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P&O Cruises Embarks on Biggest Ever WA Season

WesternAustralia's economy is about to get a multi-million dollar injection withP&O Cruises today launching its biggest ever season of cruising fromFremantle.

Overthe next three months, the cruise line's latest ship Pacific Eden will sailfrom the WA port on a series of 16 cruises, which is expected to generate morethan $20 million for the state in passenger and crew spending, supplies andport charges.

Duringits season Pacific Eden will carry more than 25,000 passengers and make 34calls to Western Australian ports, on itineraries featuring the state'scoastline as well as nearby Asian ports.

Speakingin Fremantle today, P&O Cruises Vice President Sales and Marketing SimonCheng said Pacific Eden would call at Fremantle 16 times between April andJuly, while Geraldton, Broome and Exmouth would each receive four visits andBusselton and Esperance would both receive three.

Thisyear's season is markedly bigger than P&O's previous record, created lastyear when Pacific Jewel was based in Fremantle for two months for a season ofseven roundtrip cruises from the port.

MrCheng said the 2016 record P&O season had been made possible by theexpansion of P&O's fleet last November, with the addition of Pacific Edenand her sister ship Pacific Aria.

Hesaid about 25 per cent of the guests cruising on Pacific Eden out of Fremantlewould be interstate travellers, bringing valuable tourist dollars to the State.

"PacificEden's Western Australia season not only gives the state's holidaymakers theability to enjoy a cruise from their doorstep, it also opens up moreopportunities for interstate fly-cruise passengers, which helps build thevaluable pre and post-cruise tourism market," Mr Cheng said.

PacificEden will also carry hundreds of thousands of tonnes of local goods and produceduring its WA season, injecting more dollars into the local community.

"Eachcruise requires significant quantities of food and beverage and during theFremantle season more than 230,000kgs of local fresh fruit and vegetables,5000kgs of cheese, 50,000 litres of milk and 25,000 eggs will be consumed byguests," Mr Cheng said.

"WesternAustralia produces some of the best wine in the country and in 2015 P&OCruises purchased more than 8300 bottles of premium local Western Australianwine for our fleet. Following the recent fleet expansion we expect this numberto grow by up to 30 per cent in 2016."

Hesaid the record cruise season demonstrated Western Australian's strong appealas a cruise destination and homeport.

"Notonly does Western Australia offer a range of exciting regional cruise ports,its proximity to the exotic islands of Indonesia and Asia make it a greatstarting point to explore some of the region's more remote destinations by sea,"Mr Cheng said.

PacificEden will return to Fremantle in 2017 for an encore season, which will featurethe cruise line's first sailings through WA's Kimberley region.

PacificEden's 2016 cruises from Fremantle will include:

·Three12-night round trip cruises to Indonesia including P&O's maiden callsto Makassar and Probolinggo

·Three8-night WA coastal cruises visiting Geraldton, Broome and Exmouth

·One9-night WA cruise with visits to Geraldton, Broome, Exmouth and Busselton

·Two4-night cruises to Busselton, gateway to Margaret River

·Two4-night cruises to Esperance

·Four3-night shortbreak cruises, with food and wine and comedy themes

·One12-night cruise through Indonesia visiting Makassar, Bali, and onto Singapore.

Faresfor Pacific Eden's cruises are available from $899* per person quadshare for a12-night Indonesia Adventure departing 28 June 2016.

PacificEden offers a stunning design which reflects the contemporary style of modern Australia, while capturing the relaxedand sometimes cheeky spirit Australians are known for. She features 15 dining options including aplush private dining room and Luke Mangan's Salt grill, luxe new bars, aresort-style pool deck, P&O's first penthouse cruise suites and achild-free Oasis with private cabanas.

*subject to availability. Conditionsapply. Fareincludes a free soft drink package for each guest and up to $300 onboard creditper cabin. Offer ends April 27, 2016.

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