Authorities aren’t yet able to establish how the trio are connected, or where and when the drugs made their way onto the cruise ship.
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The luxury cruise, costing around $12,600 (£11,400), started in Britain and toured the US and South America, including Colombia and Peru, before sailing to New Zealand and then Australia.
Before they got caught, the women documented the entire journey on Instagram and Facebook, looking joyful in Times Square in NYC, drinking out of coconuts in French Polynesia, and enjoying Irish coffees in Ireland.
The regional commander of the Australian Border Force (ABF), Tim Fitzgerald, said that whether it be by air or by sea, it is an unprecedented haul of illegal narcotics for his country.
Other posts show the duo riding quad bikes through a desert, hiking in Peru and exploring beach caves in their bikinis.
Posting an image of from a hike in Chile, Roberge wrote: “Traveling is one thing”.
Australian authorities are thanking the U.S. Department of Homelands Security and the Canada Border Services Agency for helping to identify the suspects.
Tickets for the MS Sea Princess cruise cost around £8,500. They face potential life sentences if convicted.
The arrests follow an worldwide investigation into a smuggling syndicate with Canadian and New Zealand customs agencies as Australia continues to work with regional counterparts to stop the flow of drugs in a truly globalised world.
Fitzgerald said it was not the first attempt for drug imports in Australia, but it was the largest amount of drugs seized in the country at an airport or a cruise ship.
They appeared Monday at Sydney’s Central Local Court and all were formally refused bail.
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The Australian Federal Police have not ruled out making further arrests and say the investigation is on going.
