PRINCESS Cruises, a cruise line brand under Carnival Corporation, will be sailing to Indonesia for a new season of cruise trips, offering a wide array of itineraries.
To tap the vast South-east Asian cruise market, Carnival is due to deploy Sapphire Princess to the region for a four-month season from November 2014 to February 2015, homeporting the vessel in Singapore (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 9, 2013). Carrying up to 2,670 passengers, the ship features a large number of staterooms with private balconies, the Lotus Spa, an Italian restaurant, a steakhouse, a wine bar, boutiques and more.
At the launch of the programme in Jakarta yesterday, Princess Cruises director for South-east Asia, Farriek Tawfik, said: “The number of cruise passengers to Indonesia has increased significantly.
“According to the Ministry for Tourism and Creative Economy, 112,882 visitors came to Indonesia by 214 cruise calls in 2012. This year, the ministry is expecting a jump in cruise calls and passenger numbers to 308 and 147,134 respectively, and these numbers are forecast to increase in the future.”
Princess’ itineraries are said to have been customised for the Asia vacation market, offering more destinations than any other cruise line. Its ship will call at seven countries and 16 ports in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Brunei.
Cruise lengths will run from three to 11 days, and the highlight for Indonesia is a 10-day sailing, visiting Jakarta, Bali, Komodo Island and Lombok.
Approximately 40,000 passengers are expected to sail during this first season, hailing from Asia, as well as international markets including North America, the UK and Australia.
Tawfik said: “Indonesians are familiar with Princess Cruises as many have sailed with us in Alaska. In fact, we have heard Indonesian passengers asking us when we would come to this part of the world. We listened to them and here we are.”
He expects the Indonesian itinerary will attract international and Asian passengers, such as the Japanese and well-travelled Indonesians, who want to travel within the country in a more relaxed way.
In conjunction with this new programme, Princess Cruises has launched a version of the on-demand, online training programme called Princess Academy for travel consultants.
