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.
