Cruising into February 2025 and farewell to Pacific Explorer

Cruising is becoming more and more popular, with larger ships carrying thousands of passengers and more and more new cruise ships being built. These large cruise ships continue to cause ‘over-tourism’ issues on some islands and cities around the world. From 1 July, 2025, cruise ships carrying 900-plus passengers are no longer welcome in the Nice-Cote d’Azure region of France in an attempt to promote ‘selective tourism’.

As a result on the clamp down on larger ships visiting certain ports, there is a huge demand for smaller/explore type ships that can access new far-flung new destinations.

But just what drives us to sail/cruise to explore the world? Holidaying seems to be the main explanation. Fun. Adventure. As relaxing as it is nowadays, it’s worth remembering, as we sail, that we sail on the same high seas that claimed countless ships and lives of many early maritime explorers.

Just 328 years ago, in January, Willem de Vlamingh was the first European to venture up the Swan River. He was a former Dutch whaling skipper before joining the VOC, the Dutch East India Company, in 1688. He was assigned to search for the Ridderschap van Holland, a ship sailing to Batavia with 325 passengers. It was assumed lost off the WA coast. The Dutch didn’t stay or colonise WA – a century later James Cook ‘discovered’ Australia and the rest is history.

February is going to be a very busy month of cruise ship visits in Fremantle with six cruise ship visiting:
• 3 Feb Pacific Explorer
• 7 Feb Viking Venus and Pacific Explorer
• 15 Feb Coral Adventurer
• 16 Feb Silver Nova
• 23 Feb Island Princess

Fremantle will welcome familiar ships and two maiden visits by Viking Venus and Silver Nova. We will sadly farewell the Pacific Explorer.

Pacific Explorer departing Fremantle 15 June 2024. Credit Deanna Shanahan

Pacific Explorer is on her last visits to Fremantle; her return on the 7 February will be her last. She is being sold to Resorts World Cruises and after a dry-docking in Singapore and a $50m refurbishment; she will sail under the new name of ‘Star Scorpio’ for the South East Asian market.

We have covered all of Pacific Explorer’s visits to Freo over past years and will be sad to say farewell. She has become a familiar ship around Fremantle port. Here you’ll find our reports in her various visits.

And here’s our big story when we reported on P&O Cruises No More.

Coral Adventurer in Fremantle, March 2021.Credit Deanna Shanahan

And here are some of our posts on the Coral Adventurer.

Pacific Explorer arrives at 4.30 am on Monday 3 February and leaves again at 4pm. She’ll be back at 7am on the 7 February and departs for the very last time at 6pm that day.

* By Jean Hudson @jeansodyssey. Jean is our Shipping Correspondent and also a regular feature writer and photographer here on the Shipping News. You may also like to follow up her informative Places I Love stories, as well as other feature stories and Freo Today photographs, right here.

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