The Queen Elizabeth, Queen Victoria and Aurora cruise ships have dropped Durban from their 2016 cruise itineraries and will include calls at Port Elizabeth and Cape Town instead. The Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria are operated by Cunard, while Aurora is operated by P&O Cruises. Both Cunard and P&O Cruises fall under the Carnival UK Group.    

Bob Dixon, GM of EMEA Sales for Cunard & P&O Cruises, told Tourism Update that not visiting Durban was “less a vote of dissatisfaction with previous experiences in that port and more a reflection of the myriad of variables which make up a world cruise itinerary”. According to Dixon, these include having the biggest passenger appeal based on past passenger feedback and offering a variety year-on-year. He added that the decision also took into consideration the cost associated with docking in a given port, and the range of shore excursions available from that port.

“A substantial number of our customers take the full world voyage every year, so we have to alter the itinerary. Queen Mary 2 has visited Durban in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 so we need to offer something different. There are no plans to visit Durban in 2016,” Dixon added.

According to the itinerary planners’ pre-cruise appeal results, customers prefer Port Elizabeth to Durban, where the pre-cruise appeal of Durban is 79%, and Port Elizabeth is 85%. “From an itinerary perspective, Port Elizabeth is also achievable overnight from Cape Town and thus easier to incorporate when we are tight for time,” said Dixon.

“I want to stress emphatically that we are not abandoning Durban permanently and I am confident that it will appear in future iterations of world cruise itineraries both for Cunard and for P&O Cruises. The city and port both have the facilities to cater for world cruise passengers and there are plenty of excursion options.”

The Queen Elizabeth will visit Cape Town on January 26 and 27 and Port Elizabeth on January 30, before sailing on to Australia via Réunion and Mauritius.  Queen Victoria will visit Port Elizabeth on April 19 and Cape Town on April 21 before sailing on to the UK via the Cape Verde and Canary Islands. Aurora will be in Port Elizabeth on April 5, and in Cape Town on April 7, 2016.

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Cape Town and Port Elizabeth will be maiden calls for both ships.