USA Today Does In-Depth Austr.-NZ Info, Background

[TLCOhio]

Just saw and enjoyed in this morning's USA Today, a wonderful, major article with large pictures dealing with sailing "down under". In the print version today, it is on page 3D, taking up most all of that page with an exciting Milford Sound fjord sailing visual, etc.

 

It has this headline: "Australia and New Zealand cruises make a splash" with these highlights: "As the fast-growing cruise industry expands into new areas, major lines are rapidly growing their presence in Australia and New Zealand, which appear well on their way to becoming cruising hot spots. Major lines are rapidly beefing up their presence in Australia and New Zealand, and the region appears well on its way to joining the Caribbean, Europe and Alaska as a hot spot for cruising. Royal Caribbean now has three ships based in Sydney, up from two a year ago and one in 2010. Princess Cruises is up to four ships in Australian ports, after adding three vessels over the past five years. Holland America has boosted its capacity in the region by 25% this winter with two ships. Even Caribbean-focused Carnival is now offering cruises out of Sydney. In October, the 2,124-passenger Carnival Spirit arrived in the city for a year-round deployment — a first for the line. One noticeable difference with cruises out of Australia is the demographics of the passengers. In contrast to Royal Caribbean's American-heavy, family-dominated Caribbean sailings, this voyage skews older and has a far more international mix of passengers, dominated by Australians."

 

For our interests, Celebrity has shifted the newer and larger Solstice to this part of the old in place of their smaller, older previous ship. Part of the story focused on a retired couple from Nebraska with this note: "the retired railroad conductor had come out to see a marvel of a different sort: the Voyager's sail-away from the glistening harbor of Sydney."

 

With the web version, they have links to two other key background items on "Australia emerges as 'competitive destination' for cruising" and "Top shore tours for cruisers in New Zealand, Australia".

 

Lots of interesting background and insights on this travel region/market and the cruise business. The story also notes: "the region has yet to become overwhelmed by cruise ships in the manner of some Caribbean and Alaskan ports."

 

Full story at:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2012/12/27/australia-and-new-zealand-cruises-make-a-splash/1795073/

 

We are looking forward to our first “down under” visit, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Celebrity Solstice sailing, departing Sydney, doing 14 days on this ship we loved in the Med in June 2011. We will be finishing in Auckland. Plus, doing some pre-cruise options for Cairns/Port Douglas, the Rainforest and Great Barrier Reef, then Kangaroo Island near Adelaide before departing from Sidney’s scenic harbor. And, probably post-cruise in Queenstown and stopping in Hawaii on the way home to break up that long, long flight back. Sound like a good plan?? We have a nice and active roll call going at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1614754

Welcome to any who want to join us for this trip and/or travel along via the web as we get prepared for that "adventure".

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 113,235 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[TLCOhio]

Below are a couple of visual to share on the potentials for sailing down under. Good? Fun? Isn't a picture worth a thousand words?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 113,235 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

From this morning’s USA Today story by their cruise expert Gene Sloan, here is one of the pictures on an example of the visual drama when doing Milford Sound. Sorry, here in this posting, it is kind of small. In the print version, it is very, very large and nicely positioned. Not exactly average and/or boring scenic excitement!! Second is a picture posted on another board by a Sydney resident from when a helicopter tour was done over this wonderful harbor.: