Cruise ships returning to Brisbane

P&O’s Arcadia will be the first British cruise ship back into Brisbane after the devastating floods when it arrives on February 15.
The 2,000 passengers on the ship’s world cruise will no doubt be digging deep to raise money for relief efforts. A few days later, on February 27, sister ship Aurora will also call at the port.
P&O Australia’s cruise ship Pacific Dawn had to abandon its home base in the Queensland port after the floods and operated out of Sydney instead. It returned for the first time on Saturday.
P&O Cruises managing director Carol Marlow said: “We have a long-time affiliation with Australia and the destinations we visit play a big part in the holiday experience for our passengers. Therefore it is important for us to support Australia in times of need. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to people of Brisbane and we will be doing all we can to show our support as they recover from the floods.
“We will be asking our passengers and crew to donate any spare Australian dollars they have during their holiday on board to go towards re-building Brisbane to the city we all know and love”.
The P&O Cruises Australia fleet is also giving money raised from the auction of the navigational charts to the Queensland Premier’s Flood Appeal.
Silversea’s Silver Shadow and its 388-passengers called at Brisbane last Friday. Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas and Regent’s Seven Seas Voyager will also visit in February.
A spokesperson for Tourism Australia said that popular destinations in Queensland are beginning to recover from the floods and are preparing to welcome visitors again. All airports are operating normally, and the Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns has re-opened.
“You can help Queensland recover by taking a holiday there,” they said. “If you already have a Queensland holiday booked, don’t cancel it. If you don’t have a Queensland holiday booked, book one!”
P&O ships are beginning to make a habit of arriving at ports soon after natural disasters. In November, Oceana was first into St Lucia, in the Caribbean, after Hurricane Tomas cut communications and wiped out the island’s banana crop.