Two more cruise ships that were set to dock off Port Douglas this month have been cancelled, throwing local businesses into disarray.

The huge 12-decked Celebrity Millennium, which was due to dock off Port Douglas for two days on November 23 and 24, has been re-scheduled to dock off Yorkey’s Knob on November 26 and 27, according to Ports North and the booking agent, Intercruises.

Pacific Dawn, which was due in Port Douglas on November 20, has also been cancelled from the Port Douglas schedule.

A spokesman for Intercruises’ Cairns-based agent said the cancellation of Celebrity Millennium was purely due to schedule change.

“These things are booked years in advance and we don’t notice they’re on the Ports North schedule until closer to the date,” the spokesman said.

However, local businesses which were preparing for the arrival of the cruise ships are up in arms over the cancellations, citing an imminent loss of trade.

Grub, of Grub’s Trike Tours, said he had booked staff to work from the Port Douglas marina on the days the ships were scheduled to arrive, and was now faced with telling the staff their hours were cancelled.

“I booked two riders and a booking agent to cover those days affected, and I’ll now lose out, as will other businesses,” he said.

In another twist to the schedule inconsistency, Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess has been added to the schedule to arrive on November 16. Grub said the newest schedule change was only brought to his attention when passengers booked on the November 16 cruise enquired about trike tours with his company for that date.

“The only reason it was brought to my attention was when I started receiving email bookings from November 16 cruise passengers, and I thought ‘What’s going on here?’” he said.

Port Douglas Marina management and Princess Cruises’ Cairns-based shipping agent, Inchcape, confirmed the November 16 ship would arrive at Port Douglas, although it had not been updated by the Ports North website.   

Tina Fleckhoe, port agent for Inchcape Shipping, said ports were often booked years in advance for cruise ships as a “first plan”.

“Basically the ports are booked as a stand-by. Sometimes the schedules have to change for whatever reason,” she said.

The most recent cancellations come after a cruise ship that was set to visit Port Douglas in October was cancelled after an elderly man went missing somewhere between the north WA coast and the Northern Territory. He was thought to have fallen overboard.

Updated Cruise Schedule

• Nov 16: Sun Princess – booked to arrive Port Douglas
• Nov 20: Pacific Dawn – cancelled for Port Douglas
• Nov 23/24: Celebrity Millennium – cancelled for Port Douglas
• Nov 29: Diamond Princess – booked to arrive Port Douglas
• December 4 and 18: Pacific Dawn – booked to arrive Port Douglas

 -