Cruise line moves large ships out of the Caribbean
Princess Cruises, one of the world's largest cruise lines will pull
two of its largest ships from the Caribbean next year to take advantage
of a boom in the United Kingdom (UK) cruise market.
It said the Crown Princess and the slightly smaller Grand Princess
will be moved to the company's homeport of Southampton, on the south
coast of England in 2009. The Crown Princess has a capacity of 3,080
and will now have itineraries around the British Isles and to Iceland
and the Norwegian Fjords, while the Grand Princess which can carry as
many as 2,600 passengers will sail the Mediterranean to boost capacity
by 40 per cent. The two will be replaced on the Caribbean route by the smaller Sea
Princess which previously operated out of Southampton. That vessel will
make its voyage to the Caribbean and Alaska later this year. Experts have predicted that while Caribbean cruising is expected to
fall by five percent in 2009, it will be a record breaking year for
Southampton's cruise industry. It has also been anticipated that more
of the larger and more luxurious cruise ships will be based out of the
UK. Princess Cruises' UK head of brand marketing, Pieter van der Schee,
said the company took the decision "on the back of the strength we have
seen for Princess in the UK this year". A spokesman for the cruise company also said taking the two ships
back home was a reflection of its "commitment to the port where we
intend to develop and expand our operation". Source: Caribbean360.com
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