Princess Cruises has announced that 2022 will see its longest UK season ever and will include cruises on Sky Princess, which recently joined the fleet in October 2019 with a capacity of 3,660 guests.
Sky Princess will be cruising from Southampton in the UK from March- October 2022 which is a total of 215 days, a month longer than any previous UK season, and also includes the most school holiday sailings ever. Sky Princess will also be the largest homeport ship the UK has ever had, offering more guest capacity than previously seen, showing increased investment and confidence in the UK market.
Sky Princess will be joined in Europe by four other ships for the summer 2022 season; Crown Princess will also be based in Southampton offering British Isles itineraries, the fleet’s newest ship Enchanted Princess will sail Scandinavia and Russia roundtrip from Copenhagen, Regal Princess will cover the Mediterranean, while Island Princess will visit a variety of European destinations.
Sky Princess will offer the choice of 18 voyages from Southampton, including seven school holiday sailings across the season. The ship will depart for the Mediterranean, northern Europe and Canada & New England, with several new voyages.
The 3,080-guest Crown Princess will sail the British Isles from May to October on 14 Southampton sailings. The ship will travel to destinations including Liverpool, Guernsey, Dublin, Belfast, Orkney Islands (Kirkwall) and Edinburgh, with select itineraries offering overnight calls in port.
The 2,200-guest Island Princess sails the reaches of Europe including an opportunity to search for the Northern Lights, visit the top of Norway during the Summer Solstice and voyages to Greenland and Iceland with multiples stops in both destinations for an extended exploration.
Island Princess also sails the Mediterranean including two voyages to the Holy Land of Israel sailing roundtrip from Rome (Civitavecchia).
The season also includes multiple opportunities to visit during special festival times – including the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August on Crown Princess and Island Princess and Oktoberfest on Island Princess in Hamburg, Germany.
The line’s newest ship, the 3,660-guest Enchanted Princess, which joined the fleet in September this year, will spend April to September sailing Scandinavia and Russia roundtrip from Copenhagen, visiting destinations including Tallinn, Oslo, Helsinki and Stockholm, and will offer overnight calls in St Petersburg.
Regal Princess which is based in Southampton in 2021, will sail the Mediterranean with departures from Barcelona, Rome or Athens offering a variety of sailings ranging in length from 7 to 21 days and includes voyages to the Western Mediterranean, Adriatic Sea and Aegean Sea featuring Greece & Turkey.
All Europe 2022 voyages go on sale on 2 December, 2020. Princess’ Elite guests are able to book from 1 December, 2020 at 2pm.
Princess past guests are eligible for a special promotion when they book early on these cruises. The special promotion consists of a Captain’s Circle launch discount of up to £100 per person. Offer expires April 30, 2021.
Tony Roberts, Princess Cruises vice president UK & Europe, said: “At Princess, we’re using this current pause to strengthen our operations and enhance our offering in order to deliver our best cruise holidays yet. This includes taking this time to add leading-edge technology to more of our fleet, so even more guests can enjoy our touchless, personalised MedallionClass experience. In addition guests can take advantage of our all-inclusive added value package ‘Princess Plus’, which includes premium drinks, the best Wi-Fi at sea and gratuities. With lots of options available, we are confident that every guest will find a great holiday that they can look forward to in 2022.”
Princess pause sailings until March 2021
Princess Cruises is extending its pause in global operations to allow time for the estimated preparation needed for completing required activities prior to sailing and taking into consideration the temporary seven-day cap on itineraries that call at a U.S. port. The cruise operations impacted include the following:
- All cruises through to 31st March 2021
- All cruises longer than seven days sailing in and out of the US through to 1st November 2021
Additionally, due to the uncertainty about when international travel restrictions might be lifted, Princess Cruises is extending its pause in operations for cruises departing in and out of Japan through June 25, 2021.
“We are focused on preparing our ships to meet the CDC health and safety requirements for our eventual return to service,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. “We also appreciate the continued support we have received from our guests, partners and travel advisors, reinforcing for all of us why we do what we do.”
Guests currently booked on these cancelled voyages will have the option to receive a refundable Future Cruise Credit (FCC) equivalent to 100% of the cruise fare paid plus an additional non-refundable bonus FCC equal to 25% of the cruise fare.
To receive the above FCCs, no action is required by the guest or their travel agents. Alternatively, guests can request a full refund for all monies paid on their booking through this online form. Requests must be received by December 31, 2020 or guests will be registered for the Future Cruise Credit option.
