| Sun Princess to move to Japan in 2013

Carnival has formed a new
operation to launch Princess
Cruises into the Japanese
market for its largest ever
cruising season.
THE establishment of Carnival Japan Inc will
see the Australian-based Sun Princess offering
Asian voyages from next Apr to Jul – a
deployment three times larger than any global
cruise line currently in the Japanese market.
Princess Cruises’ 87-day program features
nine sailings on seven different itineraries
departing from Yokohama and Kobe.
After the Japanese summer season, the
2022-pax Sun Princess will return to Australia,
the company confirmed this week.
Carnival Japan, which is similar to the
Carnival Australia and Carnival UK arms of the
US-based Carnival Corporation, will also sell
cruises from the company’s other brands.
A local office will be opened in Tokyo and
managed by Eiko Kijima, with bookings
expected to hit 18,000 passengers in the
inaugural season.
Japanese-speaking crew will be employed for
key positions on the ship, and changes will also
be made to food choices, spa treatments,
lectures and shopping, with a new sushi bar
opening onboard.
“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,” said Princess Cruises president and
chief executive officer Alan Buckelew.
Most of the itineraries are nine days and
have been customised for the Japanese
consumer, including visits to festivals and
natural hot springs.
Several itineraries feature ports of call in
Taiwan, Russia and Korea.
The program will kick off during the most
significant national holiday of Golden Week
with a nine-day cruise sailing roundtrip from
Yokohama on 27 Apr 2013, via Hiroshima
(overnight); Nagasaki; Busan, South Korea, and
Hakata (overnight).
Open for sale on 16 Apr 2012, the cruises will
be priced from ¥124,000 ppts.
A Japanese language version of POLAR
Online will also be released to enable travel
agents in Japan to book cruises 24 hours a day.
For details, see www.princesscruises.jp.