It may have been hot on Sydney Harbour on Thursday but one person was so excited by more exciting news for Wollongong that he hardly noticed the temperature. Three years after he knocked on the door of Royal Caribbean regional vice-president Gavin Smith the man who suggested the international cruise line come to Wollongong was being told three cruise ship visits were now confirmed. And they include the giant Explorer of the Seas in early 2018.
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“These will be the first of many more and that is what is so exciting,” Cr Colacino said.
“This has nothing to do with the past. This is our future.”
A future that Royal Caribbean is so confident about that it wants to make Port Kembla a regular cruise ship destination after Radiance of The Seas makes its first visit on October 30, 2016. More are likely in 2017 but Mr Smith stood on the deck of Radiance on Thursday and announced the 2017/18 cruise season would include Radiance of The Seas on January 29, 2018 followed by the larger Explorer of the Seas on March 13, 2018.
Destination Wollongong chair Tania Brown said it was a real show of confidence in the region and a financial boon, not just for local tourism operators, but the retail and hospitality sector.
Destination Wollongong manager Mark Sleigh said it demonstrated there was a genuine long term commitment to Wollongong becoming a cruise ship destination from a leader in the international cruise ship market.
"To show this kind of confidence in the region is extremely encouraging...we are excited about continuing to grow as we move forward. The local tourism industry have been absolutely amazing the way they came together to develop packaging and work together to show the breadth of product has been a major achievement,” he said.
Mr Sleigh said it would help the whole visitor economy move forward by creating more opportunities and "we need to continue to grow our own product”.
Mr Sleigh said such achievements did not happen without people driving them such as Cr Colacino, of Wollongong City Council, and Dom Figliomeni, of NSW Ports. He said the whole Illawarra economy would benefit from their vision, drive and passion.
Mr Figliomeni said NSW Ports was very happy after working hard to help make it happen.
“We think the Illawarra is a superb region. We will really show what the opportunities are and what we can offer. We are ready for the first ship to come in this October.”
Radiance of the Seas is 293 metres long and carries 2500 passengers.
Explorer of the Seas is 311 metres long and carries 4000 passengers.
Radiance of the Seas statistics.
Tonnage: 90,090 GT
Length: 293.2 m
Beam: 32.2 m
Draft: 8.5 m
Decks: 13
Speed: 25 knots
Capacity: 2,501 passengers
Crew: 859
Explorer of the Seas statistics
Tonnage: 138,194 GT
Length: 311 m
Beam: 38.6 m
Draught: 8.3 m
Decks: 15
Speed: 23.7 knots
Capacity: 4,029 passengers
Crew: 1,180
