It’s official: Princess Cruises will operate two former Renaissance
vessels in Tahiti and French Polynesia starting in December.
Parent company P&O Princess is taking over the ships from
their French owners in a lease-purchase deal valued at $150
million.
The two identical vessels, the R3 and R4, weigh 30,227 tons each
and accommodate 688 passengers. They were built in 1999.
The R4 will be renamed the Tahitian Princess and will operate
year-round, 10-day cruises from Papeete, Tahiti, starting Dec.
24.
Three itineraries will be offered. All include calls at Bora
Bora, Moorea and Raiatea and are rounded out by additional visits
in the Cook Islands, the Marquesas or Samoa.
The R3 will become the Pacific Princess, after the original Love
Boat, when that name leaves the fleet in November.
The newer Pacific Princess will begin sailing for Princess in
spring 2003. It will operate half the year for Princess and half
for sister company P&O Cruises Australia, based in Sydney.
Itineraries aren’t set yet, but they will include French
Polynesia and “the wider Pacific region,” according to company
literature.
“We’re looking at all the options, but there will be more of a
mixture of itineraries than you will see on the Tahitian Princess,”
said Princess Executive Vice President Dean Brown.
The vessels will be renovated to add Princess signature features
but otherwise don’t require much renovation, Brown said.
“The first thing we’ll have to do is paint them white,” he said.
“And we’ll have Sabatini’s, our signature Italian trattoria, and
the Sterling Steakhouse, so they’ll look very familiar. But the
ships are essentially brand-new and have been extremely well
maintained since they stopped operating.”
The vessels stopped sailing Sept. 25 when Renaissance Cruises
declared bankruptcy. P&O Princess also is chartering the R8,
which will be renamed the Minerva II under the Swan Hellenic
brand.
Promotional prices for the Tahitian Princess start at $799,
double, for a 10-day cruise.
“There will be some very good pricing, along the lines of
Princess,” Brown said. “You will not see Radisson or Windstar
pricing on this.”
Radisson Seven Seas operates the Paul Gauguin year-round in
Tahiti. Windstar Cruises’ Wind Song re-entered that market in
May.
Brown said promotional pieces will be mailed to agents in a week
or so. The first piece details the group program, and the brochures
will follow.
Brown said the smaller vessels will blend well with the existing
Princess fleet, which is growing with ships of the 77,000- and
100,000-plus-ton sizes.
“Small ships have always been part of our fleet,” he said. “We
feel [the former Renaissance ships] complement the fleet and suit
us very well. They have an extremely high percentage of balconies,
and we’ve been the leader in balconies.”
He pointed out that the Pacific Princess, now cruising to
Bermuda, weighs 20,000 tons and accommodates 640 passengers less
than the R3 and R4. Brown noted that Southern California is the
single largest tourism market for Tahiti.
“From the West Coast, you can get to Tahiti in less time than it
takes to get to San Juan, Puerto Rico,” Brown said. “Here’s the
choice: Do you want to go to the Southern Caribbean for your
tropical experience or would you rather go to Tahiti, with its
unparalleled beauty?”
