Brisbane’s cruise operation was being buoyed by two significant deployments. First, Royal Caribbean International will base its Legend of the Seas out of the port in 2015/2016, and she will join P&O Australia’s new-to-them Pacific Aria.

“We are strategically located … just one sea-day away from Sydney or the Whitsunday Islands, and two sea-days from tropical Cairns or the Pacific Island of New Caledonia,” said Lee Butterworth, regional director of Brookfield Residential Properties, which oversees the cruise operation. “The Brisbane Airport is only a 15-minute drive away.”

This coming season, Brisbane will welcome its 1 millionth passenger through its Brisbane Cruise Terminal.

As ships get bigger, Butterworth said he can still perform a turn-around in 7.5 hours.

“One of the best examples of working with the lines was introducing staggered check-in times,” he said. “This has been highly successful to ensure a smooth process not only for us but for passengers as well.”