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Australian small ship cruise specialist, Cruise Traveller, is in the midst of the busiest month of bookings this year following the opening of sales on November 2 of Australian voyages aboard the world’s largest and newest square-rigged sailing ship, Golden Horizon, which will make her inaugural visit here in the summer of 2021/22.

The deluxe, five-masted Golden Horizon will be one of the most exciting new cruise ships for 2021 when new, UK-based cruise line, Tradewind Voyages, launches her in May, 2021.  As the recently announced exclusive launch partner for Tradewind Voyages, Cruise Traveller is now selling 14 cruise and stay packages around Australia from December, 2021, to February, 2022, ranging in length from 14 to 73 nights.

The Managing Director of Cruise Traveller, Craig Bowen, said the opening of sales for Golden Horizon’s debut Australian season on November 2 had sparked Cruise Traveller’s busiest weeks of bookings for 2020, including the pre-Covid months at the start of the year. Mr Bowen said the unique new cruise experience championed by Golden Horizon had been eagerly embraced by Australian consumers and travel agents alike, with the concept of ‘slow green’ travel, fresh sea and the raw and silent joys of sailing on a modern, tall ship inspiring travellers keen to take to the oceans again.

“Cruise Traveller was eager to partner with Tradewind Voyages because we knew the post-Covid cruise market in Australia would warm to the idea of a true sea adventure and an authentic, nature-powered maritime experience, with Golden Horizon expected to be powered by wind alone for 70 per cent of the time,” Mr Bowen said. “Carrying just 272 guests, this exciting new ship is modern, luxurious and spacious but also graceful, romantic and lightfooted and she’ll call into tiny and remote destinations conventional cruise ships can’t reach. She’s very much a vessel for the times.

“In our negotiations with Tradewind Voyages, we also ensured enhanced Covid protocols were in place and that Australians could book with complete peace of mind, with funds paid kept safe in an independent trust account until the sailing date. Furthermore, if Tradewind Voyages has to cancel a voyage due to Covid-19, it guarantees customers will be able to transfer to another voyage or receive a full refund of monies paid.

“We are buoyed by Australians’ unwavering enthusiasm to cruise again.  The pent-up demand is palpable. The strong bookings are very welcome this year, of course, and we expect the Australian sectors to sell quickly. We believe, post-Covid, that more travellers will seek the appeal of smaller ships, which has been our prime focus since our launch in 2003.”

The 14 new cruise and stay packages offered exclusively by Cruise Traveller are ex, Cairns, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. All packages include a one-night, pre-cruise hotel stay and beer and wine with lunch and dinner onboard Golden Horizon, port transfer and gratuities. A 73-night circumnavigation of Australia from Bali has been broken into a range of sectors including:

* 16-night Christmas/New Year package from Cairns to Sydney, December 21, 2021, from A$8395 pp, twin-share

* 17-night package from Sydney to Adelaide, January 5, 2022, from A$8430 pp, twin-share

* 14-night package from Adelaide to Perth, January 21, 2022, from A$5995 pp, twin-share

* 15-night package from Perth to Bali, February 3, 2022, from A$6995 pp, twin-share

Bookings made by December 31, 2020, will also receive a bonus saving of between A$100 and A$800 per person depending on the length of voyage.

Currently undergoing sea trials in Croatia ahead of her launch in 2021 and modelled on the 1913 barque, France II, the brand new, 162m-long Golden Horizon will fuse contemporary luxury with the charm, adventure and romance of a traditional sailing ship, proudly flaunting 6300 square metres of billowing sails. As the world’s largest square-rigged sailing ship, the majestic Golden Horizon will offer modern-day seafarers personal service, a fine cuisine dining room, three pools, gym, library, spa sanctuary, four inside and outside bars, a marina platform and a collection of kayaks, waterskis and wakeboards for guests to use. All 140 cabins will offer ocean vistas.

Golden Horizon will visit a record 35 destinations around Australia during her debut visit, including a host of small and remote places not visited by larger ships, including Noosa in QLD, Trial Bay, Batemans Bay and Jervis Bay in NSW, Darlington Bay in Tasmania, King Island, Coffin Bay and Head of Bight in South Australia and Bremer Bay, Jurien Bay, Monkey Mia and Coral Bay in WA.  Expected to attract big crowds of sightseers, the record-breaking clipper will also visit every State capital as well as Darwin during her history-making circuit of the continent.

* Call Cruise Traveller on 1800 507 777 or visit  www.cruisetraveller.com.au/tradewind2021 .  Or contact your travel agent.

Established in 2003, Cruise Traveller has grown to become Australia’s leader in the small ship market, representing 55 boutique, luxury, river and expedition cruising operators around the world, with Tradewind Voyages one of the latest cruise lines to join the exclusive collection of small ship experiences.