Carnival Australia Expansion Plans
Carnival Australia has announced
expansion plans for P&O Cruises,
Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise
Lines.
P&O Cruises’ guests will be at the
leading edge of a global revolution in
the cruise experience when the line
welcomes its first Ocean Medallion-
enabled ship, Golden Princess, to
the brand in 2020. Ocean Medallion
is a new enhanced cruise holiday
experience that uses a wearable
device – powered by a first-of-its-
kind interactive technology platform
– to enable a level of service
and personalisation never before
considered possible.
P&O Cruises will offer its own unique
Ocean Medallion enabled guest
experiences in a way that makes
it even easier to offer great value
holidays to like-minded Aussies who
want to celebrate good times with the
home-grown brand.
The technology, which is expected
to be a game-changer for the guest
experience, will be launched first on
Princess Cruises later this year on Regal
Princess in the Caribbean, followed by
five additional ships in 2018 including
the 2600-guest Golden Princess in
Australia. Additional Princess ships will
be Ocean Medallion enabled in 2019
and 2020 including the larger 3000+
guest Ruby Princess which will replace
Golden Princess in serving Princess
guests in Australia.
Carnival Australia Executive Chairman
Ann Sherry also announced that
Carnival Cruise Line intends to increase
Photo Tim Noble
its Australia operation to two ships
sailing full-time in 2020.
Ms Sherry said the Corporation was
strategically realigning the Australian
business to ensure it was at the cutting
edge of guest expectations and had
solid foundations.
“Carnival’s commitment to this
market and the decision to put P&O
Cruises’ guests at the heart of industry
innovation through Ocean Medallion
is a mark of respect for the Australian
consumer,” Ms Sherry said.
Key decisions are: Ocean Medallion-
enabled Golden Princess will sail under
the P&O Cruises brand from 2020;
P&O Cruises’ fleet will be refreshed
over time; Princess Cruises will replace
Golden Princess with the larger 3000+
guest Ruby Princess which will be
Ocean Medallion-enabled before
her arrival, sailing alongside flagship
Majestic Princess and Carnival Cruise
Line intends to increase its Australia
operation to two ships sailing full-time
in 2020. The detailed deployment will
be announced in May 2018. As part
of the strategic realignment, Carnival
Splendor will remain within Carnival
Cruise Line’s global fleet.
“Seven of Carnival Corporation’s nine
cruise brands sail in this market and
we intend to further strengthen our
leadership position,” Ms Sherry said. “In
fact, this is a year of milestones for our
Australian business: P&O Cruises marks
a staggering 85 years as the home-
grown cruise line, Princess Cruises
celebrates more than 40 years sailing
in Australia while Carnival Cruise Line
notches up its five year anniversary.
Our brands have pioneered the growth
of the industry and set the industry up
for success, and this announcement is
about taking deliberate and strategic
steps for the future of the business. We
are making sure our locally-based fleet
is fit-for-purpose and is at the cutting
edge of revolutionising the cruise
experience for Australian guests.”
Lisa Lutoff-Perlo with Gavin Smith
& Adam Armstrong
Celebrity Revolution
Celebrity Cruises will invest $400 million
in a complete modernisation of the
entire Celebrity Cruises fleet. The
Celebrity Revolution began with the
introduction of the industry-transforming
Celebrity Edge and now continues
with a complete refurbishment of its
Millennium and Solstice Class ships.
“Celebrity Cruises has always been
recognized as an innovative, trend-
setting brand, and the Celebrity
Revolution is just another instance
in which we keep raising the bar in
modern luxury travel,” said Celebrity
Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-
Perlo, a recent first-time visitor to
Sydney. “This is the largest investment
the brand has ever made to modernise
our fleet, and it’s all for our guests,”
continued Lisa.
Lisa Lutoff-Perlo also announced that
legalised same sex marriages will be
offered on all of its ships, effective
immediately, making it the world's
first cruise line to legally conduct gay
weddings at sea. Celebrity Cruises
captains will conduct the ceremonies.
The cruise line will also be a major
sponsor of the Australian LGBTI Awards
in 2018.
Australia is a significant market for
Celebrity Cruises, ranking as the third
largest source market worldwide. More
than 50,000 Australians cruise each year
– both in Australia and overseas with
Celebrity Cruises.
Caption Celebrity Solstice returns
for new season Down Under
Positive Step for Cruise Tourism
Carnival Australia has welcomed the
WA Government’s announcement
that it was committed to fixing issues
at Broome Port, providing cruise ships
with all-tide access at one of the State’s
signature destinations. Following this
announcement
Princess Cruises has confirmed its 2000
guest Sun Princess would homeport
in Fremantle in October and early
November next year.
Princess Cruises Vice President for
Australia and New Zealand, Stuart
Allison, said the five extra cruises would
add $8 million to the WA economy,
attracting more than a third of guests
from interstate. “Improving cruise
ship access at Broome has been
talked about for years and the WA
Government is to be congratulated for
taking this important step,” Mr Allison
said. “Broome is a marquee destination
in WA and is arguably the biggest
drawcard amongst Princess Cruises’
guests looking to cruise in this region.
However, the tidal access often leads to
a poor passenger experience as limited
time means missing out on some of the
signature experiences Broome has to
offer. It is expected this investment to fix
the issues at Broome Port will allow the
safe berthing of our larger Australian-
based ships to Broome in the future,
which is the key to long-term growth of
the WA cruise industry and its economic
benefit to the state. Having recently
announced that two of our largest ships
- the 3000-guest Ruby Princess and the
3600-guest Majestic Princess – will be
based in Australia, our ambition is to
make Broome a marquee port on their
itineraries from 2019.”
www.worldwidecruisecentres.com.au
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