Australia Lifts Ban on International Cruise Ships After Two Years

The policy of banning international cruise ships from arriving and departing from Australian ports will end on Thursday.

The Department of Health said in a media release that its decision to let the current order expire on April 17 was based on advice from medical experts. The ban on large international cruise vessels entering Australia was put in place in March 2020 when COVID-19 officially became a disease and has been effective in controlling the entry, emergence and spread of the disease in Australian territory.

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Lifting the cruise ban is consistent with the reopening of Australia's international border and shows that we have successfully handled the COVID-19.

According to Travel Weekly, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia, which worked alongside the government to negotiate the cruise industry's reopening, was pleased by the decision and plans to continue helping individual states establish their respective requirements for reopening ports.

The Managing Director of CLIA Australasia said in a video message that it was the best news they had in two years.

The Australian government requires that all passengers be fully vaccined, meaning that they have received two doses of an approved vaccine.

More than 12 million Australians have received a booster injection for the COVID-19 vaccine, and over 94 percent of them have been fully vaccined.

More than 600,000 cruise ship passengers crossed the border from Australia in the year before the Pandemic.

The Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Dan Tehan, said the news was great for the cruise industry, tourism, the broader economy and the Australians who love to take a cruise holiday.