The 2023/2024 official cruise season kicks off in the region this weekend with the arrival of the Coral Princess.
Coral Princess – Sunday 12th November 2023
With capacity for 2,000 passengers and 895 crew, the ship is on a 28 day ‘Round Australia’ cruise, starting and finishing in Sydney. The ship is scheduled to anchor in Geographe Bay at 7am, and depart at 4pm. She last visited Busselton on 29 October 2022.
There will be road closures in place on Foreshore Parade and Jetty Way, Busselton from 7am to 11am to facilitate the staging and loading of around 13 tour coaches, as passengers head out across the region on several shorex programs . The City Hopper bus will be in operation between 10am – 3pm to assist passenger movement between the foreshore and town centre for other passengers coming ashore for free leisure time.
Following the Coral Princess, the next cruise ship visit will be the maiden call of the Crystal Symphony on Thursday 7 December 2023. For the full season schedule, please see the Cruise Ship Arrival Calendar.
2023-2024 Cruise Season Preparation
In preparation for this season, the MRBTA facilitated a series of Welcoming Cruise Passenger workshops with Tourism WA, targeted at local businesses, coach drivers, guides, jetty hosts and cruise volunteers who interact with cruise guests by providing insights into the skills that ensure cruise guests have a memorable visit. Business sessions also provided insight as to how a business can benefit from successfully servicing the cruise market.
Last week, a team of over 20 MRBTA cruise volunteers participated in a 2023 season orientation, which also included a familiarisation tour of Busselton town centre attractions and activities and visit to the new Ancient Lands Experience at Ngilgi Cave.
2022-2023 Cruise Snapshot
Preparations have come off the back of the release of the Western Australia Cruising Snapshot by Tourism WA for the 2022-23 season.
Based on last season’s 153 cruise ship visits, the cruise industry generated an estimated economic impact in WA of $333.5 million, with 151,739 passengers visiting WA port destinations.
In Busselton, this translated as an economic impact of $3.2 million and the employment equivalent of 12 full-time jobs.
