Princess Cruises has expanded its worldwide cruising programme for 2010/11 to meet growing demand for exotic voyages.
Head of brand marketing Pieter van der Schee said three years ago Princess’ Exotic Cruises programme was about one-third the size it is today.
He said: “We have done a lot of work to increase awareness and agents have played a big part in its success, but a lot of the growth is down to demand. People are looking for new destinations and, as cruising grows, more people are realising it’s a great way to see lots of places on one holiday.”
The Exotic programme features cruises in South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Far East and Hawaii, a 108-night world cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Civitavecchia (the port for Rome), and two voyages between Sydney and Southampton, and vice-versa.
New for 2010/11 is a 26-night cruise from Sydney to Beijing on Diamond Princess, which costs from £3,349 per person including flights and transfers, and two 19-night voyages, from Singapore to Bangkok and from Bangkok to Shanghai, on Ocean Princess.
Ocean Princess is also sailing a new 15-night cruise from Shanghai to Osaka, with prices from £2,699 per person including flights and transfers.
A new 25-night Panama Marvel cruise from San Francisco to Barbados on Sea Princess costs from £2,149 per person including flights and transfers.
Van der Schee said: “The Far East and Australia are the top two exotic cruise destinations for the British, but the Panama Canal is also popular, as are land tours. These are not cheap holidays because of the flight, so adding a land tour allows people to make the most of their money.”
The brochure features land tours in China, Australia and South America, with prices from £899 per person for a five-night Best of China itinerary, which includes stays in Beijing and X’ian.
* Princess has cancelled 15 Mexican Riviera cruises on Sapphire Princess and replaced them with long cruises between the US and Australia, and Los Angeles and Hawaii.
The changes, too late for the brochure, will be promoted to agents by email and appear in the second-edition brochure in December. Van der Schee said: “We expect these to be popular, because British passengers like longer cruises.”