P&O Cruises Announces First Cruise Calls to Fraser Island
In
another spectacular development in its suite of cruise itineraries, P&O
Cruises today announced that it will next year make two calls to World Heritage-listed
Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island located off the southern
Queensland coast.
Pacific
Aria and Pacific Eden -- the two latest additions to the P&O Cruises fleet
-- will call at Fraser Island on April 3 and December 12 respectively, the
first of a number of calls to the Island which boasts some of the world's most
magnificent scenery, wildlife and visitor experiences.
The
calls to Fraser Island, one of 15 regional destinations in Australia pioneered
by P&O Cruises in recent years, are an exciting part of the line’s soon to
be released cruise program for its five-ship fleet (with the arrival in
November of Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden).
The
first two Fraser Island cruises will be on the 1500-guest Pacific Aria on a
roundtrip itinerary from Brisbane in April and on the 1500-guest Pacific Eden
on a roundtrip cruise from Sydney in December.
Both
cruises are being conducted in conjunction with the world renowned Kingfisher
Bay Resort which
offers
a range of eco-friendly four wheel drive tours of the island along its beaches
and 1500km of tracks.
“Fraser
Island's Indigenous inhabitants gave their island home a name that means
paradise and our cruise passengers will have the opportunity to discover this
for themselves,” said Ann Sherry CEO of Carnival Australia which operates
P&O Cruises, one of seven cruise lines in the company's house of brands.
“Visiting
Fraser Island by cruise ship with its 184,000 hectares of diversity from
pristine beaches, lake and sand cliffs to rainforests will be a unique
experience for our cruise travellers. We are delighted to be working with the
Queensland Government, Queensland National Parks, Kingfisher Bay Resort and the
Fraser Coast Region to make sustainable cruise tourism part of Fraser Island's
visitor experience.”
Queensland
Minister for Tourism Kate Jones welcomed the announcement and said it was great
to see P&O Cruises expand its offering to include Fraser Island, off the
back of recent announcements of Mooloolaba, Hamilton Island and Gladstone.
“We’ll
now see more visitors enjoying Fraser Island’s natural beauty, which is great
news for local tourism operators. We hope that the incredible experiences
visitors will have on Fraser Island make them want to return to Queensland
again,” Ms Jones said.
Kingfisher
Bay Resort Group General Manager David Hay said the partnership with P&O
Cruises would deliver increased tourism opportunities across the Fraser Coast.
“The
domestic cruise market has grown significantly in recent years and we welcome
this exciting opportunity to attract more visitors to Fraser Island and the
region,” Mr Hay said.
“The
Fraser Coast has some incredible products and experiences to offer our domestic
and international visitors and it is pleasing to see this potential being
recognised by major companies like P&O Cruises,” Mr Hay said.
Media Contacts:
Carnival Australia –
David Jones 02 8424 8861
Brooke Hargraves –
Kingfisher Bay Resort 0419 647 752
For more
information visit pocruises.com.au, or see a licensed travel agent.
Notes to editors: The
region’s largest and longest-serving cruise operator, P&O Cruises Australia
leads the way in cruising as Australasia's only 'home brand' and its favourite
cruise line. P&O Cruises has been sailing the region for more than 80
years, and has pioneered new destinations around Australia, the Pacific and
Asia including Papua New Guinea, as reported in the New York Times’ 52 top
destinations for 2015. On November 25, 2015, P&O Cruises will welcome two
additional ships to its current three-ship fleet becoming the nation’s largest
cruise line with five ships cruising from eight home ports in Australia, New
Zealand and Singapore. The addition of Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden has paved
the way for exciting new cruise options including deployments from every
mainland state in Australia and an extended deployment from Auckland. The pair
herald a new era for P&O Cruises, as reflected in its new brand
repositioning - P&O Cruises, Like no Place on Earth.
