Port of Tauranga

Celebrity to regularly visit Tauranga

Posted on 24th May 2006

Port of Tauranga and Tourism Bay of Plenty have welcomed the announcement that Celebrity Cruises, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (the world’s second largest cruise line group after Carnival) is to begin sailing to Tauranga for the first time in 2007.

Celebrity’s luxury liner Mercury, with a capacity of 1,800 passengers, will offer six 14-night sailings between Auckland and Sydney from December 2007 to March 2008.

Port of Tauranga Commercial Manager Graeme Marshall said the addition of Celebrity Cruises to the Port’s cruise line schedule will be yet another boost to the Bay of Plenty’s tourism sector.

“The Mercury will bring an additional 10,800 tourists to Tauranga in the 2007/08 cruising season, which will result in a significant benefit to the local economy.”

Tourism Bay of Plenty General Manager Tim Burgess also welcomed the announcement, saying the region was proving to be a drawcard for the world’s leading cruise lines as they sought to meet customer demand for ever more diverse locations.

”We are thrilled by the announcement Celebrity will be visiting our region. We have a growing number of unique and quality tourism businesses for the passengers to experience and are keen to show them off to international visitors.”

As well as calling at Tauranga Mercury’s other New Zealand destinations are Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound. The vessel will also call at Melbourne, Newcastle and Hobart in Australia.


For further information:

Graeme Marshall Commercial Manager Port of Tauranga Ltd Telephone: 07 572 8825 Email: graeme@port-tauranga.co.nz

Tim Burgess General Manager Tourism Bay of Plenty Telephone: 07 577 6234 Email: tim@bayofplentynz.com