By
Rebecca Gibson |
Two Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ships will transfer to P&O Cruises Australia in November 2015, making Carnival Corporation & plc the largest year-round operator in Australasia.
Bringing P&O’s total year-round Australian fleet up to five ships, HAL’s Ryndam and Statendam will join Pacific Dawn, Pacific Jewel and Pacific Pearl in Australia. Both ships will be fully refurbished to incorporate onboard features tailored for Australian and New Zealand passengers. Having a five-ship fleet will give P&O greater flexibility to offer more short-break cruises, as well as traditional cruises to the South Pacific and new destinations, such as Papua New Guinea and Asia. New itineraries will be revealed in the coming months.
“The announcement is an emphatic statement of confidence in Australia, one of the most vibrant cruise markets in the world,” said Ann Sherry, CEO of Carnival Australia. “Today’s news also underscores how P&O Cruises – which pioneered cruising in the country more than 80 years ago – has been the driving force in making cruising one of the most popular vacation experiences in Australia. We have a great understanding of what Australians are looking for in a vacation, and with cruising more popular than ever among Australians, this is the perfect time to meet demand with increased capacity.”
Increasing the P&O fleet by two ships will also enable Carnival Corporation to capitalise on Australia’s rapidly growing cruise market, which has recorded a 130% increase in passenger numbers over the past five years. This number is projected to reach the one million mark by 2016.
“Australians know a good thing when they discover it and that speaks to why taking a cruise has become the most popular vacation experience in the Australian tourism industry,” said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation. “By any measure, Australia is one of the top performing cruise markets in the world, with an eye-popping average annual passenger growth rate of 20% over the past decade.”
Carnival Corporation is the only cruise company to have ships based full-time in Australian waters and during the past summer cruise season in Australia, had a record 20 ships from seven of its brands sailing in the region. Over the past decade, the company has increased its local fleet from two full-time P&O ships to six full-time ships from three of the company's brands including three P&O ships, two Princess Cruises vessels and one Carnival Cruise Lines ship. These ships sail from five Australian cities, as well as Auckland in New Zealand. When HAL’s ships join P&O and Princess’ Sun Princess returns to the country in 2015, Carnival Corporation will have nine ships in the region.
“We are already firmly entrenched as the market leader and with today's move we are poised to continue our leadership,” said Donald. ”At the same time, our ability to work among our brands to make strategic deployment decisions is a great example of our focus on leveraging our scale and increased collaboration.”
Earlier this month, Carnival Corporation revealed it would base four ships in China in 2015 to capitalise on another of the world’s fastest growing cruise markets. The company aims to strengthen its leadership position through the Asia-Pacific region.
HAL will replace its passenger capacity by building a new 99,500 gt Pinnacle Class ship, which will be delivered in February 2016 and accommodate 2,660 passengers.