PRINCESS CRUISES UPS THE ANTE FOR EUROPE IN 2018

Princess Cruises has added extra impetus to it's 2018 deployments in Europe by announcing the return of the Royal Princess to sail in home waters. Named at Southampton by the Duchess of Cambridge in June 2013, the vast, 141,000 ton ship will spearhead a five ship line up sailing in Europe. In all, these five vessels will offer no less than 168 cruises, with itineraries ranging from eight to thirty eight days' duration.

Sapphire Princess will make her first ever ex UK sailings in 2018, joining her sister ship, Crown Princess. The latter ship will also offer a high season range of seven night Mediterranean fly cruises between Rome and Athens, with ports of call including Crete, Kotor. Mykonos and the Italian port of Salerno. As for Sapphire Princess, she will be showcasing a series of fourteen night sailings to the Mediterranean from the Hampshire port, followed later by a series of departures from Barcelona.

Smaller and more intimate, the elegant Pacific Princess offers a whole raft of twelve night Mediterranean cruises. There is also a special, summer solstice sailing to Spitsbergen from Dover, as well as a series of sailings that take in Iceland, Norway, and the Shetland Islands.

It is the return of the ground breaking Royal Princess to Europe that is actually the stand out headline here. The 3,600 passenger ship will sail from both Southampton and Le Havre, France, on a series of twelve night itineraries. Some of her itineraries will feature overnight stays in Dublin, with additional late night departures from Belfast. The ship will also stay late in Edinburgh to allow passengers to experience the world famous Tattoo Festival.

It was Royal Princess that first showcased the Seawalk, a glass enclosed, semi circular walkway that protrudes some fifteen feet out over each side of the ship, allowing passengers to literally stand out above the sea. No less than 1,438 of her outside cabins-around eighty one per cent of the total number on board-come complete with private balconies.

Princess as a whole is also putting more emphasis on overnight stays in port, and no less than thirty two are featured for the 2018 season. Passengers can enjoy the night life in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and Venice. The line will aslo make a number of late night salings from Warnemunde- the port closest to Berlin- to allow passengers more time to explore Germany's capital.