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To inspire travellers to keep dreaming about future cruises, Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) Australia has asked its guests to come up with their ultimate Dream Cruise by voting for their favourite ports.

Last week, CMV asked its community of Australian and New Zealand travellers which ports they would include on a seven-day #CMVDreamCruise that could go anywhere they desire, with no time or distance restrictions. If it was possible to visit Santorini one day and Jamaica the next, where would guests choose to cruise?

The results are in and, according to votes from CMV guests and agents, Fremantle scored the top spot as the departure point for the cruise. The fantasy voyage would then take travellers from Australia to Africa, then the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, before ending in London – all in just seven days.

The #CMVDreamCruise Itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Fremantle, Australia

Day 2: Cape Town, South Africa

Day 3: Venice, Italy

Day 4: Day at sea

Day 5: Reykjavik, Iceland

Day 6: St Petersburg, Russia

Day 7: London, UK

CMV guests cast over 1,880 votes for more than 440 different ports in 124 countries for the Dream Cruise, with Europe and Australia/New Zealand being the top two regions chosen, with 38% of the total votes going towards European ports and 21% going to Australian and New Zealand ports. Must-see ports such as New York, Venice and other ‘Marquee’ ports made up 48% of the votes in total, with the more unexpected, off-the-beaten-path ports scooping up the majority of votes at 52%.

“The Dream Cruise voting has shown us that our guests love exploring their own backyard as well as cruising through Europe, and want to visit smaller, unique ports while cruising,” says Darren Chigwidden, National Sales Manager for CMV Australia and New Zealand.

“This is fantastic to hear from our guests, as our upcoming Australasian summer season on board Vasco da Gama champions domestic tourism, with the ship visiting a few smaller harbours that larger cruise ships don’t often get the chance to dock in, such as Wallaroo in South Australia and beautiful Broome in the Kimberley.”

For the next week, CMV are asking guests to share their photos of the chosen Dream Cruise destinations, with daily prizes for those who enter. On Tuesday 30 June, CMV will select the best image overall and give away a domestic cruise on board Vasco da Gama to one lucky winner.

“We know that our guests are excited about returning to cruising in the future, and we hope this competition gets them reminiscing about their past holidays and dreaming about future ones,” says Mr Chigwidden.

“Our resilient travel agent and guest communities have remained hopeful about the future of cruise throughout the travel bans we are experiencing, and our Dream Cruise competition aims to keep those travellers engaged, inspired and planning through this period.”

To enter the chance to win a cruise, travellers can visit CMV Australia’s Facebook and Instagram pages and share images of the #CMVDreamCruise ports, either in the comments section or directly to the page. Alternatively, participants can keep an eye out for CMV’s e-newsletter and enter via email.

Travel agents are encouraged to share the competition details with their valued clients to give them the opportunity to participate as well. Some of the prizes up for grabs include discounts for future cruises, which can be redeemed through travel agents.