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Princess to acquire a small ship from a sister company

By Johanna Jainchill

In a twist, Princess Cruises announced the expansion of its fleet with the addition of a 680-passenger ship that happens to be the only vessel of its affiliated brand, U.K.-based Swan Hellenic Cruises.

The Minerva II will enter service as the Royal Princess in April 2007, joining the lines other small ships, the 670-passenger Tahitian Princess and Pacific Princess.

All three of the vessels, which are identical in layout, were originally built for Renaissance Cruises.

Because its smaller it opens up a lot of port choices for our itineraries, said Alan Buckelew, Princess president. Its an exciting opportunity for us.

The first itineraries for the future Royal Princess will be 12-day European sailings in the Mediterranean and Black Sea that will include a Holy Lands cruise to Israel and Egypt.

No one at either line seemed to know what would become of Swan Hellenic.

David Dingle, managing director of Carnival UK, said that no vessel had been identified to replace the Minerva II, but the company was looking into all options in its commitment to continuing to operate the brand.

Weve had to make a strictly commercial decision, said Dingle. We identified the fact that putting the ship in a large brand such as Princess Cruises has benefits to scale that are hard to match.

Dingle said the lines went public now because Princess needs to get its summer 2007 program on the market. When asked if Swan Hellenic will have a summer 2007 program, Dingle hedged.  We cant confirm plans at this stage, he said.

To contact reporter Johanna Jainchill, send e-mail to jjainchill@travelweekly.com.

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