The arrival of Queen Elizabeth heralds in a new era for Cunard in Australia – the luxury cruise line’s homeporting of the iconic ship means big things for cruisers Down Under.

Queen Elizabeth will be spending a total of 54 days in Australia during her first ever season, homeported in Melbourne and Sydney in 2019.

She’ll be sailing on a number of voyages ranging from two to 20-night cruises. Queen Elizabeth will start her journey to Australia from January 19, 2019 on a 16-night cruise from Cape Town in South Africa to Fremantle which includes calls to Port Elizabeth, Reunion and Mauritius before arriving in Western Australia.

In conjunction with the cruise, Australian guests can add two land tours from Cape Town before their cruise. The six-night Waterfalls & Wildlife African Adventure tour includes a visit to the stunning Victoria Falls, a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River, two-nights at the Victoria Falls Hotel as well a two-nights at the Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana.

During her season, some of the highlight destinations include Tasmania, Adelaide, New Zealand as well as Kangaroo Island.

A standout itinerary is a seven-night cruise departing Melbourne on February 10, 2019 and visiting Kangaroo Island, Adelaide and Hobart.

Aside from the decadent food, luxurious accommodation and five-star entertainment, Cunard’s collection of shore excursions offer guests a chance to truly immersive themselves in the destination.

At Kangaroo Island, guests onboard can experience the Seal Bay Discovery shore excursion where you will see the country’s endangered sea lions and watch them play in their natural habitat.

While in Tasmania, experience the best of Tasmania in just eight hours on a Best of Tasmania shore excursion where guests will explore the scenic countryside to see places like Richmond, the Salmon Ponds Trout Farm, Mount Field National Park and Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.

During Queen Elizabeth’s Aussie season, Cunard has also revealed a special partnership Cunard is hosting where guests onboard can watch two bespoke performances from Australian Dance Theatre. During the cruise the dance company will also hold movement workshops and Insights talks.

And when she departs in April, sail from Sydney on a 18-night cruise which calls at Brisbane, Alotau, Rabaul, Boracay and Manila before heading to Yokohama in Japan.