Cruise ship news: Celebrity Eclipse to be based in Melbourne in 2020

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Cruise ship news: Celebrity Eclipse to be based in Melbourne in 2020

By Brian Johnston
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MELBOURNE ECLIPSE

Celebrity Cruises has announced that Celebrity Eclipse will homeport in Melbourne during the 2020-21 summer cruise season. The 2850-guest ship arrives in the city on December 23, 2020 for an inaugural season of seven round-trip cruises to destinations in the South Pacific, New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania and South Australia, as well as two one-way sailings between Melbourne and Auckland. Eclipse finishes its inaugural Australian season on April 4, 2021 with a 19-night Melbourne-to-Honolulu voyage. Meanwhile Celebrity Solstice will continue her decade-long connection with Sydney over the same cruise season.

Phone 1800 754 500. See celebritycruises.com.au

Celebrity Eclipse will call Melbourne home for the 2020/21 season.

Celebrity Eclipse will call Melbourne home for the 2020/21 season. Credit: Michel Verdure

WORLD WANDER

Viking has unveiled its latest Viking World Cruise, which sails for 161 days around six continents and to 75 ports, with overnight stays in 13 cities. The cruise departs on December 14, 2020 from Miami on Viking Sun and explores the Caribbean and South Pacific; ports in Asia such as Hong Kong and Bangkok; and Middle Eastern destinations including Oman, Jordan, Egypt and Israel. It then sails through the Mediterranean before concluding in London. Guests can also choose a shorter, 140-day Viking World Discoveries segment which departs Los Angeles on January 4, 2021.

Phone 138 747. See vikingcruises.com.au

REALLY REMOTE

Lindblad Expeditions has announced an additional voyage for new ship National Geographic Endurance, due to launch in 2020. Following its inaugural Arctic season in 2020, Endurance will sail a new itinerary to Antarctica and New Zealand's Sub-Antarctic Islands. The 34-day Epic Antarctica itinerary, departing on December 27, 2020, will visit remote West Antarctica, the astounding wildlife region and impressive ice shelf of the Ross Sea, and the sub-Antarctic islands of New Zealand and Australia, which are World Heritage sites and notable breeding sites for thousands of seals and millions of penguins.

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Phone 1300 361 012. See expeditions.com

FRESH FLEET

Uniworld has announced that by 2020, more than half its ships will be Super Ships, and that it will add three new vessels in Egypt, Portugal and Vietnam. Of these, Mekong Jewel, an all-suite ship with two dining venues and an indoor swimming pool, will operate 13-day itineraries between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap. In addition, Uniworld's existing ship River Countess will undergo a complete renovation and be renamed La Venezia on March 27, 2020, when it will begin 10-day itineraries around Venice, the Po River and outlying Venetian islands Burano, Mazzorbo and Torcello.

Phone 1300 780 231. See uniworld.com

BONUS ISLAND

Tahitian cargo cruise company Aranui Cruises has added a new destination to its 2020 program, taking its line-up to 17 islands across all five French Polynesian archipelagos. Guests on Aranui 5's 14-day cruise depart Papeete on December 17, 2020 and call in at Makatea in the Tuamotu Atolls, about 200 kilometres northeast of Tahiti. The island features as a bonus day on Aranui 5's regular 13-day round-trip itinerary from Papeete, which visits Bora Bora, various islands in the Marquesas, and the regular Tuamotu ports of Rangiroa and Fakarava. The ship makes 20 scheduled cruises around French Polynesia annually.

Phone (03) 9449 3778. See aranuicruises.com.au

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