Cairns has joined the ranks of Australia’s elite cruise cities with P&O’s Pacific Eden becoming the first ship to be based in the north Queensland ‘capital’.
The 1500-guest ship, which set sail on her first roundtrip from Cairns on September 10, 2016, called the city home for the next two months.
During that time it’s estimated she accommodated around 13,000 passengers on nine separate cruises that included Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
It is estimated 40 percent of guests travelled from interstate to join P&O Pacific Eden voyages.
“We’ve had our eye on Cairns for many years and are thrilled to have the capacity to be able to base one of our latest ships in the city for the next two months,” said P&O Cruises Vice President Sales and Marketing Simon Cheng.
“We have always seen Cairns as a cruising hot spot with great potential and Pacific Eden’s mid-range size means she can berth at the cruise terminal right in the heart of the city providing a fantastic cruise experience for our guests.”
Pacific Eden’s 2016 Cairns season featured eight roundtrip cruises and one re-positioning journey.
The ship has become a familiar sight in the far north with an even bigger encore season in 2017 featuring 10 cruises from Cairns from August to November.
According to industry figures, Queensland is the second biggest source market for Australian cruisers with more than 280,000 bookings in 2015. Queensland is also home to more cruise destinations than any other state in Australia, with P&O ships now sailing to 11 destinations along its coast.
