Princess Cruise Australasia Cruise 2008-2009

Princess Announces 2008-09 Australasia Season Published on: June 27, 2007


Princess Cruises has announced its 2008-09 Asia and Australia/New Zealand season. Princess will more than double the Australia and New Zealand capacity of any other cruise line, and will feature more capacity in Asia on voyages longer than 10 days. Three ships will operate in the region -- the Diamond Princess, Sun Princess and Dawn Princess. The 116,000-ton Diamond Princess will offer 16 Asia and Australia/New Zealand sailings on five itineraries. The season features more departures that represent a 33 percent increase in Asia capacity. Sun Princess and Dawn Princess will sail between Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Asia, including an expanded series of cruises around the continent and new homeports in Melbourne and Perth.The Diamond Princess will operate six 12-day cruises between Sydney and Auckland between Dec. 12, 2008, and Feb. 10, 2009. The itinerary visits Melbourne, Hobart (Tasmania), Dunedin, Christchurch and Tauranga and also offer scenic cruising through the dramatic Fiordland National Park. In Southeast Asia and China, the Diamond Princess offer six 16-day cruises between Beijing and Bangkok, calling at Nagasaki, Shanghai, Okinawa, Taipei, Hong Kong, Nha Trang (Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore. The cruises depart between Oct. 6 and Nov. 7, 2008, as well as between March 14 and April 15, 2009. Australia and Asia cruises include a 19-day Bangkok-to-Sydney route that calls at Ho Chi Minh City, Kota Kinabalu (Borneo, Malaysia), Singapore, Darwin, Port Douglas, Airlie Beach (for the Great Barrier Reef), and Brisbane. The Diamond Princess departs on this itinerary Nov. 23, 2008. The following spring, passengers can choose to sail from Sydney to Bangkok on a more southern route, featuring calls in Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Perth, Exmouth, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and Sihanoukville, Cambodia (for Angkor Wat). This 20-day adventure departs on Feb. 22, 2009. A 15- and 16-day voyage across the top of the Pacific between Whittier, Alaska, and Beijing, will operate by the Diamond Princess. These voyages visit Kodiak Island, Sapporo (Japan), Vladivostok, Pusan (Korea), Kagoshima and Dalian (China). The ship departs Whittier on Sept. 20, 2008, with a return 16-day sailing departing Beijing on May 1, 2009. Both cruises can be combined with a Gulf of Alaska cruise to make a 22- or 23-day journey, or even an extended 31- or 32-day sailing by adding in a Southeast Asia and China cruise.In addition, Sun Princess and Dawn Princess offer 32 departures with 242 calls to 82 different ports. Sun Princess, which will make its home in Australia year-round, will be joined by Dawn Princess between October 2008 and March 2009 and together will offer a lineup of 28-day cruises around Australia, a new 13-day itinerary to New Zealand, and an eight-day voyage to Tasmania, in addition to a selection of other cruises to the South Pacific, Asia and a variety of Australian ports. Early booking fares for the 12-day Australia/New Zealand sailings on Diamond Princess begin at $1,595 per person, double occupancy. Asia sailings on Diamond Princess start at $2,145 for a 16-day itinerary. For more information contact Roy Travel & Cruise agent@roytravelpro.com