Princess Cruises will make its largest ever
Europe deployment in 2007 when it sends five ships to the
Continent, offering 81 departures and 31 itineraries visiting 110
ports, a 33% increase over last year.
The extended season
will start in April and run through December 2007.
The Emerald
Princess, Princess Cruises next ship currently under construction
at Italys Fincantieri shipyard, and the Royal Princess, the ship it
will acquire from U.K.- based Swan Hellenic, will both make their
Princess debuts in 2007 in the Mediterranean and will offer Med
itineraries throughout the season.
The Emerald
Princess first sailing will be out of Rome, scheduled for April 11,
2007. The 113,000-ton vessel will embark on a 12-day Greek Islands
itinerary and will then offer a series of Greek Islands and
Mediterranean cruises before heading to Fort Lauderdale in
October.
The Royal Princess
will add new ports to Princess itineraries, visiting Ravenna,
Italy; Split, Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro; and Canakkale, Turkey.
The ship also will resume Holy Land trips to Israel and Egypt,
which had been on hiatus.
In addition, the
Grand Princes will sail a mainly Northern Europe series; the Star
Princess, predominantly in the Baltic region, with a few
late-season Greek Isles sailings; and the Sea Princess will sail
out of Southampton, England, with a series of Iberian,
Mediterranean and Scandinavian sailings.
To contact the
reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Johanna Jainchill
at [email protected].