Calling Miss Muffet - This Year, Your Date Will Meet You at the Zoo

 This year, Frangelica, Carnival's Halloween mascot, a two-story black spider, isn't riding on the bow of Carnival's FunShip as it arrives in Sydney on Halloween weekend. Carnival took Frangelica to the Sydney Zoo for their Halloween Spooktacular. 

Photo courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

What People Are Saying

Yesterday we showed you the maiden arrival of Ruby Princess in Sydney today (which was yesterday in the US). Today we want you to hear what people are saying about it. But these aren't just any people. The sound bites on the b-roll are from Princess' SVP of Asia and the Pacific, Chef Curtis Stone (who has a restaurant on the ship), the NSW Minister of Tourism, and Ruby Princess' Captain. We put this video up because these people all actually had something interesting to say, as opposed to just something about it going to be a wonderful cruise season.

Ruby Princess will be homeported at Sydney until May 8.

A Majestic Arrival

Majestic Princess arrived in Sydney Tuesday morning (Australian time) just before dawn to kick off the 2019-2020 summer cruise season.

Majestic Princess, Princess Cruises' newest ship (until next month), has spent the northern summer months in China and Asia and is returning to Australia for their summer season for the second time.

Details appeared in the September 16 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Majestic Princess Lands in Sydney

Majestic Princess arrived at Sydney for the first time on Saturday morning (their time) and became the largest ship Princess has ever operated in Australia at 143,700 tons.

The complete story appeared in the September 14 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

This B-roll includes several views of Majestic Princess arriving, including a spectacular "captain's eye" view from the bridge for the pre-dawn approach and berthing at the terminal.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - April 3, 2018

CND subscribers also read about:

• Royal Caribbean International is canceling the 11-night April 6 sailing of Radiance of the Seas due to a problem with the Azipod propulsion system. 
• Carnival Legend left Sydney this afternoon to begin repositioning to Alaska for the summer. The ship will undergo a dry dock when it reaches Vancouver. 

Details appeared in the April 3 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Carnival Legend just before it left Sydney this afternoon

Photo courtesy of James Morgan and Carnival Cruise Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

The Ultimate "Hello from Sydney" Postcard

Queen Mary 2 arrived at Sydney early Sunday morning as part of a Royal Rendezvous with Cunard's Queen Elizabeth. When the iconic ship sailed into the harbor it paused by one of Sydney's most recognizable landmarks, the Sydney Opera House to give Sydney residents a spectacular view of the grand ship. But what's that atop one of the Opera House's sails?

It's Queen Mary 2's master, Capt. Chris Wells waving hello to Sydney. Few people have a selfie like this.

Photos courtesy of Cunard Line, copyright James Morgan. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Enjoy Queen Mary 2's arrival into Sydney a bit faster than it actually happened, and now you'll better understand the end on this video.

Other Things You'll Want to Know - February 1, 2017

CND subscribers also read about:

• Royal Caribbean tipping their hand and revealing some potential names of their upcoming ships
• Are cruise passengers being affected by the president's executive order restricting entry into the US of some foreign nationals?

Details appeared in the February 1 edition of Cruise News Daily. 

Seabourn Encore makes its maiden arrival at Sydney this morning.

Photo courtesy of James Morgan and Seabourn Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission. 

Ovation of the Seas Arrives at Sydney

Watch Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas arrive at Sydney yesterday - a bit faster than it really happened.

A Special Welcome for Emerald Princess

Early Tuesday morning, Emerald Princess glided into Sydney Harbor, but she wasn't unnoticed. She was greeted by a row of green flames (connecting with Emerald Princess and the Emerald City, get it?) as she slid by the iconic Sydney landmarks.

This wasn't just a port call. Emerald Princess will be homeported at Sydney all summer (in Australia) long - until April during which time she will sail 13 times to New Zealand, the South Pacific and Tasmania.

The 113,000-ton Emerald Princess is the largest of the five ships Princess has based in Australia this year. Giving her special appeal is that aboard is the new SHARE restaurant created by Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone.

Check out the Australian welcome for Emerald Princess.

Halloween Meets the (Carnival) Spirit World in Sydney

Carnival Spirit arrived Sydney this morning and in honor of the American celebration of Halloween, it was met by a group of witches and a giant spider.

Photos and video courtesy of James Morgan. Video produced and directed by Daniel Coolahan. All rights reserved.

What’s Large and Purple and Just Fits under the Sydney Harbor Bridge?

No, it’s not a 90,000-ton grape. It’s Cunard’s Queen Victoria celebrating International Women’s Day.

The liner is in Sydney as part of its 120-day world cruise, and as dusk fell last night the ship began to turn purple (the recognized color for women’s rights) and wore a 60-meter-long banner along her hull with this year’s campaign message #PledgeForParity.

Details appeared in the March 8 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Queen Victoria in Sydney lit for International Women's Day

Photo courtesy of Cunard Line and James Morgan. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without express permission.

Packed with Luxury

Sydney Harbor had four high-end ships visit on Saturday that included a first. Two of them docked simultaneously at Circular Quay, adjacent the iconic Sydney Opera House.

The two docked at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay were Ponant Le Soleal and Azamara Quest. Docked nearby at White Bay Cruise Terminal in Rozelle were Seabourn Odyssey and Silverseas’ Silver Whisper. Together they brought almost 3,000 high-end visitors to Sydney, injecting an estimated $2 million into the local economy.

The complete story appeared in the February 15 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photos copyright Nick Rains. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

Queen Mary 2 Departs Sydney for another Year

Queen Mary 2 left Sydney this week at the end of a month that saw all three Cunard Queens visit the city, including a rendezvous between QM2 and Queen Victoria. Queen Mary 2 is still the largest ship ever to visit Australia at 151,400 gross tons.

The three Cunard ships spent a combined total of six days in Sydney this month as part of their world cruises, and brought some 6,500 passengers to the city putting an estimated $3 million into the economy.

All three ships will return next summer, again as part of their world cruises.

Photos courtesy of Cunard Line. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

A Special VD Treat for Sydney

Princess is The Love Boat, you know. And around Valentine’s Day they get a little crazy, and they come up with some really amusing ideas. This year is no exception, and the residents of Sydney will be the recipients of this valentine.

When Pacific Princess arrives in Sydney at 6:30 on Saturday morning, Valentine’s Day, it will be sporting a giant illuminated red heart on its bow.

Details appeared in the February 12 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Update February 14: Just arrived: Pacific Princess arrives at Sydney all decked out for Valentine's Day.

We placed additional photos on a Pinterest Board.

Photo courtesy of James Morgan and Princess Cruises. All rights reserved. May not be copied or used without permission.

The Outsider's Guide to Sydney Harbor

With explosive growth in the cruise industry in Australia, more and more Sydney's harbor is in the news. For those who don't live there, it's hard to keep the geography straight. This map has the important cruise industry landmarks market. Click the blue pin for information.


View Outsiders' Guide to Sydney Harbor in a larger map

The Overseas Passenger Terminal has one berth that can accommodate the current generation of new large ships.

The Garden Island Naval Base allows an occasional cruise ship to berth there, and the cruise industry has proposed to use it on a regular basis.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge stands in the way of large (tall) ships sailing west of it.

There is currently one berth that will accommodate smaller ships at the Cruise Passenger Terminal at Barangaroo.

A new multi-berth cruise terminal is under construction at White Bay. This is opposed by the cruise industry because it is both in the wrong place with respect to roadway traffic patterns, and it doesn't solve the problem that many of the industry's new ships won't be able to use it.