Eden summer cruise ship season arrives with maiden visit of Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas

The summer cruise season will be the biggest on record, with 41 cruise ships visiting Eden and a potential $18million boost for the Sapphire Coast economy.

The 2023-24 cruise ship season will welcome see the first ship, Brilliance of the Seas (Royal Caribbean Cruises) on her maiden visit to Eden on Monday, October 23.

The Brilliance of the Seas is on a seven-night round trip cruise that will depart from Sydney on October 22, and will call into Eden the next day, before visiting ports in Hobart and Newcastle, concluding in Sydney on October 29.

Brilliance of the Seas will berth at Eden at 9am and depart at 7pm.

There will be 1638 passengers onboard - 1350 Australians, 107 Americans and 27 other nationalities - along with 858 crew.

Five shuttle buses will be in operation during the day as passengers enjoy on-shore excursion tours.

The Cruise Markets will be open at the Eden Welcome Centre with a number of new stalls added since last season.

Excursion tours offered to passengers included Villages of the Sapphire Coast, Oysters in Eden, Cruising Twofold Bay, Merimbula at Leisure, Kayaking Eden's Coastal Waterways, and Spectacular Locations Photography Tour.

Other local tours were on offer through Eden Visitor Information Centre.

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The 2023/24 summer cruise season looked set to be the biggest since the pandemic and one of Australia's busiest ever, injecting billions of dollars into the NSW economy.

New data from Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) shows NSW recorded a total economic impact from cruising worth $2.5billion in 2022-23, with the industry supporting almost 9000 local jobs.

The first international cruise ship of the season sailed into Sydney Harbour from the Northern Hemisphere, on Thursday, October 19, kicking off a bumper summer ahead.

READ ALSO: Cruise Eden trainees' trip to the big smoke

The upcoming season will see 331 cruise calls into NSW ports, up almost 16 per cent from the previous summer.

This will include a record number of maiden calls that will surpass the 2022/23 summer season, with 12 first-time ships set to make their debut in Sydney Harbour.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said she was "thrilled" cruise season had officially launched.

"Our magnificent ports are the gateway to all NSW has to offer. I'm thrilled cruise season has officially launched on our harbour today, with the first ship arriving from the Northern Hemisphere, bringing almost 3000 passengers and more than 1200 crew into Sydney."

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CLIA managing director Joel Katz was equally enthused.

"Cruising has made an incredible comeback and cruise fans have been heading back to sea in droves.

"Australia's cruise industry generated a record $5.63billion for the national economy in the 2022-23 financial year, supporting 18,225 jobs around the country."

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