favourite cruise moments using MedallionNet®, the best WiFi at sea, as well as stay connected with friends and family back home, work remotely anywhere on the ship, quickly post content and stream favourite movies, and shows.

The winter program will be open for sale from 9am AEDT on 24 March, 2022 *Subject to availability, conditions apply

More information about Coral Princess can be found here https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/co-coral-princess/

For more details on Princess cruises, visit the company’s website at princess.com, call 13 24 88 or connect with a professional travel advisor. Travel agents are encouraged to call 1300 587 473 or visit onesourcecruises.com.au