Destinations include Alotau, Kitava Island, Rabaul, Kiriwina Island and the Conflict Islands
By
Elizabeth Robinson |
P&O Cruises Australia is to sail six itineraries to Papua New Guinea in 2019, taking guests to destinations such as Alotau, Kitava Island, Rabaul, Kiriwina Island and the Conflict Islands.
The line will offer five 10-night ‘New Guinea Island Encounter’ cruises from Brisbane, Australia. The sixth cruise will be an 11-night roundtrip from Sydney, Australia onboard Pacific Aria in mind-November, which will include a call at the Conflict Islands, one of the most remote locations in the Coral Sea. P&O Cruises became the first cruise line to ever visit the islands in 2016, allowing guests to explore the group of 21 islands that surround a lagoon and are home to one of the world’s most biodiverse reef systems.
“The Conflict Islands continue to prove extremely popular two years on from our first voyage and we’re pleased to offer this stunning corner of the world up to guests with a new itinerary from Sydney,” said Sture Myrmell, president of P&O Cruises.
The cruise line’s 2019-2020 schedule features a total of 136 cruises, including six new one-way cruises that either sail to or from Singapore. They include an 18-night ‘Australia and Southeast Asia Discovery’ cruise departing Adelaide, Australia in March 2019 and calling at Port Kelang, Langkawi and Penang in Malaysia, as well as Phuket in Thailand.
Other highlights include seven ‘P&O Main Event’ cruises themed around the Australian Open, Christmas and New Year; a new four-night ‘Australia Day’ cruise departing from Brisbane on 24 January 2020; and 64 ‘SeaBreak’ cruises that last two, three and four nights, and depart from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland. P&O Cruises will also offer 38 cruises to the South Pacific Islands, which will last between seven and 12 nights and depart from Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland.
“In our latest programme we continue to offer cruises from more Australian homeports than any other cruise line in the market with roundtrip itineraries from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Auckland,” said Myrmell. “During this season we have scheduled dry docks for Pacific Explorer and Pacific Dawn in Singapore, which has provided an opportunity to offer a choice of new cruises of 13-nights or more to the Far East.”