The first visit to Wollongong by Voyager of the Seas is being hailed an overwhelming success with passengers, crew and locals all happy with the welcome.
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The mega-liner passed through the Port Kembla breakwater around 7.30am and was docked by 8am. And by 8.30 the first passengers were boarding shuttle buses bound for the Arts Precinct and continued to arrive well into the afternoon. All were greeted by volunteer ambassadors smiling and applauding as they took their first steps into Australia’s newest cruise destination.
Voyager of the Seas carries 4200 passengers and 1200 crew and Destination Wollongong general manager Mark Sleigh was delighted to report that 3500 people were so interested in Wollongong they caught Premier Illawarra shuttle buses into the city to check it out.
As Voyager came in many passengers and crew found good vantage points on the ship as hundreds of locals gathered at the Outer Harbour and other locations along the Wollongong foreshore to watch.
Voyager is the second Royal Caribbean cruise ship to arrive at Port Kembla and Councillor Leigh Colacino said Tuesday’s visit may even be more important than the first visit by Radiance of the Seas. “This shows Wollongong is serious about showing what a great opportunity we can give to the passengers of any ship that comes to our port. We want all the people of Wollongong to get a return from this,” he said.
Mr Sleigh said the city owed a big thank you to the 200 ambassadors and all the businesses owners who opened their doors and made the passengers and crew feel so welcome.
Sue and Naomi Clyne, of Melbourne, and their friend Karen Brown loved visiting Wollongong at the end of a South Pacific cruise and really enjoyed the shoping. Sue said she had visited by road before and coming by ship was a wonderful experience.
Mr Sleigh said many lessons were learned from the Radiance visit and doing things a little differently had worked fantastically well. “Moving to the Arts Precinct has been really well received and people are coming off with smiles on their faces. I think the energy of the ambassadors has been fantastic.It is exactly what we wanted to create and we know we can roll this out 365 days of the year.”
Destination Wollongong chair Tania Brown said it was a very exciting day where everything went to plan.
Ms Brown said everyone seemed happy. She said it was also wonderful to have someone with Stuart Barnes experience coming on board with #cruisewollongong.
Mr Barnes said after such a successful first visit by Voyager planning was coming together well for her second visit on January 18. “Then the plan is to have a whole process we can get off the shelf whenever a cruise line says it is coming”.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
