POINTE BLANCHE--After a four-year absence, Princess Cruises will offer summer Caribbean cruises in 2018. The news comes days after the line revealed its largest Alaska deployment for the same year.
Caribbean Princess will sail a series of itineraries, ranging from seven nights in the Eastern and Western Caribbean to 20 nights in the Caribbean and Panama Canal, between April and October 2018. All 47 departures will be roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale.
Highlights of Princess’ summer 2018 program include new 20-night Caribbean and Panama Explorer cruises, which include 10 nights along the Panama Canal and 10 nights in either the Southern Caribbean or Eastern Caribbean. Additionally, select itineraries will include extended stays (9:00pm or later) in Aruba, Curaçao, Cozumel or St. Maarten, giving passengers a chance to explore the local nightlife.
Other itineraries include eight nights in the Southern Caribbean with stops in Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire; 10 nights in the Eastern Caribbean, visiting the line’s private island Princess Cays, St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados and St. Kitts; 10 nights in the Southern Caribbean calling at Princess Cays, St. Thomas, Dominica, Grenada, Bonaire and Curaçao; and 10 nights in the Caribbean, Panama and Costa Rica, featuring a partial Panama Canal transit as well as the ports of Grand Cayman, Cartagena, Colon, Limon and Falmouth.
Cruisers can combine the seven-night Caribbean cruises for a total of 14 nights, and the 10-night Panama Canal cruise with either the 10-night Eastern or Southern Caribbean cruise, for a total of 20 nights.
Princess Cruises isn’t the first line to make a big move to the Caribbean for the summer season. In July, Celebrity Cruises revealed it would offer year-round Eastern and Western Caribbean cruises from Miami in 2017.
