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5 days ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Last year 1.32m Australians took an ocean cruise, maintaining the country's rank as fourth largest cruise market after the United States (19.12m), Germany (2.57m) and the United Kingdom (2.34m). The figure was released Monday in Cruise Lines International Association Australasia’s 2024 Source Market Report for Australia. The number is up from 1.25m in 2023 and a further increase on the pre-pandemic figure of 1.24m in 2019.
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1 week ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Broome International Airport opened a dedicated lounge for passengers disembarking from Kimberley voyages. The airport’s CEO Craig Shaw believes the cruise lounge is the only one of its kind in Australia and said it will be available until September 21 when it will close for the season. Food and local libationsCruise operators pay a fee to the airport for their passengers to have access to the lounge where they are served food, local beers, Western Australian wines, soft drinks and coffee.
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1 week ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Following a sold-out 2025 Kimberley season, Heritage Expeditions is offering a 20% discount on 2026 ‘Kimberley Explorer’ voyages booked by June 30 this year. The New Zealand company owned by the Russ family operated its first 11-day ‘Kimberley Explorer’ voyages two years ago.
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2 weeks ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Keynote speakers for this year’s annual conference of the Australian Cruise Association have been revealed. They are Holland America Line's Robert de Bruin, director of deployment, Princess Cruises’ Debbie Holbrook, director of deployment and itinerary planning, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ Christine Manjencic, VP destination services.
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2 weeks ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Carnival Cruise LineAustralia’s Carnival Splendor rescued four people and their dogs stranded aboard a stricken catamaran in the South Pacific on Thursday. The ship, which left Sydney on May 19 on an eight-day round cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia, was informed of the catamaran’s distress call by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Noumea. It had left the Gold Coast on May 14 and was heading for Fiji when the catamaran suffered engine failure and a broken mast during bad weather.
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2 weeks ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Plans for Carnival Adventure to be the first cruise ship to return to Port Vila following the devastating December earthquake have been postponed. As reported here, Vanuatu’s Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities signed a six-month contract with local companies to make Port Vila a temporary tender port. Carnival Adventure was due to tender there on June 8, followed by Carnival Splendor.
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3 weeks ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Adventure will mark the return of cruise ships when it anchors off Vanuatu's Port Vila on June 8. Cruise ships haven't called for six months, since the devastating earthquake in December. Large parts of the central business district remain closed for safety reasons while assessments and demolition of damaged buildings are under way. Landslides have occurred, with the worst affected areas blocked off, including access to Port Vila’s cruise terminal.
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3 weeks ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
The Vanuatu island is touted as the first private cruise ship destination in the southern hemisphere. Royal Caribbean plans to open the South Pacific's first cruise line private island on Lelepa in Vanuatu in early 2027. The company promised 'serene beaches, nature trails, water activities and delicious dining,' with more details to come.
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4 weeks ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Inaugural Mediterranean cruises sold out and next year there will be many more Europe sailings including Aurora's first river cruises. Aurora Expeditions’ inaugural foray into the Mediterranean this year has been a success, with all five departures aboard Sylvia Earle sold out. It is the first time the Australian company has ventured from its signature polar destinations.
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1 month ago | 
seatrade-cruise.com | Helen Hutcheon
Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours launched its 2027-28 Worldwide Discoveries Collection of all-inclusive voyages across six continents. The new collection, from October 2026 until March 2028, covers more than 500 ports across 63 countries, from Antarctica and the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean and Caribbean. ‘Since launching our discovery yachts, we’ve continued to reimagine what’s possible in ultra-luxury ocean exploration,’ Scenic Group VP Ocean Deployment Claudius Docekal said.
