IF YOU’VE been in or around Sydney Harbour the past 24 hours, you were likely in the presence of history being made, as Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours welcomed its first-ever ship into Australian waters.
The Australian operator, established in 1986, had for the first 30 years of its existence focused on coach touring and river cruising, before expanding into expedition cruising in 2019.
That year saw the launch of Scenic Eclipse, which was quickly followed up with a sister five years later – Scenic Eclipse II, which is presently berthed at Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal.
I have had the pleasure of talking to a number of members of the Scenic team this week, each more excited than the last.
However few were more thrilled than General Manager Anthony Laver, who I spoke to on Thursday, the day before Eclipse II arrived in Sydney.
“The product itself is way above anything that is comparable globally, but to have that in Australia where we are literally a domestic flight away to go to the Kimberleys or to go to Oceania means people who would normally go on Scenic, but would have to fly to Europe, or have to fly to Argentina…it’s in their backyard with a domestic flight,” he told travelBulletin.
“You’ll see the level of interest go through the roof because people will say, ‘it’s accessible, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but I didn’t really want to fly too far.”
Perhaps most importantly, Laver stressed, is the Eclipse-class of ships is an Australian innovation, and something for Aussies to be proud of, as Eclipse II now embarks on two-year series of luxurious voyages throughout Oceania.
Eclipse II will travel to some of the most remote and spectacular locations around Australia and in the country’s orbit, including wilds of remote East Antarctica and the Maluku Islands.
My colleague, Travel Daily Editor Adam Bishop, will be boarding Eclipse II today to celebrate the occasion with the Scenic team – you’ll be able to read about his experience in both TD and CW next week.
However, the big news week in cruise was kicked off 0n Wednesday, when Flight Centre Travel Group’s B2B cruise wholesale division CruiseHQ officially set sail, as revealed exclusively by CW.
The new cruise marketplace, designed for travel advisors, offers access to a diverse portfolio of global cruise, air, and land partners.
CruiseHQ’s own product collection is not available anywhere else, allowing travel advisors to benefit from unique rates, promotions, and a wide range of incentives and wholesale commissions.
“We are delighted to introduce CruiseHQ to the industry…our advanced booking technology prioritises ease and efficiency, with live API connectivity that allows travel advisors to secure unbeatable cruise holidays online at any time,” General Manager Caroline Hitchen said.
Viking also made a big announcement this week, introducing its Viking Platinum Club – an evolution of the cruise line’s top travel advisors incentive program.
Entry into the Platinum Club is reserved for the top 10 Viking advisors of the year, who will be invited to join a dedicated journey on the cruise line’s Venice, the Adriatic & Greece itinerary.
The travel agency each Platinum Club member belongs to will also be named a Viking Platinum Agency, which will see them score a hosted Platinum Party for their team, a personalised marketing plan supported by a $5,000 co-op investment from the cruise line, and more.
It was not just the cruise sector in the news this week, with Qantas on the weekend forced the pause its non-stop Perth to London flights, due to the risk of an attack or escalation in the Iran–Israel proxy conflict.
The 17-hour service to London’s is currently only possible by flying through Iranian airspace, meaning for the foreseeable future, the flights will operate via a stop in Singapore.
“We’ll reach out to customers directly if there’s any change to their booking,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
At this stage it is unclear if the changes to the Perth schedule will impact the highly anticipated Perth to Paris route, scheduled to launch in July.
The situation is an unfortunate reminder of how acutely travel is affected by global geopolitical developments – let’s hope next week dishes up more news of the positive variety.
