Countdown ‘til Journey

Club Cruises had all hands on deck on Tue, with president and ceo Larry Pimentel in Australia to make final arrangements for the maiden arrival of .

has undergone a US$25m refurb, fitting her with new venues and technologies, along with a redesign of her suites & staterooms ( 28 Apr).

Pimentel told the time is “absolutely right” to introduce to Australian waters.

“Bookings so far are telling us that we’ve made the right decision,” he said.

“For geopolitical reasons, there are areas of the world which we can’t currently cruise to, so for many of our guests, Australia and New Zealand is both a safe and an exotic location.”

Rather than looking to add to the fleet, Pimentel told the cruise line has “spent millions of dollars completely re-working our two boutique ships, leaving no space untouched, and now we turn our focus to evolving and improving our immersive, destination-rich offering”.

Pimentel highlighted the importance of the trade, noting that in his time down under, he spoke to around 300 new agents during a webinar and is aiming to visit as many of the key agent groups as possible.

“Our ability to be able to bring our two ships down under, year after year, is down to the importance of the travel trade to Azamara,” he added.

will arrive in Darwin on 08 Feb as part of her Asia repositioning, and will sail in the region until early Mar, offering two Australia and New Zealand sailings and a return Asia repositioning voyage.

For more from Pimentel’s visit, see .