The largest cruise ship to visit Australia's Hunter region made its maiden voyage into Port Newcastle NSW on Sunday, February 10. The 310-meter long Royal Caribbean-owned liner Explorer of the Seas arrived at 8 am and left at 5 pm.
It was estimated that during the visit passengers would inject over US$600,000 into the regional economy.
Port of Newcastle and the Captain of the ship, Kjetil Gjerstad, exchanged a plaque on the navigation bridge to mark the maiden cruise.
According to RCI’s managing director, Susan Bonner, Explorer OTS' visit was one of 4 scheduled for 2018-2019 season by RCCL (incorporating the brands Celebrity and RCI), bringing over 12,000 tourists to the second largest city in NSW this summer.
Explorer OTS is due to be back to Newcastle on Saturday, February 16, as well.