Azamara Club Cruises has launched its summer 2021 itineraries which will see Azamara Pursuit visit Australia and New Zealand for the first time. The season will see Azamara add the world’s largest sand island, Fraser Island, to its destination network for the first time, LATTE can reveal.
The boutique cruise line has confirmed its return to Japan with new country-intensive voyages, where guests can explore numerous ports within one country and stay late or overnight in most cities.
Continuing its dedication to Destination Immersion experiences around the world, Azamara will set sail across four continents between January and March 2021. This includes 50 late nights and 37 overnight stays in some of the most sought-after destinations across the globe.
Back by popular demand, the Japan country-intensive sailings will give guests the opportunity to delve deeper than ever into the destination. These 15- and 16-night itineraries will visit up to 13 ports across the country – including Tokyo, Aomori, Hakodate and Kobe – while offering a range of immersive excursions to showcase the local culture of each region (excursions will be available in 2019).
Azamara Pursuit, which set sail in August 2018 after a top-to-toe refit, will also make her debut in Australia and New Zealand. Visiting 18 ports in total, highlights will include Sydney and Melbourne in Australia and Auckland, Napier and Akaroa in New Zealand. Over half the itineraries are also country-intensive voyages.
The deployment will see Azamara Club Cruises make a maiden call at Fraser Island on 26 February 2021. Guests will have the opportunity to take a 4WD excursion through the UNESCO World Heritage Site to experience Fraser Island’s rainforests, sand dunes, lakes and fern groves.
Fraser Coast Tourism & Events General Manager Martin Simons welcomed the news, saying “any additional cruise that comes to Fraser Island is a fantastic thing”.
“It’s a lucrative market for the Fraser Coast because of the spin-off for tourism operators who provide services to these high-value passengers. Several new cruise lines have shown interest in adding Fraser Island to their itinerary,” Simons told LATTE this week.
Also in Queensland, there will no longer be calls at Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays. Instead, Azamara Pursuit will be calling to Airlie Beach, a change which will also be reflected in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
The full 2021 schedule in Australasia will feature the following cruises:
- 17-night Australia/New Zealand itinerary from Melbourne, departing on 4 January and stopping at Dunedin, Akaroa, Picton, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga and Auckland before returning across the Tasman to Sydney.
- 16-night New Zealand Intensive Voyage, departing Sydney on 21 January and includes visits to Dunedin, Christchurch, Kaikoura, Picton, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga, Bay of Islands and disembarks in Auckland. This sailing includes four late nights and three overnights.
- 17-night New Zealand/Australia Voyage from Auckland to Sydney on 6 February, with calls in the Bay of Islands, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Picton, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hobart and Melbourne.
- 18-night Australia Intensive Voyage, setting out from Sydney on 23 February and heading north, stopping at Mooloolaba, Fraser Island, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Darwin and then Benoa (Bali) and concludes in Singapore. The cruise includes three late nights and three overnights.
In addition, Azamara will offer even more ways to experience South America and South Africa. The line will launch a Rio Carnival sailing on Azamara Quest, plus a South Africa country-intensive sailing on Azamara Journey.