P&O Cruises Australia to add Conflict Islands in Papua New Guinea to itineraries

P&O Cruises Australia, the Australia focused contemporary market brand in Carnival Corp & plc group, says it will introduce calls at the Conflict Islands in Papua New Guinea from next year.

“One of the most remote island groups in the world – the privately-owned Conflict Islands – is set to be the latest tourism hot spot for Australian holidaymakers with P&O Cruises announcing it will make the first cruise ship calls to the picturesque Papua New Guinea atoll next year,” the company said in a statement.

With its fleet expanding from three to five ships this year and further to seven in 2017, cruising from eight homeports between 2016 and 2018, the cruise line has released details of its latest itineraries which will see P&O continuing to pioneer new cruise destinations including the uninhabited Conflict Islands and Queensland’s Fraser Island.

In June 2016, Pacific Jewel will become the first cruise ship to call at the untouched Conflict Islands as part of P&O’s Papua New Guinea itineraries. A picturesque group of 21 islands surrounding a blue lagoon that is home to one of the world’s most biodiverse reef systems, the name of the archipelago is in stark contrast to the reality, with the Conflict Islands considered one of the most peaceful places on the planet.

In a landmark partnership for the region, P&O Cruises has worked with eccentric entrepreneur and passionate conservationist Ian Gowrie-Smith to bring cruise ships to his islands – one of only a few parcels of land owned freehold in Papua New Guinea, the company said.

Explorer of the Seas arrives at Singapore

Royal Caribbean International’s Explorer of the Seas has arrived at Singapore, the sixth ship of the contemporary market unit of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCCL) to call at the port this year.

The ship brought more than 3,200 international guests who arrived, and another 3,200 who boarded for the next sailing today.

“This is also the sixth Royal Caribbean ship visiting Singapore this year, making it the most number of ships from this brand ever in Singapore in a year,” the port said in a statement.

Cruise season ends in Warnemünde

Around 8am on 17 October the cruise liner AIDAmar will tie up at berth P8 and thus end the successful cruise shipping season in Rostock's Baltic Sea resort. In all, the holiday ships that called in Warnemünde 175 times this year carried 354,000 passengers, creating an annual passenger volume of more than 700,000 by embarking and disembarking at the port. According to a definition by the Cruise Europe Association on the method of counting cruise passengers, which adds the embarking (132,000) to the disembarking (131,000) passengers - who are, however, largely identical - and to the transit passengers (222,000), the number for Rostock-Warnemünde comes to 485,000. "181 port calls by cruise liners had been announced for this year. Unfortunately, six port calls were cancelled due to storms and technical problems. Nevertheless Warnemünde was again the most frequented cruise port in Germany. We thank all the cruise shipping companies, service providers and public authorities for the good cooperation this year", summarizes Jens A. Scharner, Managing Director of the Rostock Port Development Company.

Of the 175 port calls by 39 cruise vessels this year, 163 were serviced in Warnemünde and twelve at the overseas port. The largest vessel to set course for the mouth of river Warnow this season was the Royal Princess with a length of 330 meters and a gross register tonnage of 142,714. The vessel, which was commissioned in May 2014, is able to carry around 3600 passengers and 1350 crew. All or some of the passengers were changed during 92 port calls. Rostock-based shipping company AIDA Cruises for instance sent two ships on Baltic Sea cruises from the base port Warnemünde: AIDAdiva and AIDAmar. This season, 28 international shipping companies included the Baltic Sea port on river Warnow in their route planning.

16 percent of all cruise tourists visited Berlin

Of the 354,000 cruise travellers the majority this year were Germans at 110,000, followed by 55,000 Americans, 27,000 British, 23,000 Spaniards, 17,000 Italians, 15,000 Canadians, 10,000 Australians and 97,000 tourists from 148 other nations. The ships also carried 133,000 crew members from 129 countries, more than one third of whom went on shore leave.

16 percent of all cruise guests coming to Warnemünde, that is around 57,000, went on a day trip to Berlin by train or coach this season. About 165,000 passengers set out to discover Warnemünde, Rostock or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on day trips and more than 130,000 started and/or ended their cruise in the passenger port at the mouth of river Warnow.

Based on a study by Rostock University on the spending behaviour of passengers and crew members one may assume that the cruise travellers and crew members spent at least Euro 15 million during the 2015 season, especially in local and regional shops, hotels and restaurants, on public transport, taxi rides and car parking in Warnemünde, Rostock and their environs. Adding to this is the turnover realized through cruise shipping by coach operators, railway, travel agents for shore excursions, utilities, supply and disposal companies, shipping agents, pilots and port operators. "It's a long value-added chain and that's why the cruise business in Warnemünde is so important for the city and the federal state", explains Jens A. Scharner.

17 cruise liners availed themselves of the opportunity to discharge so-called grey water directly from the ship into the public waste water system during 78 port calls this year. In total 26,000 cubic meters of ship's waste water were disposed of. Last season the number was 21,000 cubic meters.

Montreal records 30% rise in cruise passenger count to 92,000 in 2015

The Port of Montreal in Canada welcomed more than 92,000 cruise passengers in the 2015 season that started on 12 May and ran until the end of October, the port said in a statement, adding that the count was 30% higher than last year.

“In all, Montréal recorded 73 cruise ships visits this year, which is 29 more than in 2014. According to preliminary numbers, more than 92,000 passengers and crew members transited through the cruise terminal this season, representing a nearly 30% increase over the 2014 season and a 94% hike since the Montréal Cruise Committee was created in 2011,” the port said, referring to an organisation created to promote the city as a cruise destination.

"Much to the delight of local business owners, a flood of tourists poured through the city's streets this year. Hotels also benefitted from this high-value clientele, as many travellers extended their trips and stayed a few extra nights in Montréal," said Yves Lalumière, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tourisme Montréal. "I would like to applaud the excellent work we've seen from the Montréal Cruise Committee, whose main objective is to attract international-calibre cruise lines to Montréal."

Cruise season on the portion of the St. Lawrence River that leads to Montréal is from May to November. The busiest months are September and October, when travellers come to see the fall colours and discover Québec's natural and cultural offerings. According to data collected by the Montréal Cruise Committee, clients are primarily American (72%), Australian (8.5%), Canadian (7.5%) and British (4.5%).

“The 2016 cruise season also promises to be excellent, with confirmations indicating that next year could be just as strong as this year,” the port concluded.

Over 30,000 cruise tourists for Trinidad and Tobago

Alan Lam reporting

Trinidad and Tobago expects 16 ships to call at Port of Spain, bringing with them more than 30,000 cruise visitors, during the forthcoming 2015-16 season, which will commence in November, as a result of the recent rigorous marketing campaign by the twin-island republic to attract this form of tourism.

The number represents a 56% increase in cruise passenger arrivals, as compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the latest statement by Tourism Development Company (TDC), the implementation arm of the Ministry of Tourism, mandated to develop and market Trinidad and Tobago as a tourist destination. This comes on the back of a 104% increase a year earlier, between 2014 and 2015, the biggest growth reported for any destination in the Caribbean.

There is an increasing popularity of Trinidad and Tobago as a port of call.“Some of the world’s most luxurious cruise ships have added Trinidad and Tobago to their itineraries for the upcoming season,” stated TDC, “including the MSC Orchestra, with a capacity of over 2,000 passengers, and the intimate yet sumptuous World Odyssey and Voyager ships. Also making a return to Trinidad and Tobago’s waters are the Saga Sapphire and Seven Ocean Princess.”

Correspondingly, TDC has been coordinating an increase in on-shore activities and excursions available for cruise passengers, both in and beyond the city limit of Port of Spain.

During a cruise ship call the TDC will strategically position visitor guides in and around the Port area of Port of Spain to assist passengers with maps and information on local points of interest.