P&O Australia

Your Cruise to Australia is Back On

It had been more than two years since the last time a cruise ship sailed past the iconic opera house in Sydney Harbor, but that all changed this morning when P&O Cruises’ Pacific Explorer arrived to much fanfare. 

Flanked by tug boats on all sides spraying their water cannons, Pacific Explorer arrived in port after making the journey from Cyrus where it waited out the pandemic. Draped across the ships bow was a giant black banner with white letters that read “We’re Home”. 

The ship is scheduled to begin her first passenger sailings on May 31st with an itinerary to Brisbane, Australia. 

Following the first cruise back, Pacific Explorer is scheduled sail from Sydney on a series of Queensland and South Pacific cruises until late October, replacing Pacific Adventure’s scheduled program. Pacific Adventure will now begin her maiden season of cruises from Sydney on October 22, when Pacific Explorer will sail to Adelaide for a new mini-season of four cruises. 

P&O Cruises
Pacific Explorer arrives in Sydney | Photo: P&O Cruises/Facebook

P&O Cruises President Marguerite Fitzgerald explained when P&O Cruises made the announcement last month, that resuming operation was going to be a continual process. 

“We’ll be working closely with government agencies on our return which will see us visit about 20 ports around the country after an absence of more than two years,” she said. “Australia has long been one of the world’s strongest cruise markets and as the nation’s only home-grown cruise line we are excited at the thought that our loyal customers will be traveling with us again very soon.”

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According to Fitzgerald, there’s more confidence now and it continues to grow as we move further past the pandemic. 

“Unfortunately the shifting landscape over the past two years made it very difficult for us to anticipate when and where we would return to cruising,” she continued. “Now we have more clarity and growing confidence, we have reset our plans to stagger the resumption of cruising in a way that enables us to bring our ships and crew back to Australia as smoothly as possible.”

Fitzgerald also noted that the current timeline has her cruise line returning to cruising elsewhere around the South Pacific in August.