Princess Cruises will deploy Australian-based Sun Princess to Japan for its first cruising season in April 2013, claiming the largest ever Japanese deployment by a global cruise line.
The move will see the creation of Carnival Japan to sell the Sun Princess and other Carnival brands.
The liner will operate nine cruises on seven different itineraries over an 87-day program from April until July departing both Yokohama and Kobe. The cruises are nine to 12 days in length.
The liner will then return to Australia.
President and chief executive Alan Buckelew claimed the program was three times larger than that of any competitor.
“It’s the very first time a global cruise line is offering a full season of cruises from April to July designed specifically for passengers from Japan,” he said.
Meanwhile, the cruise line’s Australia and New Zealand office reported record bookings for the inaugural season of new ship Royal Princess.
Royal Princess will set sail on its debut voyage, a seven-day Iberia cruise from Southampton to Barcelona, on June 16 2013, priced from $1599 per person.
