Repositioning cruises on Royal Princess.

Another one of the former Renaissance Cruises “R Class ships, Royal Princess is a sister ship to Pacific Princess.  It carries 710 passengers in style in 355 spacious and well-designed staterooms, 75% of which have balconies.

The beautiful, wood-paneled library with leather wing chairs is one of the largest at sea with over 4,000 titles.  And Sabatini’s Italian Restaurant and Sterling Steakhouse provide passengers with additional dining options.

Royal Princess spends the summer in Alaska and the fall in Tahiti, so she offers a couple trans-Pacific repositioning cruises.

On April 30, 2010, Royal Princess sails from Fort Lauderdale and calls at Aruba before transiting the Panama Canal.  After leaving the canal, she visits Costa Rica and four ports in Mexico before heading up the Pacific coast for San Francisco.  She’s in port until 10PM, which lets passengers spend the evening ashore in San Francisco.  Then she sails for Seattle, arriving two days later.  With a total of ten sea days, there’s plenty of time to relax and enjoy the ship’s amenities.

Once the Alaska season is over, Royal Princess heads to the South Pacific.  She leaves on September 14, 2010 from Vancouver, British Columbia and arrives in Hilo, Hawaii six days later.  She calls at Kona, Lahaina, and Kauai in the Hawaiian islands before arriving in Honolulu.  Passengers who embarked in Vancouver can stay aboard and sail all the way to Papeete, or disembark in Honolulu on September 24.

Those with less time can board in Honolulu instead of Vancouver.  They’ll visit Kauai, Lahaina, and Hilo before crossing the South Pacific.  After five days at sea, they’ll arrive in Bora Bora, where they’ll spend a full day before sailing at 3AM.  En route to Papeete, Royal Princess will call at Raiatea, and Moorea.  Passengers overnight aboard ship in Papeete and disembark the next morning.

After spending several months sailing the brilliant turquoise waters of the Society Islands, Royal Princess returns to Hawaii.  Passengers board in Papeete on December 5, 2010, overnight on board, and sail the next morning, calling at Moorea, Raiatea, and Bora Bora before beginning the Pacific crossing.  After five sea days, she arrives in Hilo, and visits Kona, and Maui before ending the voyage in Honolulu.  Cruisers who love being at sea will enjoy there voyages a lot.

Repositioning cruises on Ocean Princess.

The third of the old Renaissance ships, Ocean Princess was formerly the Tahitian Princess.  She offers some of the longest and most exotic repositioning cruises in the Princess repertoire.  And travelers with the time and money can enjoy an unforgettable experience both on board and ashore.

On March 20, 2010, Ocean Princess begins a 48-day voyage from Shanghai to Capetown.  Passengers can embark or disembark in several places along the way, creating the voyage that best suits their needs.

Cruising the Mediterranean

After leaving Shanghai, Ocean Princess visits Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, India, Oman, Dubai, the Seychelles, Madagascar, Durban, and East London before arriving in Capetown.  Of the 48 days, 25 are at sea, so there’s a nice balance of port calls and days off.   And it’s hard to imagine so many diverse travel experiences rolled into one journey.

Her next voyage calls at some very exotic African ports, and this is a great way to visit some places you might be hesitate to travel to independently.  Ocean Princess leaves Capetown on May 7, 2010 for the North Atlantic and calls at ports in Namibia, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Gambia, and Senegal before arriving in the Canary Islands.  From there, she sails to Funchal, Casablanca, Ceuta, Seville, Lisbon, and Le Havre before disembarking passengers in Dover.  If you want to see lots of Africa but still enjoy the comforts of home, this is a wonderful option.

At the end of the European season, Ocean Princess returns to Capetown, sailing from Rome on October 20, 2010.  Passengers will visit Sorrento, Barcelona, Nice, Portofino, Livorno, Rome, Livorno, Cannes, Barcelona, Tangier, Casablanca, Senegal, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Namibia before arriving in Capetown.

From Capetown, she does the Singapore voyage in reverse, calling at Mozambique, Reunion Island, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Oman, Dubai, India, and Malaysia along the way.  From Singapore, she stops in the Phillipines, China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam before ending the voyage in Bangkok.

Find more Princess repositioning cruises here.

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During the late 1990s, boutique cruise line Renaissance Cruises launched eight 684-passenger “R Class” ships that featured spacious cabins – many with balconies – old-world ambience, and intimate public areas.

Unable to survive the after-effects of 9/11, Renaissance ceased operations in 2001.  And today, three of their R Class ships have joined the Princess fleet as Pacific Princess, Royal Princess, and Ocean Princess.

For Princess cruisers who’ve only sailed on their 2,500+ passenger ships, these smaller ships will come as a revelation.  And many will find that less really is more.

First of all, the smaller ships can visit ports the big ship can’t – places like Kotor, Montenegro, and Ravenna, Italy.  And once you’re in port, you won’t find the town overwhelmed by cruisers.

On board, the service is really attentive, and the food is absolutely first-rate.  There’s a big difference between serving 350 diners at a time and serving twice that number.  And the difference shows in the quality, variety, and presentation of the food.

Avoid cabins at the front of the ship where you be awakened each morning by the anchor chain or the bow thrusters.

Repositioning cruises on Pacific Princess.

Sunset at Sea

If you have the time and the money, Pacific Princess will take you pretty much around the world in 2010.  She sails in the Caribbean, through the Panama Canal, along the coast of Mexico, across the Pacific, throughout New Zealand, Australia, and Asia, in the Mediterranean, and across the Atlantic.

In some ways, the entire circumnavigation is one big repositioning cruise, with countless places to embark and disembark along the way.

She sails on January 27, 2010 from Fort Lauderdale and arrives in Rome 107 days later.  There are plenty of ports – and days at sea – in between.  And you can enjoy as many or as few as you can afford.

After leaving Fort Lauderdale, she calls at Aruba and Cartagena, Columbia before transiting the Panama Canal.  She then visits Costa Rica, Guatemala, an Mexico, before arriving in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles, she sails for Honolulu, spending five days at sea.  There’s another six days at sea before she reaches Fiji.  She calls at Vanuatu and three ports in New Zealand, before arriving in Sydney, where passengers can embark or disembark.

Pacific Princess calls at Cairns, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Truk, Micronesia, and Guam en route to Japan, Korea, and Beijing, China.  From there, she spends three days at sea before making port calls in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, the Maldives, Mumbai, Dubai, Muscat, and Luxor.

On the last leg before arriving in Rome for the summer Mediterranean season, she sails through the Suez Canal and calls at Athens and Sorrento before arriving in Civitavecchia.

By November, she’s ready to head back to the Caribbean.  Passengers can board in Athens on November 23, 2010 and visit Santorini, Patmos, Kusadasi, Nazareath, Jerusalem, Port Said, Alexandria, and Sorrento before arriving in Rome.

Those who have less time or have already sailed in the Mediterranean, can board in Rome on November 5 and call at Livorno, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Ceuta, Casablanca, and the Azores, before crossing the Atlantic.  They’ll call in Hamilton, Bermuda, and then spend two more days at sea before arriving in Fort Lauderdale.

Find more Princess repositioning cruises here.

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Smallish by Princess standards, Dawn Princess is one of the line’s Sun-class ships.  With a Champagne and caviar bar, an adults-only Sanctuary spa, a wrap-around, teak promenade deck with steamer chairs, and an LED Movies under the Stars screen, it’s very popular with passengers.

Dawn Princess will spend 2010 sailing roundtrips from Melbourne or Sydney to ports in Australia and New Zealand.  There’s only one repositioning cruise available in 2010.  She leaves Sydney on November 7, spends a day at sea, and then calls at Tasmania before arriving in Melbourne.

Repositioning cruises on Diamond Princess.

Day at sea

The 2,670-passenger Diamond Princess has some interesting features, including a balcony off the Skywalker Lounge that’s great for watching the ship’s trail, a show lounge with 42 high-tech video screens, an Internet café with 29 computers, and golf simulators that let you play some of the most renowned courses in the world.

Dawn Princess spends the winter in Australia and Asia and the summer in Alaska.   Because you can embark and disembark Diamond Princess in several ports in Asia and the South Pacific, you can make your own Asia/South Pacific repositioning cruise from February through March and then again from October through December.

On April 30, 2010 Diamond Princess leaves Asia for Alaska.  She sails from Beijing and calls at Dalian and Qingdao in China, Pusan in South Korea, and Vladivostok, Russia.  After many days at sea, she arrives in Whittier Alaska.  From there, she cruises past Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay National Park before visiting Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan, Alaska.  Passengers disembark in Vancouver.

She returns from Alaska to Asia on September 1, 2010, operating the same itinerary in reverse.

On December 5, Diamond Princess leaves Bangkok and calls at Vietnam, Singapore and Padang Bay on the way to Australia, where she visits Darwin, Port Douglas and Airlie Beach before arriving in Sydney.  Travelers with more time can stay aboard and disembark in Auckland 9 days later.

Repositioning cruises on Golden Princess.

One of Princess’s Grand Class ships, the Golden Princess has more than 700 balcony staterooms.  Grown ups will enjoy the adults-only Sanctuary, three show rooms, the Lotus Spa, fitness center, and nine whirlpools.  While kids of all ages will find spaces just for them.  In addition to the main dining rooms, passengers can have dinner at Sabatinis or the Painted Dessert restaurant.  One of Grand Princess’s most enjoyable features is the 300-square-foot LED screen out by the pool.  It’s great for watching movies and sporting events.

Golden Princess repositions for the Alaska season in early May.  She sails on May 9, 2010 from Los Angeles, overnights at Catalina Island, and visits San Francisco and Victoria, British Columbia before disembarking passengers in Vancouver.

On September 26, 2010, she heads south for the winter, sailing from Vancouver and arriving in Los Angeles after two days at sea.  It’s a relaxing, affordable getaway for those who just want to enjoy the ship’s amenities.

Repositioning cruises on Grand Princess.

The first of the Grand Class ships, Grand Princess created quite a stir when she was launched in 1998.  At that time, she was the biggest cruise ship in the world.  We were lucky enough to tour her in Barcelona that year.

She was very impressive.  And she’s still impressive today.  Despite her size, there are plenty of nooks and crannies that feel positively cozy.  And her distinctive profile is easy to spot when she’s in port.  In fact, the Europeans dubbed her “the shopping cart.”

Grand Princess repositions to Europe for the summer season in early April.  She sails from Fort Lauderdale on April 9, 2010 and spends two days at sea before arriving in Bermuda.  Passengers will spend a day there before spending six days crossing the Atlantic.  Next, she calls at Glasgow, Dublin, Cork, Cornwall, and Le Havre, before disembarking passengers in London.  Those who wish can stay aboard and visit Seville, Sardinia, Rome, Florence, Cannes, Barcelona, and Gibraltar before returning to London 13 days later.

When the summer season ends in Europe, she returns to the U.S.  She sails from London on September 25, 2010 and visits Bergen, Norway, the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Nova Scotia before arriving in Fort Lauderdale.  This voyage includes ten days at sea, so there’s plenty of time to relax and unwind.

Find more Princess repositioning cruises here.

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