Sydney Harbour has welcomed its first cruise liner since a deadly Covid-19 outbreak aboard a ship led to a blanket ban on the industry.
Spectators cheered on as P&O Australia’s Pacific Explorer entered the harbour on Monday morning, while the ship’s crew smiled and waved back.
A giant banner on the bow read “We’re home”.
The nearly 2000-passenger capacity ship will dock at Circular Quay until May 31, when it is due to set off for Brisbane.
The $5 billion cruise industry was crippled by the ban that followed the outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess at the beginning of the pandemic, and industry figures were expecting a slow reset.
“We‘re excited about it, but we think it’ll take a year or so to reach pre-Covid levels,” South Australia-based travel entrepreneur Phil Hoffman said.
“We were disappointed it took the government so long to make the decision (to allow cruise ships again) but the pent-up demand from customers is huge.”
NSW, Victoria and Queensland are expected to see a gradual return of cruising in the coming months, whereas areas in the country‘s south like South Australia, the cruising season has just ended.
The coronavirus outbreak aboard the Ruby Princess led to the death of nearly 30 people and caused the virus to spread widely after passengers disembarked.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt defended the 2020 cruise ban last month, saying it was highly effective in preventing the spread of Covid-19.
More than 600,000 cruise ship passengers entered Australia in 2019 aboard nearly 350 vessels.
Passengers will need to be double vaccinated to cruise going forward.
