The enormous pent-up demand by Australians desperate to cruise again was in full evidence on a morning ABC regional radio show this week, with listeners phoning in to say how much they missed cruising, how they had booked multiple future cruises and were poised to book even more.
The show was Breakfast with Melinda James on ABC Illawarra. Joel Katz, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) managing director Australasia & Asia, spoke on the show’s Wednesday edition, setting out the industry’s position and explaining how operators were striving to get cruise ships back into Australian waters. Listeners then phoned in.
You can hear the show on the ABC Illawarra link here. The cruise segment begins at 1:15 on the sound clip.
One listener, Tony, texted Melinda James to say: “I, for one, can’t wait for cruising to restart. I have FOUR European cruises booked for next year. These were rolled over from 2019 and 2021. Bring it on and bring the ships home!”
On the strength of that, Melinda asked Tony to call in for a chat. “You need to give us a call,” she said. “We need to talk to you about your passion for cruising!”
Sydney Harbour before the pandemic. Carnival Spirit in port. Photo © Peter Needham
Tony then phoned in. He turned out to be Tony Purdon, president and public officer of the City of Wollongong Eisteddfod.
Tony is so keen on cruising and so eager to see cruise ships back in Aussie waters he has posted a clip on YouTube, featuring his young granddaughter Lillie Hobden singing a song Tony wrote called “Bring Ships Home”.
Under that YouTube clip, Tony writes: “With sincerest apologies to wonderful musical show ‘Les Miserables’ for my adaptation of the original lyrics for the purpose of campaigning to bring cruise ships home to Australian waters to sail like they are around the world.”
And here it is:
Tony said he was looking forward to taking four European cruises next year.
“How wonderful is that, eh!” he told Melinda. “Especially after they were cancelled this year and last year. I’ve rolled them over twice now. It’s been growing and I’ve been adding one each year. I’m doing four cruises in 60 days.” This will involve his flying to London, cruising on Carnival Pride, then Rome and the Greek Islands, then on Norwegian Epic to Barcelona, the western Mediterranean, then off to Denmark and onward.
Does Tony have any concerns about Covid on his travels? “No, not at all,” he said.
Then another avid cruiser, Paul, called in.
“We love cruising,” Paul told Melinda. “We did two in 2019, we had four booked for last year and three for this year – that all got canned…
“Here’s the kicker,” Paul added. “One of the cruises was a three-day repositioning cruise, two nights Brisbane to Sydney. We had booked the Presidential Suite for two nights. It came with a maid and a butler! It’s gone now. It was $1500 a night; we’ve never been able to do it before. It’s gone now and we’ll never get to experience it again.”
Norwegian Jewel in Sydney Harbour. Photo © Peter Needham
Paul confirmed he had planned SEVEN cruises over two and half years.
“What do you love about it?” Melinda asked.
“Everything is done for you,” Paul replied. “It’s the best. You just relax. It’s just total relaxation. You don’t have to drive anywhere. You can do as much as you want or as little as you want. You get to know all your porters, your drinks waiters, you have a laugh with them, you get all your food and everything…”
Another good point from Paul: You don’t have to worry about driving somewhere and getting tipsy before you drive home, “because you’re already home!”
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has said he is keen for local cruising to begin as soon as possible, Melinda reminded her audience.
Joel Katz of CLIA left no doubt among listeners that Australia’s policy on cruising was out of step with the rest of the world.
“Much of the world is already back to cruising,” Katz said.
“Close to 3 million people have already cruised since cruising restarted in different countries. Australia is pretty much the only cruise market where we don’t have a pathway forward to resume cruising. In Australia we are in that strange situation where Australians will be able to fly overseas to go on a cruise – and not cruise in their own back yard.”
Katz said federal and state governments needed to sit down with the industry and set a plan in motion. Cruise lines needed anything from 90 to 120 days to get cruises up and running, as many of the ships were in northern hemisphere. “We can’t start that process until we actually know it can go ahead.”
Katz pointed out the work the industry had done to ensure the shipboard environment was controlled and safe. The industry was committed to 100% Covid testing, he stressed.
“All crew and passengers must test negative to Covid. We are saying to the Australian government that nobody will get on a ship who doesn’t first test negative to Covid and, if they are eligible to be double vaccinated, is double vaccinated.”
On top of that, all the usual public health measures people were now used to on land would apply on ships, such as capacity restrictions and mask wearing where it wasn’t possible to maintain social distancing.
Behind the scenes, cruise lines are making sure ventilation is audited, fresh air is increased, medical facilities are upgraded and crew trained in respiratory illness, Katz said. Contact tracing aboard ship will ensure any cases are dealt with quickly and safely and other passengers remain safe.
All in all, the segment was a fantastic endorsement of cruising.
Written by Peter Needham
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