Line to offer more than one million cruise nights on sailings to northern and southern Europe.
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Princess Cruises is to offer its biggest ever season of cruises departing from the UK in 2018.
For the first time, the line will offer more than one million cruise nights on sailings to northern and southern Europe.
Making her Europe debut, Sapphire Princess will sail 16 Mediterranean and Northern Europe departures from Southampton between April and October. The vessel then return to Singapore with a 38-night itinerary.
Royal Princess will return to Southampton in May 2018, marking five years since she was christened at the port by HRH the Duchess of Cambridge. The ship will offer round-Britain cruises with late night stays in Belfast and overnights in Dublin, Ireland and Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland.
Sailing from Dover, Pacific Princess will take guests to Northern and Southern Europe, offering a new 12-night European capitals cruise with an overnight stay in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
“Cruise holidays from the UK continue to surge in popularity,” said Andy Harmer, director of CLIA UK and Ireland. “It’s great to see that Princess Cruises is helping drive this demand by increasing their UK season to help meet the ever growing number of people who choose to cruise from these shores.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Crown Princess will offer Mediterranean cruises from Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece and Barcelona, Spain between April and October. Regal Princess will sail roundtrip from Copenhagen in Denmark to Scandinavia and the Baltic from April to September.
Other highlights of the 2018 cruise season include the first summer Caribbean cruises in three years. Sailing roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Caribbean Princess will offer 47 itineraries around the Caribbean and Panama Canal between April and October.
In addition, Princess will offer its largest ever Alaska deployment with seven ships sailing in the region from May to September. The vessels will offer 130 departures from Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, British Columbia and Anchorage. More than 75% of all voyages will take guests to Glacier Bay National Park. New for 2018, Island Princess will feature a full season of calls to Icy Strait Point.
“Princess continues to build on our long-standing recognition as the best cruise line in Alaska,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. “There’s no better way to see Alaska’s glaciers, wildlife and national parks than from the perspective of our spectacular ships, exclusive rail service and Princess-owned wilderness lodges, and we are proud to provide our guests even more opportunities to visit the Great Land in 2018.”