Up to four cruise ships are listed to visit Robe from February onwards and create a welcome windfall for the local retail and hospitality sectors.
Robe District Council tourisvm and events officer Camille Lehmann said the possible visiting schedule had been provided by the South Australian Tourism Commission at a meeting last month.
Ms Lehmann said the next cruise due to arrive is the Coral Geographer in February which is the same size ship to that which arrived in November of last year.
“The ships scheduled to visit after this are a little larger and due in November 2025, January 2026 and March 2026,” Ms Lehmann wrote in a report to council.
“The Cruise Vessel Operations Group in Adelaide have been in contact to check if fees will be charged for tender boats using the marina.
“A meeting was held with Robe’s Harbourmaster to discuss this, and it was agreed the economic benefit to the town would far outweigh any need to charge this fee.
“Even though the fee of $140.70 may seem insignificant, and the group would appear to be able to pay the fee, it is considered to be in Robe District Council’s best interest to waive the fee for a set period to demonstrate its support to these cruise ships given they bring significant economic benefits to the town and the wider Limestone Coast region.”
The Coral Geographer will take a fortnight in February to sail from Melbourne to Fremantle via Robe.
A small cruise ship which was circumnavigating Australia had visited Robe around 11 months ago.
The Coral Adventurer cast anchor in Guichen Bay and around 100 of passengers were ferried in the ship’s long boat to shore via the Lake Butler Marina.
It is understood the visit of the Coral Adventurer was the first time in living memory that a cruise ship was able to land passengers at Robe.
Back in 2016, weather and sea conditions conspired to prevent cruise ship passengers from coming ashore at Robe.
Hundreds of tourists aboard the P&O vessel the Pacific Jewel were expected to tour the region as far as Beachport and Coonawarra.
However, the shore excursions and day trips were cancelled as the conditions in Guichen Bay were unsuitable for landing passengers.
