Carnival Spirit to Stay in Sydney

Carnival Cruise Line has unveiled its latest program of cruises from Australia, revealing 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 her scheduled drydock in Singapore in May 2018.

Sydney Harbour is Australia's premier cruise ship destination and the only port in Australia with two dedicated cruise passenger terminals.
 
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.
 
Carnival recently welcomed its 500,000th guest onboard local ships and has strong forward bookings for next southern hemisphere winter.
  
The new program features 35 new cruises to and from Australia from April to December 2018.
 
Carnival Spirit would offer two 19-night cruises between Sydney and Singapore, where she will be refurbished during her May 2018 dry dock. 
  
Carnival Spirit's new winter cruises will also include seven to 12 night escapes 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. 

Australia will welcome an unprecedented number of cruise ships this summer, with more than 40 vessels sailing in local waters - including eight ships making their maiden visit over the next few months.

 Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia Commercial Director Brett Jardine said a record 41 ships from CLIA member cruise lines would be based in Australia or visiting local waters between October 1, 2016, and April 30, 2017, compared to 38 ships over the same period last year.

Between them, the ships will make almost 900 calls to ports around Australia over that period – up 10 percent on last year’s port calls numbers.