Cairns (Queensland Australia)
Cruise Port schedule, live map, terminals, news
Region
Australia - New Zealand - Pacific Ocean Islands
Local Time
2024-10-12 15:42
26.3°C
4.1 m/s
67 °F / 20 °C
Port Cairns cruise ship schedule shows timetable calendars of all arrival and departure dates by month. The port's schedule lists all ships (in links) with cruises going to or leaving from Cairns, Queensland Australia. To see the full itineraries (ports of call dates and arrival / departure times) and their lowest rates – just follow the corresponding ship-link.
Day | Ship | Arrival | Departure |
---|---|---|---|
1 October, 2024 Tuesday | Scenic Eclipse 2 | ||
1 October, 2024 Tuesday | Carnival Splendor | 09:00 | 18:00 |
8 October, 2024 Tuesday | Pacific Encounter | 08:00 | 09 Oct, 16:00 |
17 October, 2024 Thursday | Carnival Splendor | 09:00 | 18:00 |
22 October, 2024 Tuesday | Queen Elizabeth | ||
26 October, 2024 Saturday | Carnival Luminosa |
Cairns is a major port city located on Trinity Bay, in northern Queensland, Australia. It is one of the coastal cities along the Great Barrier Reef. By annual cruise shipping traffic, Cairns is currently ranked Australia's 4th largest cruise port - after Sydney NSW, Brisbane QLD and Melbourne Victoria.
Cairns is the southern gateway to the sparsely inhabited Cape York Peninsula. Queensland's wet tropics and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, a couple of World Heritage Sites, are close to the city. Before 1879, when the city was established, the only inhabitants of this area were the Aborigines. The historic museum of Cairns reveals the traditions of this old Australian tribe. From Cairns, tourists can visit the Great Barrier Reef, take the rainforest train up to Kuranda, then return skimming over the trees below by Sky Train.
In 1770, the British navigator Captain James Cook (1728-1779) named Trinity Bay after the Trinity Sunday (first Sunday after Pentecost). The region where is now Cairns was settled by Europeans in 1876 as a port for Hodkinson River goldfield 60 ml (100 km) inland. The settlement was named after William Wellington Cairns (1828-1888), a British colonial administrator (governor of Queensland in the mid 1870s).
In 2016, for the first time ever, a large cruise ship (the P&O Cruises Australia vessel Pacific Eden) was homeported in Cairns. In 2017, the ship's 3-month long (August-November) turaround season included a total of 113 ships and 11 roundtrip departures. The estimated impact on the region's economy was AUD 6 million (USD 4,8 million).
In 2018, the cruise port had scheduled a total of 134 ship calls. For season 2018, the number of roundtrips was reduced to 7.
Cairns cruise terminal
Cairns is a major Queensland cruise port serving international (Australia and Asia based) cruise ships but also a huge fleet of Australian reef cruise vessels offering regularly scheduled departures each day. The cruise ship terminal is at a short walk distance from the downtown dining and shopping area.
The cruise port has max berthing capacity of 2 vessels at a time. Docking wharves are numbered 1 and 5, while the cruise terminal building is on wharf 2. Larger-sized cruise ships can't enter the port due to the Entrance Channel restrictions - avrg width of 90 m (295 ft), length of 10 km (6 ml), and max draft of 8,3 m (27 ft). Bigger ships anchor in open sea and their passengers are transported to the port's wharves via the ship's tender boats.
Cairns Airport serves both domestic and international flights. The airport is located approx 5 ml (8 km) from the city.
Larger cruise ships anchor in Trinity Bay, and their passengers are transported via the ship's tender boats. By year 2031, Port Cairns plans to finish the USD 127 million shipping channel expansion project (deepening and widening). After project's completion, the expanded waterway will allow port access to bigger-sized ships (with max LOA length 300 m / 985 ft), with expected ~150 cruise vessels annually.
- Cruise Industry
CCL-Carnival Cruise Line expands Australian fleet with new 2026-2027 itineraries
CCL-Carnival Cruise Line is preparing for its Australian expansion with the addition of two ships from P&O Cruises Australia, Carnival Adventure...
October 3, 2024 - Cruise Industry
Seabourn announces 2025-2026 season for Seabourn Quest, featuring Panama Canal and Pacific Islands
Seabourn has unveiled a series of itineraries for the Seabourn Quest, set to explore Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, Hawaii, and the...
August 16, 2024 - Cruise Industry
NCL rolls out new Asia-Pacific and Australia cruises for 2024-2026 seasons
NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line is set to launch 30+ new port-intensive cruises across the Asia Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand regions. These voyages...
May 23, 2024 - Cruise Industry
RCI-Royal Caribbean unveils 2025-2026 Australian ships and homeports
RCI-Royal Caribbean International unveiled its upcoming 2025-2026 itinerary from Australia. Holidaymakers can anticipate a diverse range of...
April 12, 2024 - Cruise Industry
RCI-Royal Caribbean's ship Quantum OTS returns to Brisbane (Queensland Australia)
RCI-Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has returned to homeport Brisbane QLD, offering a range of 3- to 9-night cruises to the South Pacific and...
November 3, 2023 - Cruise Industry
RSSC-Regent Seven Seas introduces its longest World Cruise to date
RSSC-Regent Seven Seas Cruises unveiled its longest World Cruise to date, setting sail on January 10th, 2026, onboard Seven Seas Mariner. Regent...
March 18, 2023 - Cruise Industry
NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line deploys 3 ships to Asia Pacific in 2024-2025
NCL-Norwegian Cruise Line announced a record deployment of 3 ships to the Asia Pacific region in 2024 and 2025. The Norwegian Spirit ship will...
March 8, 2023 - Cruise Industry
CCL-Carnival opens bookings for repositioning cruises Long Beach-Tokyo/Sydney-Singapore
CCL-Carnival Cruise Line opened bookings for sailings which mark 2 first-ever port calls for the company with unique itineraries for voyages between...
February 3, 2023 - Cruise Industry
Windstar’s cruise ship Star Breeze makes maiden call in Australia
On Tuesday, November 22, Windstar’s 312-passenger megayacht Star Breeze made her first-ever call in Australia in Sydney NSW, where she embarked...
November 23, 2022 - Cruise Industry
P&O Australia's Pacific Explorer is the first international cruise ship to visit Cairns (Queensland)
Port Cairns (Queensland Australia) welcomed P&O Australia's Pacific Explorer over the weekend as the first international cruise ship to visit the...
June 20, 2022 - show more news