Majestic Princess: Princess Cruises names new €600 million ship designed for Chinese

Posted on 10 October, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Majestic Princess will begin sailing to Japan and South Korea from its homeport of Shanghai in summer 2017

Princess Cruises’ newest ship, launching in summer 2017, will be called Majestic Princess. The 3,560-passenger vessel is the third “Royal Class” ship for the cruise line and has been designed with Chinese passengers in mind.

The ship will carry a Chinese name on the hull, 盛世公主号 (Shèng Shì Gōng Zhǔ Haò) – chosen by Carnival plc’s China employees and interpreted as “Grand World” or “Grand Spirit.”

“We’re excited to be the first line to offer a genuine premium cruise option to Chinese vacationers,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.

“[Majestic Princess] represents our brand’s long-term commitment to the continuing growth of the China market.”

T’ai chi at sea, ballroom dancing, subtitled Hollywood movies, Chinese satellite TV channels and a souped-up designer shopping experience are among the “Princess Class” experiences being rolled out to the Chinese market. Priority will be placed on food, amenities and shopping. In addition to the 24-hour buffet at sea, a wide variety of traditional Chinese dishes will also be offered for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The rapidly expanding Chinese cruise market has seen a parade of international ships moving to China. MSC Cruises announced last month that it will deploy its 1,976-passenger MSC Lirica to Shanghai, while Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas sails from Shanghai. Following its launch in China next April Ovation of the Seas will sail from Tianjin.

China has the potential to deliver 83 million cruise passengers a year according to a recent study by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

• China plots domination of the global cruise market

Princess ships began homeport cruising in China in 2014 with an inaugural season of Shanghai-based cruises aboard Sapphire Princess, which visited cities including Seoul (Incheon), Busan and Jeju Island in South Korea and Fukuoka (Hakata), Kagoshima, Okinawa and Nagasaki in Japan. Majestic Princess will be based in China year round and will begin sailing to Japan and South Korea (ports not yet confirmed) from Shanghai in summer 2017.

Weighing in at 143,000 grt and with a build cost of €600 million Majestic Princess is being built at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri, where P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Princess’s Royal and Regal Princess and Carnival Magic were built.

MSC Announces Grand Voyage to Shanghai

Posted on 24 August, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

MSC Cruises has officially announced plans to make its first sailing to China, with the newly-renovated MSC Lirica calling in Shanghai on May 1, 2016 after having traveled across continents.

The 65,000-ton ship will make the company’s maiden call in China’s biggest megalopolis after a 60-day round-the-world Grand Voyage which departs on March 3, 2016 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“We are delighted to once more be able to offer our guests a brand new itinerary – from Brazil to China via Europe – which offers the chance to visit some of the most appealing places on earth, certainly across a huge array of people and cultures,” said MSC Cruises CEO, Gianni Onorato.

Onorato added: “This new Grand Voyage offering is proof of our steadfast commitment to offer our guests innovative and sought-after destinations. As MSC Cruises continues to expand the destinations it calls – such as Cuba which we recently announced – we are further enhancing our global offering while providing travelers best-in-class experiences and service.”

MSC Cruises is offering travelers the opportunity to choose from three different versions of the Grand Voyage, with the ability to embark in either Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (60 nights), Genoa in Italy (41 nights) or Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (26 nights), before arriving in Shanghai.

Shanghai at night taken by Dave Jones

Before setting sail, MSC Lirica will be fully renovated and enlarged under MSC Cruises’ Renaissance Program, which entails a comprehensive overhaul of the ship due to be completed in November 2015.

Prices for the full 60-day Grand Voyage on MSC Lirica will start at $4,799 per person. Included in the price are beverage and laundry packages as well as 8 shore excursions.

During the first leg of MSC Lirica’s 60-day journey, the ship will depart on March 3, 2016 from Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro and sail north along the coast of Brazil – with calls in Buzios, Salvador, Maceio and Fortaleza. The ship will then cross the Atlantic on a northeast course towards the Canary Islands – with a stop in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife – before reaching mainland Europe and visiting Cadiz, Spain.

From there, MSC Lirica will call the three largest ports in the Mediterranean – Barcelona, Spain; Marseille, France; and Genoa, Italy – providing travelers an opportunity to embark in any of these ports in Europe and providing maximum flexibility as guests journey towards Asia.

After leaving Genoa, MSC Lirica will call Naples, Italy and the island of Crete with Heraklion in Greece. The ship then heads south to Aqaba in Jordan; Muscat, Oman; and Khor Al Fakhan and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The ship is scheduled to stay in Dubai overnight and travelers interested in sailing from Dubai to Shanghai will have the ability to embark.

During the last leg of the journey, MSC Lirica sets sail towards the East and the Indian cities of Goa and Cochin, prior to calling Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. She then heads to Phuket, Thailand, and Penang and Port Kelang/Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, before reaching Singapore.

After an overnight stay in Singapore, the ship will bring its guests to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and then to visit Hong Kong. Shanghai is the next call and includes an overnight stay before sailing across the China sea to Fukuoka in Japan. From the Land of the Rising Sun, MSC Lirica heads back to the high seas one more time, returning to Shanghai on May 1, 2016.

Princess Cruises to deploy another ship to China

Posted on 26 July, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Golden Princess.

The Golden Princess will sail seasonal cruises from Tianjin in 2016, joining the Sapphire Princess in China.

The Sapphire Princess has been sailing seasonally from Shanghai since 2014 and will start sailing year-round from the port in 2016. Both ships carry about 2,600 passengers.

In addition, Princess Cruises will deploy a new 3,600-passenger ship to China in 2017, the cruise line said in May.

Another Carnival Corp. brand, Costa Cruises, will base four ships in China in 2016: the Fortuna, Serena, Atlantica and Victoria. Carnival Corp. announced in April that the Fortuna would be added to its China fleet.

“Our Costa and Princess brands are performing extremely well in China, and these new ship deployments will strengthen our growth position and enable us to carry nearly 1 million passengers in 2016,” said Alan Buckelew, Carnival Corp.’s chief operations officer.