Princess Cruises will return to Japan in 2024 with a spring and summer time sequence of voyages roundtrip from Tokyo aboard Diamond Princess.
The line additionally unveiled a brand new cruise itinerary that features a North Pacific crossing from Tokyo on Royal Princess, making her the primary Royal-class ship to function within the area.
Diamond Princess Homeporting in Tokyo
Princess Cruises is about to start its 2023 program in Japan, as Diamond Princess deploys to Tokyo in March, nevertheless it’s already looking forward to subsequent yr.
The cruise line’s 2024 Japan schedule will once more deploy Diamond Princess to Tokyo, providing 36 departures of 7- to 23-day voyages between March and August. That’s down barely from the 43 departures deliberate for this yr.
Diamond Princess cruises will sail 31 distinctive itineraries with calls in three international locations and specializing in the spring flower season and on summer time festivals.
Princess Cruises President John Padgett mentioned, ”Japan has been a well-liked homeport and vacation spot expertise for Princess visitors for a few years and we’re thrilled to supply such a culturally-rich season of cruises on this area for the 2024 season.”
The cruise line in early December revealed it might return to Japan this yr. The announcement adopted Japan’s resolution final November to start permitting worldwide cruise ships to dock at its ports, after a greater than two-year ban imposed in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was Diamond Princess that recorded the primary main outbreak of the virus in early 2020, requiring the ship to be quarantined for weeks on the Japanese port of Yokohama.
Flowers and Festivals
The 2,670-guest Diamond Princess, a Grand-class ship that launched in 2004, will start her Japan cruise season with 4 10-day Spring Flowers voyages. Port calls will function all 4 of Japan’s principal islands and observe the flower blooming season because it shifts from southerly ports to the north.
Several of the ship’s summer time itineraries will showcase native festivals, providing visitors late-night stays in port for celebrations of those occasions:
- The Aomori Nebuta Festival, on August 2 and August 7, that includes Nebuta float figures, music and dancing
- The Kochi Yosakoi Dance Festival, on August 12, certainly one of the nation’s largest festivals
- The Tokushima Awa Odori Dance Festival, on August 13, a competition courting again to the 1500s
- The Kumano Fireworks Festival, on August 17, with a fireworks show that will probably be seen from the decks of Diamond Princess
Diamond Princess additionally will function 9-day Southern Islands voyages calling at two Okinawan ports and two Taiwan ports; 9- and 10-day Sea of Japan cruises; 10-day Hokkaido sailings visiting Otaru, Hakodate and Kushiro, and a 10-day Japan Explorer cruise calling at Hiroshima, Shimizu, the place visitors can go to Mount Fuji, plus both Osaka or Kobe, for touring in Kyoto, together with different locations.
Several UNESCO World Heritage Sites will probably be featured in shore excursions, resembling Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, Buddhist Monuments within the Horyu-ji Area, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and the Jomon Prehistoric Sites.
Royal Princess’ North Pacific Crossing
The new itinerary operated by the three,560-guest Royal Princess, known as Japan & North Pacific Crossing, will depart from Tokyo and go to the northern Tohoku and Hokkaido areas throughout cherry blossom season.
The ship, making her debut in Japan, will then cross the Northern Pacific and sail to Whittier, the port for Anchorage, Alaska. Cruisers can disembark in Whittier or add a 7-day cruise to Vancouver, B.C., to create a 22-day voyage.