Award winning liners leave South Pacific waters

Australasia’s peak summer cruise season ended last month with Princess Cruises’ biggest and smallest liners heading north from the South Pacific with several cruising awards on board.

Giant 116,000-tonne liner Diamond Princess ended Princess’ longest-ever season for a megaliner in Australasian waters when she sailed from Sydney for San Francisco on Good Friday, April 14.

Acclaimed boutique liner, the 30,200-tonne Pacific Princess, ended her South Pacific programme on April 26 when she sailed from Sydney for a season in Asia.

Cabins on Princess’ ‘David and Goliath’ liners 2006/07 season next summer are filling fast as new polls show they are among the most popular cruise ships for Kiwis and Australians.

Australian Cruise Passenger magazine has named the luxurious 670-passenger Pacific Princess as best mid-size ship (500-1,200 passengers) in the world and the best liner sailing from Australia.

In its autumn 2006 edition, readers of the influential cruising magazine also voted Pacific Princess’ cabins and health centre the best afloat while her fine dining and pool scored her top-three billings in these categories.

At the other end of the scale, identical 2,700-passenger megaliners, Sapphire Princess and Diamond Princess, which were based in local waters in 2005 and 2006 respectively, scored top five rankings in the categories of best large ship (1,200 plus passengers), best cabins, best pool, best health centre and favourite ship sailing from Australia. Readers of Australia’s Luxury Travel magazine also voted Sapphire Princess as the best large cruise ship in the magazine’s 2006 ‘Gold List’.

Named after Princess Cruises’ famous but now retired TV Love Boat and tailored for couples, Pacific Princess returns to Sydney in November 2006, for her fifth annual season of summer cruising from Australia.

Eleven voyages are on offer including three cruises to New Zealand, four to the South Pacific, one to Queensland, one to Tasmania and two circumnavigations of Australia.

“A string of awards and a loyal following in Australasia show that Pacific Princess and twin sisters Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess have successfully met a demand here for premium but affordable cruising,” says Princess Cruises New Zealand manager Shannon Currie.

“These liners might be at opposite ends of the size spectrum but they are all spacious, modern and elegant with superb cuisine, attentive service, first class entertainment and an abundance of affordable balcony cabins,” Mr Currie says.

“Princess’ 2005/06 summer programme in the South Pacific was our biggest-ever and we look forward to Pacific Princess and Sapphire Princess winning more fans next summer.”