With ongoing uncertainty around the restart of cruising in Australia and the region, P&O Cruises Australia cancelled its 2022 homeporting seasons for Adelaide, Cairns, and Fremantle (Perth).
The decision means that a P&O Cruises Australia ship will not be based/homeported from the ports for seasons scheduled for the first half of 2022.
The company is also cancelling cruises scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea (PNG) until October 2022.
According to P&O Cruises Australia President Sture Myrmell, there was no doubt that Adelaide, Cairns, and Fremantle all remained important calls for visiting vessels when governments allowed cruising to resume in Australian waters.
“We are naturally disappointed our guests in Adelaide, Fremantle and Cairns will be unable to cruise from their doorstep until 2023. However, they are all extremely popular ports of call for ships on coastal or around mainland Australia itineraries and will benefit from a resumption in cruising when approved by governments.”
Under the announcement, the following sailings are cancelled:
- Adelaide: voyages scheduled to depart from February 18, 2022, to March 28, 2022. The next homeporting cruise season is scheduled for February 2023.
- Cairns: voyages scheduled to depart from June 2, 2022, to June 29, 2022. The next homeporting cruise season is scheduled for May 2023.
- Fremantle: voyages scheduled to depart from April 2, 2022, to April 25, 2022. The next homeporting cruise season is scheduled for April 2023. The changes mean the Fremantle-Singapore voyage scheduled to depart on April 25, 2022, will also be cancelled.
Voyages scheduled to start in Cairns during the period included multiple calls in PNG. The borders of the country remain closed to most travellers.
The changes mean the cruise scheduled to reposition from Singapore to Cairns is cancelled. The voyage was scheduled to depart from Singapore on May 19, 2022.
P&O Cruises Australia already paused operations for sailings scheduled to depart from Brisbane and Sydney until mid-February 2022.
The company already announced its intention to restart domestic operations with sailings for fully vaccinated crew and passengers eligible for the vaccine.