World’s big liners set sail for Melbourne
On board the new Queen of the ocean
On her majesty’s service … a sweeping art deco stairway on board the Queen Elizabeth.
SOME of the world’s biggest and most extravagant cruise ships are coming to Melbourne early next year, including Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth.
The two Queens – like floating palaces with sweeping staircases, chandeliers and even a Harrods outlet – carry almost 5000 well-heeled passengers who indulge in black-tie dinners, masquerade balls and cigar lounges.
Queen Mary 2 is 3½ times as long as London’s Big Ben is tall and when it sails into Port Phillip Bay on March 5 it is expected to be welcomed by big crowds along the foreshore at Point Lonsdale and at Station Pier. It will be its maiden visit to Melbourne and the second visit for the Queen Elizabeth, which is scheduled a week earlier.
Other big ships on the way include the Diamond Princess, Radiance of the Seas and the Dawn Princess, which is already based in Melbourne for a series of seven voyages to New Zealand and a 25-night circumnavigation of Australia.
By the end of April, a record 56 liners will have entered the bay.
While strictly speaking not a cruise ship, The World – the largest privately owned yacht, with 165 apartments – arrives on February 20.
The World, which constantly circumnavigates the globe, has taken its residents to more than 800 ports since being launched in 2002. Some live on board but most holiday on the ship for a few months each year.
Between them the ships will carry a total of 109,000 passengers and 48,000 crew, and according to Tourism Minister Louise Asher they will bring an enormous economic benefit. She said last year they contributed $69 million to the city.
Cruise industry sources said that each big ship in port for a day or two generates at least $1 million in spending, mainly through shore excursions, shopping and providing the ships with food and drink.
Favourite shore excursions include Healesville Sanctuary zoo, Puffing Billy steam train, Yarra River city cruises, wine tours, the Eureka Skydeck and the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant.
The general manager of the International Cruise Council Australasia, Brett Jardine, said cruising had been growing rapidly around the world, and in particular in Australia, for several years. He estimated that more than 500,000 Australians holidayed at sea during 2011.
Passenger numbers surged 27 per cent in 2010, with 466,692 Australians taking a cruise, up from 366,721 in 2009. Australia’s penchant for cruising was only beaten by New Zealand, which had 36 per cent growth. North America and Britain increased 6 per cent in 2010.
Christine Manuel is about to take her family on a 13-night cruise from Melbourne to New Zealand. ”It will be my 10th cruise and our third as a family,” she said. ”My kids [Naomi, 14, and Nicholas, 12] love it and, along with my husband, I’ve also talked my father-in-law, mother-in-law and sister-in-law into coming along this time.
”I like it because you can go on board, unpack once and then everything is done for you. It’s such good value, with everything [except drinks] included. You don’t have to worry about finding a restaurant, or about driving or about getting a taxi. You know what you’ve paid for and there are no more expenses.
”For me, as a mother and a wife, I find it relaxing because I don’t have to do anything. I don’t have to cook, I don’t have to clean and I don’t have to make beds. I can actually have a holiday.”
Read: Biggest, best: the world’s most amazing cruise ships