Company Overview:
Back
in 1975, Princess Cruises was a small, Los
Angeles-based cruise line with a single star in
its lineup, the 640-passenger, 20,000-gross ton
Pacific Princess sailing cruises to the Mexican
Riviera. The company's fortunes changed
overnight, as in all good stories about
princesses, when a group of Hollywood television
producers selected the ship to star in a new
series that became one of the biggest hits in
television history. The "Love Boat" was the
vehicle that eventually transported tiny
Princess Cruises into one of the cruise
industry's Big Four cruise lines. So closely was
the Princess Cruises name aligned with the
slogan "The Love Boat" that the company kept the
phrase as its official motto nearly until the
end of the 20th century.
But Princess
Cruises never rested on its television spotlight
laurels. Today's fleet is comprised of fifteen
elegant vessels, each of them magnitudes larger
than the original Pacific Princess. The company
still does regular cruises to the Mexican
Riviera, but you'll also find its ships sailing
in the Caribbean, Asia, Panama Canal, Alaska,
Europe, and even Tahiti. The line has a loyal
following because of the consistency of its
cruise product, and the loyalty of Princess'
regulars has been rewarded with a variety of
ships and itineraries.
Always an
innovative company, Princess manages to stay at
the frontline of cruise quality and customer
service. Examples of the line's innovation
include the first Cajun and Creole restaurants
at sea (on Coral and Island Princess), and the
ScholarShip@Sea Program (on Coral, Island,
Diamond and Sapphire Princesses), offering an
enviable range of educational and hobby-oriented
classes.
The British parent company of
Princess Cruises, P&O (Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company), began nearly 200
years ago as one of the great British shipping
companies. As the jumbo jet gradually made liner
crossings a thing of the past, the company
turned to cruising, and operated both Princess
Cruises and a number of European divisions until
its 2003 merger with Carnival Corporation, which
created the world's largest cruise company.
The most "seasoned" ships in the current
Princess fleet are the 70,000-ton
1,590-passenger Regal Princess (1991) and the
77,000-ton, 1,950-passenger sister ships Sun
Princess (1995), Dawn Princess (1997) and Sea
Princess (1998), the last of which re-joined the
fleet in April 2005 after two years as P&O's
Adonia. The Royal Princess (1984) was
transferred to P&O Cruises the following month.
The fleet also comprises four Grand-class ships,
the 109,000-ton, 2,600-passenger Grand Princess
(1998), Golden Princess (2001), Star Princess
(2002) and the 113,000-tons 3,100-passenger
Caribbean Princess. Diamond Princess and
Sapphire Princess, two 116,000-ton,
2,670-passenger sister ships, entered the fleet
in 2004, sailing to Alaska and Mexico. They
represents the larger "Grand-class" sister ships
with a myriad entertainment options and plenty
of affordable balconies. A second 113,000-ton
ship, similar to Caribbean Princess, named Crown
Princess was delivered in June 2006. A third
3,100-passenger vessel, Emerald Princess, is
scheduled to join the fleet in 2007, a sister
ship in Fall 2008.
In August, 2002
Princess acquired two 684-passenger former
Renaissance vessels, renaming them (new) Pacific
Princess and the Tahitian Princess. The latter
sails year-round from Tahiti on 10-day sailings,
while Pacific Princess sails half the year from
Sydney for P&O Cruises Australia and half for
Princess elsewhere in the Pacific.
In 2003 Princess added the 92,000-ton
sister ships Island and Coral Princess.
All in all, you can board a Princess
ship confident that you'll enjoy a pleasurable
mainstream cruise on which the tried and true
and innovative co-exist happily. Princess's
smaller ships may be somewhat dated, but only as
old as 1991 for the Regal Princess, so not SO
dated. These older ships make up for their size
with exotic itineraries. Princess's megaships
may be some of the biggest at sea ? too big to
squeeze through the Panama Canal! ? but they are
full of surprises from reach out and touch the
stars discos high above the stern to
out-of-the-way hiding places you may not find
until the last day of your cruise.
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Princess Cruises Experience:
Princess Cruises is
one of those companies with a reputation for
reliability and consistency. When you board a
Princess ship, you know almost exactly what to
expect. At the same time, it seems to have
something of a crystal ball. With Royal
Princess, it became the first mid-price cruise
line to offer a large number of cabins with
private balconies.
Princess was also the
first line to offer 24-hour buffet food service,
though it was practically a secret at the time.
One can go anytime for a snack or a meal,
including at dinnertime if one does not feel
like dressing up for the dining room. At the
time, the idea seemed revolutionary in cruise
circles. Today, it is the norm.
Megaliners aren't everyone's vessels of choice,
but Princess approaches the concept differently.
First of all, they carry fewer passengers, so
they are simply less crowded. Rather than one
gigantic dining room, two or three smaller
restaurants with etched glass partitions provide
a more intimate dining experience. They divide
the crowd between two main show lounges, one
with Broadway-style revues, the other cabaret,
and then switch them, all according to the
dining schedule.
Public rooms are small and intimate.
Caviar and champagne bars give the passenger a
feel for the lap of luxury, as well as the
multi-million dollar art collection and the most
gorgeous libraries at sea, complete with plush
leather chairs and earphones for audio tapes.
Princess is known for the innovative aspects of
its shore excursions, most notably its Alaska
cruise-tours where cruises are combined with
shore tour programs. The land portion features
gleaming, two-level railcars with glass domes
and company-owned lodges in Kenai Peninsula,
Denali Park, and Mt. McKinley. When taking an
Alaska cruise-tour, however, be very sure to
confirm what's included. In most cases, food and
sightseeing are added costs.
There are
expanded wireless "hotspots" for Internet access
on ships throughout the fleet; including
availability in the atrium areas of all 14
vessels. Passengers with their own laptops can
purchase Internet access for 35 cents per minute
($10.50 for 30 minutes) at the front desk. Those
whose computers lack a wireless network card may
purchase a 'Windows XP' compatible card.
Shipboard Internet Cafes feature between eight
and 26 terminals, depending on the vessel. Sun
Princess, Dawn Princess and Regal Princess have
all recently opened Internet centers, most open
24 hours and easily accessed. Selected vessels'
libraries also provide computer stations with
direct links to the Internet.
The line's
new Movies Under the Stars program, featuring a
King Kong-sized LED screen above the main pool,
having debuted on the Caribbean Princess, is now
featured on all Caribbean itineraries. The line
is set to begin offering headphones to those who
wish to watch, as the audio has been prompting
complaints from many passengers with cabins on
the decks below.
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Fellow Passengers
Princess' youngish
"average" passengers, fifty-somethings, seem to
prefer the line's one-week Caribbean and Mexico
cruises, while the Alaska cruises seem to
attract more and more families. Babyboomers and
their teenagers are occasionally glimpsed on
summertime European cruises. On the Panama
Canal, Asia, Africa and South America voyages,
passengers are generally over 65. If you're not
yet eligible for Social Security, you're
especially likely to feel out-of-place aboard
Regal and Royal Princess. At the other end of
the spectrum, Tahitian Princess, a favorite of
newlyweds, has come to be seen as the line's
"couples" ship.
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Taking Kids:
The recently
expanded Princess Kids program features
complimentary in-port activities and special
educational opportunities, some created in
conjunction with the California Science Center
and the National Wildlife Federation. Grand,
Golden, Star and Caribbean Princess have the
most extensive children's activities, while
Coral and Island each has a private disco/coffee
club for teenagers. The Junior Ranger program
runs throughout the Alaska season, and there is
also a Save our Seas environmental program.
Princess' Youth Centers offer a full schedule of
activities from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with two-hour
breaks for lunch and dinner, on sea days. During
port days the program runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
and again from 7 to 10 p.m. Parents are given
pagers so they may be contacted by the Youth
Counselors. Princess divides kids into one of
three groups, Pelicans (ages 3-7), Princess
Pirateers (ages 8-12), and teens (13-17), for
whom the Off Limits centers were specially
designed, with a jukebox, arcade, dance floor
with disco lights, and diner-like booths.
At night, teen centers convert to discos open
from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Group babysitting for
children 3 to 12 is available from 10 p.m. to 1
a.m. for a fee, but no in-cabin babysitting is
on offer.
Children's menus are available
both in the dining room and the 24-hour
restaurant. One night each cruise, there's a
gala pizza party at which kids dine with the
youth staff and new friends, allowing parents to
dine with other adults for a change. Personal
Choice Dining is recommended for families who
want to dine together in the main dining room
before evening youth activities kick off at 7
p.m.
(Do note that Tahitian Princess and
Pacific Princesses have no dedicated children's
facilities, and youth counselors board only when
there are 20 or more children on the passenger
list.)
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Shore Excursions:
Nobody
in this price range gives you more variety than
Princess. In Alaska, Princess's offers pre- and
post-cruise land excursions, including
accommodation in Princess' private lodges and
separate sightseeing tours at every stop. In the
Caribbean, in addition to the usual snorkeling
and sailing; the intensive "Under the Waves"
scuba training course enables participants to
become certified divers in only a week. Or there
are golf specials and helicopter excursions.
Tipping:
Aboard all ships a charge of $10
per person (including children) per day is added
automatically to your stateroom account for
dining and stateroom personnel. This applies
whether you choose traditional or personal
choice dining. The amount may be increased or
lowered at the Purser's Reception desk during
the cruise. A 15% gratuity is automatically
added to all Princess beverage tabs. Gratuities
for spa, casino and other staff are at your
discretion.
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Repeat Passenger Programs:
The
Captain's Circle quarterly newsletter includes
discount coupons, and subscribers are regularly
advised of special promotions. The four annual
winners of the line's Photo/Essay Contest win
free cruises. On every cruise, there's an
on-board cocktail party, shipboard raffle for
logo prizes; and onboard recognition for
most-traveled passenger. For more information
call 1-800-PRINCESS.
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