Is cruising's comeback complete?
There's (mostly) good news for sailing fans. Plus: expensive cities; don't be a dope.
June 15 update: Carnival has also confirmed its return to Brisbane with the rebadged Costa Luminosa. Details are on my Mister Brisbane blog here.
It wasn’t just Brisbane’s new international cruise terminal received a boost from the return of the Coral Princess, which will home-port there. It’s yet another sign that cruising’s comeback is nearing completion not just in Australia, but around the world.
The Brisbane terminal (whose website was down when I tried to link to it here; maybe you’ll have better luck) has now seen visits from both P&O and Princess ships, will soon see traffic from the likes of Carnival (an announcement is promised soon) and Royal Caribbean (from mid-November) with others to come. Which is superconvenient for me, as the new terminal is about 20 minutes by car from where I am right now).
After some trial runs, the Coral Princess’s first guest cruise will set sail from Brisbane on June 16.
Dan Russell from Brisbane travel agency Clean Cruising says: “Our clients have been eagerly waiting for a cruise ship to be homeported in Brisbane, and to see Coral Princess here today is another great step forward for the cruise industry.
“We have a number of clients booked on this MedallionClass ship for this winter season including a couple who have booked over 50 back-to-back cruises including two Round World Cruises in 2023 and 2024. We thank these guests and all the cruise guests far and wide for their patience as we restart cruising in Australia.”
Coral Princess will be offering short cruises up and down the Queensland coast, seven-day trips to Cairns and the Whitsundays or down to Sydney and back, and a 12-day journey to Papua New Guinea and the Conflict Islands.
Elsewhere in the world, it’s being reported that the major thing holding back cruising is staff shortages. Some cruise lines are still understaffed, so certain onboard attractions, including specialty dining, has been suspended on a few vessels. The good news is that all the major companies are recruiting big time, and if COVID-19 remains relatively at bay, things ought to be back to normal soon.
UNITED WAY
More good news for Brisbaneites: United Airlines is set to launch a direct flight to San Francisco. As part of Virgin Australia’s new partnerships deal, a United Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with Polaris lie-flat seats in business class as well as a premium economy cabin, will run three times a week from October 28.
TOO RICH?
I know I said I hate “best of” lists, but that’s only when they’re subjective. This one, I believe is backed up by some solid research (read about it here). The 10 most expensive cities in the world, according to ECA, are: Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, London, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Zurich, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Seoul. If you’re planning a trip, don’t say you haven’t been warned.
WHERE THERE’S SMOKE …
If you read or heard somewhere that Thailand has just decriminalised cannabis and is even discouraging home cultivation, and you think it’s now open slather to smoke weed on your next holiday in Bangkok or Phuket, you may want to check out the fine print.
As the BBC, and others, report, the legalisation is for medicinal purposes only and recreational use of the drug is still illegal. As anybody who has spent any amount of time in Thailand can tell you, the law is often opaque and applied with a certain degree of inconsistency. I’d be very careful if I were you.
FEEDBACK
I asked readers whether they’d flown premium economy and what they thought of the product. Scott was among those who had a less-than-positive experience. He says: “I did premium economy with Delta a few years ago, LA to NY and return. Hate to see regular economy.”