New Princess ship to debut in Europe before China deployment

Posted on 24 November, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Majestic Princess.

Princess Cruises’ new ship Majestic Princess is to make its debut in Europe before being deployed to its year-round base in China.

The 3,560-passenger vessel enters service in April 2017 with a short maiden season of five to 28-day Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona, Athens and Rome before moving to China in July.

Sister ships Royal Princess and Regal Princess will be among a further six ships to be based in Europe in 2017.

Royal Princess will run new 11-day Grand Mediterranean and 10-day Western Mediterranean itineraries which can be combined into a 21-day sailing. Seven, 14, 21 and 28-day sailings throughout the Mediterranean will also be available.

Regal Princess, launched last year, returns to northern Europe for cruises to Scandinavia and Russia including an overnight stay in St Petersburg.

The 3,080-passenger Crown Princess will be based in Southampton from April to September to run seven and 14-night cruises to the Mediterranean and Scandinavia.

The 3,140-passenger Caribbean Princess will operate the line’s largest British Isles season with 12 departures from Southampton including a new late evening stay in Belfast and overnights in Dublin on selected cruises.

Smaller Pacific Princess, carrying 680 passengers, will sail from Dover from June to September on northern Europe itineraries.

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.

The 2017 sailings, covering 153 departures to 119 destinations across 27 countries, are open for booking on December 3 from 4pm.

Princess Cruises’ president, Jan Swartz, said: “Our 2017 Europe season is sure to inspire our guests with our newest and largest ships in the Mediterranean and northern Europe.

“We’re especially excited to debut Majestic Princess in the Mediterranean before she officially sails to Asia for her maiden China cruise season.”

Princess Cruises gives The Voice a floating stage

Posted on 17 August, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

The Voice UK Judges.

Princess Cruises is preparing to take TV singing competition The Voice to sea.

The Voice of the Ocean sailings will start in October with Regal Princess, followed by Royal Princess and Caribbean Princess in November, before further sailings next year.

There cruises will host karaoke sessions for over-16s and opportunities to audition before fellow guests and cruise staff, who decide which hopefuls go further.

Selected singers will be assigned a mentor before a live show on the last night of the cruise. Coaches will pick team members before the audience votes for a winner.

Adrian Fischer, entertainment vice-president at Princess Cruises, said: “Guests will perform on a high-tech set almost identical to the hit show, including rotating red chairs and a live Princess band with backup singers.

“We’re excited to foster undiscovered talent.”

The initiative is part of Princess’s ‘come back new’ tagline.

Busy May in Hamburg

Posted on 19 May, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Hamburg is having a busy May, according to Nadine Palatz, managing director of the Hamburg Cruise Center, including several maiden calls, the 826th anniversary of the port with six cruise ships in town, and a total of 40 calls for the month and more than 100,000 passengers.

In a prepared statement, Palatz summarized the month, starting on May 1 with a call by the
MSC Splendida, the largest passenger ship that will sail from the Hanseatic city this summer. The call was celebrated with the traditional exchange of plaques between the ship’s captain and the port captain.

Hamburg’s Senator for Economics, Frank Horch, and MSC’s Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago were present. The HafenCity Cruise Center also hosted a family-friendly event for visitors and ship enthusiasts with live music and entertainment.

On the following weekend from May 8 to 10, the festivities were focused on the 826th anniversary of the port. The AIDAbella, AIDAsol, Amadea, Artania, Europa 2 and Queen Elizabeth were in town. The highlight was Saturday night, when AIDA fireworks lit up the night sky over Hamburg. According to Palatz, hundreds of thousands of spectators watched the events.

Other maiden calls during the month were the Ocean Diamond on May 12, Poseidon Expeditions’ Sea Spirit on May 16, to be followed by Mein Schiff 4 on May 22.

One maiden call was also celebrated with a sea shanty: On April 30, for the passengers of the Regal Princess, a Hamburg Chamber of Commerce shanty choir performed.

Palatz said that the chamber of commerce offers cruise companies a range of services, such as support for PR activities or welcomes with a fire boat.

“It is important to us that a ship’s maiden call to our Hanseatic city is a special experience,” said Palatz.