Emerald Princess to Call Australia Home

The California-based cruise operator Princess Cruises, part of Carnival Corporation, has announced it will home port five ships in Australia to sail the cruise line’s largest-ever program offering in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific for the 2016-2017 season.

Princess Cruises will introduce the 3,082-guest Emerald Princess to the market, with Golden Princess returning to sail from Melbourne and Sun Princess, Sea Princess and Dawn Princess rounding out the fleet and expanding the cruise line’s in-market capacity by 20 percent.

Beginning April 22, 2015, the new Princess Cruises’ Australia season runs from October 2016 to April 2017. Cruise-goers can choose from 120 cruise options, in total visiting 113 destinations in 39 countries.

”Australia and the entire South Pacific region has always had an allure as a magical place for travellers, and cruising is one of the best ways to explore this part of the world,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises. ”As demand for the region grows, we’re responding with more voyages, more destinations and more creative itinerary options.”