| CW breaking news – Sapphire Princess to redeploy to Australia for a year-long season

Princess Cruises adds 44 new cruises from the major Australian cities of Sydney, Perth (Fremantle), Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Princess Cruises has announced plans to redeploy its 2,670-guest Sapphire Princess from homeports in Singapore and Shanghai to Australia from 01 May – six months earlier than scheduled.

The line revealed the early deployment will add a sizable 44 new cruises from five major Australian cities, including 171 port calls.

Princess Cruises Senior Vice President Asia Pacific Stuart Allison said Sapphire would add a much-needed boost to Australia’s domestic tourism.

“With the ongoing uncertainty of travel restrictions and port closures in Asia impacting our cruise operations in the region, we hope that this extended deployment in Australia will benefit local tourism, particularly in regional areas with 102 visits to regional ports around country during her year-long deployment,” he said.

Sales for the new Sapphire cruises will go on sale from 27 February.

More details regarding the announcement will be available in tomorrow’s edition of Cruise Weekly and Travel Daily.