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Explorer Dream paves the way for Dream Cruises' return to Australia

Dream Cruises staff
The Dream team, from left, inside sales manager Aaron Eilers, VP Australia and New Zealand Brigita Devries, marketing manager Leonie Fraser and NSW & ACT sales manager Andrew Loving PHOTO: Helen Hutcheon
Successful forward bookings for Explorer Dream’s maiden season in Australia from October until March next year pave the way for the company’s return to Australia, VP Australia and New Zealand Brigita Devries told Seatrade Cruise News on Wednesday.

Devries was speaking at a high-profile industry lunch overlooking Sydney Harbour in the Museum of Contemporary Art at Circular Quay where the menu — beetroot salad, hot and sour soup, red braised wagyu short rib and sauternes custard with osmanthus biscuits — was created by internationally acclaimed Australian chef Mark Best.

Seafood Grill by Mark Best

Best, who will accompany several departures and whose ‘Seafood Grill by Mark Best’ is a highlight of Explorer Dream’s culinary offerings, will take passengers ashore where he will shop at local markets.

US$30m makeover 

Explorer Dream, Star Cruises’ SuperStar Virgo that proved popular with Australians when she relocated to Sydney from Singapore in 2003 following an outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), underwent a US$50m transformation earlier this year in readiness to be the first in the Dream Cruises fleet to sail outside of Asian waters.

Devries has no doubt that, following the 1,870-passenger Explorer Dream’s inaugural success, Dream Cruises will be back again.