Princess to Offer Two World Cruises in 2009

Princess Cruises will offer two World Cruises in 2009 by the 670-passenger Tahitian Princess and 710-passenger Royal Princess. The ships will visit more than 40 destinations on six continents. The two global itineraries are offered for the first time by Princess because of "the enthusiastic response for Princess' return to world cruising," the company said. The Tahitian Princess and Royal Princess will offer similar 107-day itineraries that set sail from Ft. Lauderdale in January 2009. The Tahitian Princess leaves on Jan. 14, ending in Dover, while Royal Princess sails on Jan. 20 and winds up in Rome. In addition, passengers can choose from two extensions to Dover, Rome, Stockholm or New York for the Tahitian Princess voyage.Both itineraries feature travel to South America, the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, India and Egypt, with differing European segments. Each voyage will call at a brand new port for Princess -- Port Blair in the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean. Both itineraries begin with a visit to Grand Cayman and a transit of the Panama Canal on the way to Quito (Manta), Ecuador. There is an overnight stay in Lima (Callao), Peru, where passengers can visit Machu Picchu. A visit to Easter Island follows. Then the ships visit Papeete, Tahiti, and Rarotonga before heading to Auckland and the Australian ports of Burnie (Tasmania), Sydney, Brisbane, and Cairns (for visits to the Great Barrier Reef). Next up are Rabaul (Papua/New Guinea) and Guam, followed by calls to Osaka (for Kyoto), Hiroshima, Seoul (Inchon), Shanghai, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Sihanoukville (Cambodia) Bangkok, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang) in Malaysia. The ships then visit Port Blair and cruise the Indian Ocean to Mumbai, India, Dubai, Salalah in Oman, and two ports in Egypt.Once the ships transit the Suez Canal, each itinerary heads in a different direction. The Tahitian Princess visits Athens, Sorrento/Capri, Rome, Cannes, Barcelona, Gibraltar and Lisbon before heading north to Ireland for a call at Cork, followed by Paris/Normandy (Le Havre), and then Dover. The Royal Princess will instead head to the Holy Land to visit Jerusalem (Ashdod), and then call at Istanbul, Athens, Sicily, Barcelona, Cannes, and Pisa/Florence (Livorno), before the final stop in Rome. Tahitian Princess passengers can also extend their voyage 10 days to include northern Europe, Scandinavia and a call in St. Petersburg before ending in Stockholm. They can also choose to combine their cruise with a six-day transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York aboard the Queen Mary 2, for a 113-day voyage. Early booking fares for Princess' world cruises begin at $21,495 per person, based on double occupancy. For more information email: agent@roytravelpro.com or www.PrincessCruiseSite.com