Sydney welcomed the Emerald Princess for the first time with a row of shooting green flames.

The Emerald Princess is the first ship to make an inaugural call to Australia this season.  She will be homeported in Sydney until April 2017, making 13 roundtrip cruises to New Zealand, the South Pacific and Tasmania.

Princess Cruises Vice President Australia & New Zealand Stuart Allison said the Sydney arrival of Emerald Princess was a highlight in a bumper cruise season.

“As the first maiden ship of the season, Emerald Princess heads up a parade of more than 40 cruise ships which will be cruising into Sydney and other ports around Australia this summer,”  Allison said.

In total, Princess Cruises’ ships will make 39 calls to Sydney over the extended summer season.

Emerald Princess will sail at 6.45pm this evening on a 13-night roundtrip cruise to New Zealand.