Princess Cruises to have five ships in Australia in 2016-17

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 16 April 2015 16 April 2015

Princess Cruises has announced it will home port five ships in Australia to sail the cruise line’s largest-ever program offering in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific for the 2016-2017 season. Princess Cruises will introduce the 3,082-guest Emerald Princess to the market, with Golden Princess returning to sail from Melbourne and Sun Princess, Sea Princess and Dawn Princess rounding out the fleet and expanding the cruise line’s in-market capacity by 20 percent.  

Highlights of the new program include an 84-day Circle South America voyage, more ways to see New Zealand, longer South Pacific cruises and Circle Australia voyage options.  In addition, Land and Sea Vacation packages will immerse adventure-seekers in the diverse destinations.
 
On sale beginning April 22, 2015, the new Princess Cruises’ Australia season runs from October 2016 to April 2017. More details can be found at princess.com.
 
"Australia and the entire South Pacific region has always had an allure as a magical place for travellers, and cruising is one of the best ways to explore this part of the world," said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. "As demand for the region grows, we’re responding with more voyages, more destinations and more creative itinerary options."
 
Cruise-goers can choose from 120 cruise options, in total visiting 113 destinations in 39 countries. Some of the choices include:

– An 84-day Circle South America cruise on Sea Princess departing Sydney, Australia on January 11, 2017 and visiting 28 destinations in 18 countries including Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Uruguay.  Overnight calls in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Lima and a full-transit of the Panama Canal add to this special voyage.
     
– More ways to explore the natural wonders of New Zealand with all five Princess ships sailing to the country’s beautiful coastal landscapes on cruises ranging from 11- to 14-days.
     
– Circle Australia voyages on Sun Princess with departures from Sydney in October 2016 and March 2017 as well as the first-ever roundtrip voyages from Brisbane and Fremantle.
     
– 10- to 14-day voyages through the idyllic and remote islands of the South Pacific from Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, on Sun Princess and Sea Princess.
     
– A 42-day four continent voyage from England to Australia on September 28, 2016 aboard Emerald Princess as she sails south for her first-ever season Down Under.
     
– Two 42-day journeys to the Orient aboard Dawn Princess sailing from Sydney and Brisbane with visits to multiple destinations in China and Japan. The Sydney sailing departing March 16, 2017 is timed to visit Japan during its famous Cherry Blossom season.

To further enhance the cruise vacation experience, Princess Cruises will offer two Land and Sea Vacation packages.  The Australian Outback package immerses guests in Aboriginal culture and includes visits to the Great Barrier Reef and Ayers Rock in Uluru National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The more extensive Ultimate Australia package highlights include a Sydney city tour, the Great Barrier Reef, the northern tropical city of Darwin, the Outback and more.

Disney to start river cruises on Danube

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 16 April 2015 16 April 2015

Disney Corporation, an ocean cruise operator, will enter river cruise business in 2016. The move is tipped to be a game-changer in the river cruise segment, as it will be the first family-oriented product in the sector. Alan Lam reports.

In partnership with AmaWaterways, Disney has announced that it is to offer family-focused river cruises on the Danube from the 2016 season.

The planned seven-night itinerary will cover the distance between Budapest in Hungary and Vilshofen in Germany on a new AmaWaterways vessel, namely AmaViola, which is being custom built for the family market with cabin configurations that can accommodate up to five passengers. Disney is also designing shore excursion programmes with families in mind.

The ship will have four suites with beds and pullout sofas that can hold a family of four, and chairs that can be converted into an extra bed. There will also be six sets of adjoining cabins that allow members of families to share accommodation spaces.

The new venture aims to open up a new market in the river cruise business, as until now, it has been catered for adult travellers only. “We think the Disney brand will bring families to the river cruising category,” said Ken Potrock, the Disney executive in charge of this project, “and we think that’s very exciting development for the industry.”

The cruises will be sold via Adventures by Disney, the corporation’s tourism division. Initially there will be five departures, on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th of July, as well as a Christmas cruise departing 22nd of December. The ports of calls will be Vilshofen, Passau, Linz, Melk, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. Passengers can also add an optional two nights of sightseeing tour to Prague at either end of the sailing, extending it to a nine-night itinerary.

The cruise line will offer archery, strudel making, historic castle visits, interactive Disney games and an array of other family-orientated activities both on board and on land. In all there will be five or six activities to choose from each day, far more than those found on most other current river cruises.

In addition to the ship’s regular staff, Disney will provide eight “adventure guides” on board each sailing.

The cruise is recommended for children of age eight upwards, with a minimum age limit of four.

Prices will be $4,179 per person, based on double occupancy.

Starting small, Disney has plans to expand this new venture in the coming years. This will be a transformational development, perhaps the beginning of a new era in the river cruise sector.