More than 3000 cruise-ship passengers are set to descend on Douglas Shire on Tuesday, October 29, in a boost for tourism in the area.

The Celebrity Edge, which is more than 300m long and has a capacity of about 3520 passengers, is due to dock in Port Douglas at 8am on Tuesday, October 29, and spend the day here.

The Celebrity Cruises vessel is on an 11-day round trip from Sydney to Willis Island, stopping off at ports including Brisbane, Airlie Beach and Cairns.

Many passengers are expected to visit Port Douglas shops, reef and rainforest destinations, Four Mile Beach and the Wildlife Habitat nature park to see attractions including koalas and crocodiles.

Built in France and first floated in 2018, Celebrity Edge includes a rooftop pool deck and garden, a solarium and a theatre. 

Cruise prices on the Celebrity Edge range from about $2200 for a standard fare to a stay in the exclusive “The Retreat” area for about $7500.

Celebrity Cruise ships are expected to return to the region in November and December.

Douglas Shire welcomed back cruise ships to the holiday port in June 2022 after Covid-19 caused a temporary halt to the industry.

The Coral Princess was the first of the big boats to return, with close to 2000 tourists and crew exploring the town’s shops and restaurants and other regional attractions.

Carnival Luminosa, with capacity for 2700 passengers, is the next cruise ship scheduled for Port Douglas, docking on November 14 and back again on November 21 as it takes on two seven-day Great Barrier Reef cruises out of Brisbane.

Silver Nova, with over 700 passengers, drops in on November 16 enroute from Bali to Cairns, Queen Elizabeth will be off Port Douglas but not docking on November 23, and Crown Princess with up to 3600 passengers docks on November 29.

Celebrity Edge and Carnival Luminosa will both be back in December, with a total of 20 cruise ship visits scheduled for Port Douglas throughout 2025.

If you are having technical difficulties from today with your phone or other devices, there may be one key reason.

The national 3G network was shut down from midnight on Monday, October 28, on all phone carriers, with Telstra and Optus joining TPG/Vodafone in the national initiative to modernise Australia’s communication system.

Today’s move hits rural and regional areas harder, with Telstra and Optus favoured by many country residents due to the broader coverage.

Telstra chief executive Vicki Brady has moved to reassure people that phone coverage will continue at a similar standard.

“We have been making good progress on modernising our 3G network sites with new 4G and 5G antennas and radio hardware,” Ms Brady has stated.

But some devices – including handsets, medical devices, EFTPOS machines and farm crop-monitoring equipment and machinery - may have to be replaced.

“If you’re still using an impacted device after October 28, you won’t be able to call triple zero for emergency help,” Ms Brady said.

The national 3G network has been closed to boost the speed and reliability of the 4G and 5G networks, she said.

For further details, go to 3gclosure.com.a

Late vote counting of incomplete early voting centres and remote mobile polling booths on Sunday have pushed the LNP’s David Kempton further ahead as the winner of the seat of Cook.

As of Sunday night with 66.3 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Kempton enjoyed a 9.8 per cent swing on the primary vote to lead Labor’s Cynthia Lui 7875 votes to 7665, but by 2101 votes in the preference counting, a swing of 12 per cent to LNP.

Bree James also enjoyed a small swing - 2.1 per cent and 7.3 per cent on the preference count - to claim the hotly contested neigbouring seat of Barron River from Labor’s Craig Crawford (-6.4 per cent).

With 67.9 per cent of the vote counted at 8am Monday, the LNP had secured 48 seats, with 30 seats to Labor and 10 seats remaining in doubt. FULL STORY