Mega-liners have their eyes on Sydney

Room for the mega-liners

Cruise-line goliath Royal Caribbean International, which owns eight of the world's 10 largest liners, is keeping a keen eye on Sydney port developments.

Its plus-size Voyager of the Seas, which can carry up to 3840 passengers and clocks in two metres longer than Sydney Tower, will be the first mega-liner to call Australia home when it arrives in November next year for a five-month season that includes a one-night round-trip sampler cruise from Sydney.

RCI's Radiance of the Seas, fresh from a May makeover and with a crew briefed on the quirks of Australian passengers, including our apparent passion for game shows, is also heading to Sydney, arriving on October 15.

RCI sister brand Celebrity Cruises will send the superliner Celebrity Century to Australia in November. The bigger Celebrity Solstice, which can carry 2850 passengers, is also heading here.

The Miami-based president and chief executive of Celebrity Cruises, Dan Hanrahan, who was in Australia last month, spent much of his time discussing Sydney's port infrastructure.

The planned shift of the domestic cruise terminal from Barangaroo to White Bay, both west of the Harbour Bridge, benefits only one side of the cruise industry, he says. It doesn't help large cruise ships, which can't fit under the bridge.