Princess newbuild will offer various Mediterranean voyages before heading to year-round China homeport
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Princess Cruises’ latest newbuild Majestic Princess is to launch with a series of Mediterranean voyages in April 2017.
Prior to heading to her first year-round homeport in Shanghai, China, in July 2017, the 3,560-guest ship will offer five- to 28-day Mediterranean voyages from Barcelona in Spain, Athens in Greece, and Rome in Italy.
Majestic Princess will join the five other Princess ships that will be sailing in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean in 2017. Together, the ships will offer a total of 64 itineraries on 153 cruise departures, visiting 119 destinations in 27 countries.
Royal Princess, which was launched in 2013, will offer seven-, 14-, 21- and 28-day sailings throughout the Mediterranean, including a new 11-day ‘Grand Mediterranean’ voyage and ten-day ‘Western Mediterranean’ sailing. These can be combined to create a 21-day ‘Grand Mediterranean Collection’ cruises.
Meanwhile Regal Princess, which was named in 2014, will return to Northern Europe to sail Scandinavia and Russia itineraries, which include an overnight stay in St Petersburg.
Elsewhere, the 3,080-guest Crown Princess will be based in Southampton, UK, from April to September, sailing seven- and 14-night roundtrips across Europe.
Princess will also offer its largest British Isles season to date, with the 3,140-guest Caribbean Princess sailing 12 cruises to destinations in England, Scotland and Ireland. All 12-day ‘British Isles’ cruises feature a new late evening stay in Belfast, Northern Ireland, while guests sailing on select departures from Southampton will have the option to overnight in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. There will also be an option for late-night stays in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the Military Tattoo on select sailings.
Pacific Princess will also offer roundtrips from Dover to more remote destinations in the British Isles, the Shetland Islands and Iceland between June and September.
Both Crown Princess and Pacific Princess will offer North Cape voyages to the Arctic Circle during the peak midnight sun period around the summer solstice.
“Princess is known for offering the best cruise itineraries around the globe and our 2017 Europe season is sure to inspire our guests with our newest and largest ships in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises’ president. “We’re especially excited to debut Majestic Princess in the Mediterranean before she officially sails to Asia for her maiden China cruise season.”
Princess now offers the ‘More Ashore’ programme, which gives guests more time at select destinations with either late night departures (9pm or later), an overnight, or a two-day experience. Highlights of the ‘More Ashore’ programme includes overnights in Dublin and St. Petersburg on select sailings and late evening stays in more than 15 countries.