Carnival Cruise Line has released its latest program of cruises from Australia, including the information that Carnival Spirit will continue to be based in Sydney full-time in 2018.
The cruise line has decided the ship will no longer spend the northern summer in China, as announced earlier this year, but will return to Australia immediately after its scheduled drydock in Singapore in May 2018.
Carnival Cruise Line Vice President Australia Jennifer Vandekreeke said the decision was based on the current success and popularity of the cruise line's operations in Australia and associated capacity needs.
Offering 35 new cruises to and from Australia from April to December 2018, the new program will go on sale on November 4, 2016.
Vandekreeke said Carnival Spirit would now offer two 19-night cruises between Sydney and Singapore, where it will be refurbished during its May 2018 dry dock.
Departing Singapore on June 6, 2018, Carnival Spirit's return voyage to Sydney will give travelers the chance to experience ports in countries including Thailand and Indonesia before visiting Darwin and Port Douglas and making Carnival's inaugural call to Gladstone, on the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef, en route to Sydney. Fares start from $2,449 per person twin share.
Carnival Spirit's new winter cruises will also include an array of 7-12 night sailings to the tropical islands of Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia as well as a range of three-night short cruises and four-night sailings to Queensland's Moreton Island. Fares start from $649 per person twin share for a three-night weekend sampler cruise departing December 7, 2018. Carnival Spirit will also be lining up for its fifth Melbourne Cup cruise in 2018, setting sail from Sydney on November 4, 2018, with fares priced from $1,069 per person quad share.
Meanwhile, Carnival Legend will return to Australia in October 2018 for its fifth extended summer season of cruising Down Under, which will see it take its Green Thunder slide and water park south again for an encore season of cruising from Melbourne.
Already scheduled to sail from Melbourne for an inaugural series of seven cruises in early 2018, Carnival Legend will offer three more cruises from the Victorian capital in November 2018, including a 10-night cruise to New Zealand, a three-night short break and a four-night cruise to Sydney via Hobart. Fares for the 10-night transTasman cruise, departing Melbourne on November 13, 2018, and including visits to Dunedin, Akaroa and Wellington as well as scenic cruising through Fiordland National Park, start from $1,249 per person twin share.
Visit www.goccl.com