Revolution is in the air at Princess Cruises next year as the line prepares to visit Yorktown in Virginia for the first time and starts the countdown to a new ship launching in early 2024. They call this an evolution but it is so different to what’s gone before that the word does not do it justice.
More on that later but first to Yorktown, which was not only one of the earliest settlements in America, founded in 1691 but where General Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington, effectively ending the American Revolutionary War and Britain’s control of the 13 original colonies.
Princess Cruises will be calling into the city five times in 2024 - the first big cruise line to go there - and says tours will visit Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, and take passengers back in time on trips to Colonial Williamsburg, a living museum with reconstructed buildings - most on their original foundations - costumed guides and marching fife and drum bands.
Excursions are being finalised but I suspect they’ll include plenty about the major battles that took place around here as the Americans fought for independence. There are also riverside restaurants for those who fancy dining out, shops aplenty, and in case that’s not enough, you’ll be getting in early on a very special anniversary. In 2026, the area will be celebrating 250 years since the US Declaration of Independence.
And so to the next revolution, Sun Princess. She doesn’t sail until February next year but I managed to get on board in the Italian shipyard where she’s being built for a sneak peek and my goodness is she a step up for Princess Cruises. Fans will be pleased to see the return of favourite venues such as the Crown Grill, Sabatini’s, the Sanctuary and more and to know the décor remains unmistakably Princess Cruises (think elegant with a good helping of glamour), but just look at all the new stuff.
A three-deck-high LED screen in the piazza, which becomes a fully-fledged entertainment venue with no swirling staircases to block the views, cove cabins with balconies close to the water line, a private cabana deck reserved for passengers staying in fabulous patio staterooms, a new signature lounge and restaurant for those in the swanky suites.
There’s a glass dome for relaxing by day that becomes an entertainment venue in the evening, several more places to eat, a new Irish bar (shhh, I wasn’t supposed to hear that!) and so much more. Did I mention the Arena? It’s the theatre but not as you know it. To find out more, you’ll have to get on board.
That’s easily done as Sun Princess is cruising the Mediterranean in the summer of 2024, and even making an inaugural visit to the UK in September as part of a nine-day cruise from Barcelona to Southampton.
But the cruise line has so many exciting voyages next year, I reckon waiting 18 months is a bit of an ask. You can visit Norway, Iceland, the Mediterranean and even the US and Canada without setting foot in an airport on Sky Princess’ voyages from Southampton. Or join Princess Cruises as it celebrates 55 years of cruising in Alaska in 2024 with a host of voyages from Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco to the 49th state that offers tours that take you in search of whales, flightseeing over glaciers, dog sledging and panning for gold.
Personally, I’ve got my eye on Japan. The country has been a winner for Princess Cruises ever since it based Diamond Princess there a few years ago and the new 2024 itineraries on sale now look amazing. There are sailings timed to see the cherry blossom in spring, voyages that tie in with music, dance and firework festivals, cruises that call into exotic-sounding places such as Shimizu, Osaka, Hiroshima and Hakodate, and excursions that visit Mount Fuji, ancient Kyoto, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. And that’s just scratching the surface of what’s on offer. No wonder I’m struggling to pick a cruise!
