Diamond Princess Kicks Off Record New Zealand Cruise Season
Auckland’s
biggest ever cruise season is now underway, with Princess Cruises’ megaliner
Diamond Princess heading up a flotilla of ships sailing local waters over the
coming months.
The
116,000-tonne, 2670-guest Diamond Princess arrived in the harbour city this
morning – the first of more than 30 different ships which will visit Auckland
between now and April 2016.
The most
frequent cruise line visitor to New Zealand, Princess Cruises has six ships
scheduled to make more than 200 calls to local ports over the coming months –
accounting for about one-third of all cruise ship visits. The majority of the
ships’ passengers will be Australian, with Princess Cruises carrying more
Australians across the Tasman than all other cruise lines combined.
The visiting
Princess ships include newcomer Golden Princess which will make her maiden
visit to New Zealand this Saturday (October 10) when she berths in Auckland.
Princess
Cruises Vice President Australia & New Zealand Stuart Allison said
Princess’ ships visits would deliver close to $100 million to the New Zealand
economy in passenger and crew spending, supplies and ports charges over the
coming months.
Mr Allison
said New Zealand continued to be a very popular destination for Australian
cruisers, with almost 90,000 Australians cruising across the Tasman in 2014.
“New Zealand
offers a diverse range of ports, each featuring remarkable scenic beauty and
memorable experiences yet all positioned in relative proximity to each other,
which is why it’s such a great cruise destination,” Mr Allison said.
New Zealand
ports now account for seven of Princess’ top 10 ports in the Australasian and
Pacific region, and five of the cruise line’s top 30 ports around the world,
with one-third of the cruise line’s global 18-ship fleet visiting the country
this summer.
Mr Allison
said Princess’ ships would call at 10 different New Zealand ports during the
season, from Bay of Islands in the north to Dunedin in the south. A new
addition for Princess this season is Gisborne, which will receive 10 calls from
Princess ships.
Auckland is
one of Princess’ most frequent ports of call, with 27 Princess visits scheduled
for the city this summer.
Mr Allison
said that in addition to being a great cruise destination, New Zealand was also
developing as a nation of cruisers, with close to 70,000 Kiwis taking a holiday
at sea last year.
“More and
more New Zealanders are recognising cruising as an easy and great value way to
travel so we’re now responding to local demand and offering new opportunities
for New Zealanders to cruise direct from their doorstep on Princess’ ships,
sailing to destinations from Australia to Tahiti, South America and beyond,” he
said.
