If statistics have anything to do with it, Australian cruise passengers are going to love it when Carnival Cruise Lines bases Carnival Spirit in Sydney year-round from 2012.

Carnival Cruise Lines said it beat all previous weeklong sales records during the seven days from February 7 to 13, booking 165,308 passengers to cruise on its ships.

In a statement, the cruise line said it believed passengers were attracted to the great value Carnival Cruise Lines offers and said strong travel agent support and marketing, such as the American “Didja Ever” television and social media campaign and the “72-Hour Sale” that included complimentary upgrades, were a factor in the record booking activity.

“Clearly, consumers are taking advantage of the incredible value that a Carnival cruise provides, not only in terms of our fun on-board experience but also our many convenient close-to-home departure points and wide variety of short itineraries,” said Gerry Cahill, CEO and president of Carnival Cruise Lines.

Carnival Cruise Lines operates 22 ships on three- to 16-night voyages from US and European ports, and will soon add Sydney, Australia to that list of departure points.

The line will launch the 130,000-ton Carnival Magic and Carnival Breeze in May this year and Autumn 2012 respectively.

Will you sail on Carnival Spirit?