Coral Expeditions Introduces New Holiday Cruises from Australia

(5:34 a.m. AEST) -- Australian small-ship river cruise line Coral Expeditions has unveiled two brand-new voyages for the Christmas season.

Sailing aboard Coral Geographer, the two 14-night itineraries include a number of perks such as charter flights to visit Longreach and a private yacht sailing to a Whitsundays beach lunch excursion, along with gala dinners featuring some of Australia's finest wines.

The first sailing, from Cairns to Brisbane, departs on 5 December 2021. The second voyage operates in the reverse direction, sailing from Brisbane to Cairns, on 20 December 2021.

"The Christmas season is traditionally a time to celebrate with family and friends. Our vision is to deliver an expedition occasion like no other," said Coral Expeditions’ Commercial Director, Jeff Gillies. "It has been a trying time for all over the past two years, and we want our guests to get back to travel with a quintessential Queensland experience here at home."

Unaffected by the ban that has prohibited most foreign cruise lines from sailing in Australian waters, Coral Expeditions has been catering to its substantial domestic cruise base during the pandemic, operating under a full regime of health and safety protocols.

The line was the first to return to operations in Australia in October 2020 aboard Coral Discoverer, and has already announced plans to resume its New Zealand and South Pacific cruise programme for the 2021-2022 season.

The two new 14-day Holiday cruises aboard Coral Geographer -- which visit the Great Barrier Reef and Great Sandy Marine Park, along with Kangaroo Island -- are now on sale.