Princess Cruises

Spacious staterooms

Princess Cruises staterooms are comfortable and spacious whether you book one an inside cabin or one with its own balcony and ocean view. Fresh fruit and fluffy bathrobes are replaced as often as you please and you can enjoy 24 hour complimentary room service.

For a really luxurious Princess cruise experience, upgrade to a sumptuous suite and enjoy your own sitting area, spacious and elegant balcony and luxurious bathroom, as well as a glass of bubbly to welcome you aboard.

Daytime cruising with Princess Cruises

On a Princess cruise you can fill your days with lots of fun and stimulating activities. Scholarship@Sea TM offers up to 40 fascinating classes on every voyage with wide-ranging subjects, including:

• Wine tasting
• Ice carving
• Digital photography
• Cookery demonstrations
• Ceramic painting
• Computer skills

You can also attend interesting talks by expert guest speakers on everything from your destination ports to politics, theatre and art history.

If a long, lazy cruise holiday was what you had in mind, take time out in the ocean view gym, book a relaxing treatment at the spa or just enjoy a long, cool drink while you lounge by the pool.

Kids' cruise activities

Like to bring the family along? Most Princess cruise ships offer a warm welcome to junior cruisers age 3-17. Art & crafts, games tables and splash pool are just some of the activities available for youngsters, while teen entertainment includes Playstation 2, karaoke, movies, giant TV screens and more.

There are also two kids-only dinners designed for different age groups where the children can enjoy a fun evening dining experience with all the new friends they've made.

Sparkling entertainment

On a Princess cruise you'll find plenty of dazzling night time entertainment to suit every taste…

• Broadway-style shows
• Theme parties
• Dancing
• Karaoke
• Comedy
• Bars & Lounges
• Casino

Every Princess cruise ship also offers ‘Movies under the stars' showing the latest Hollywood blockbusters and most major sporting events on a 300 square feet screen, up on deck.

Traditional dining and speciality restaurants

How you dine is really up to you on a Princess cruise.

• You can dress up for a five-star formal dinner
• Go casual in one of the ship's Speciality Restaurants
• Dine in the privacy of your stateroom
• Also available are informal restaurants and buffet style dining.

It's about personal choice.

Speciality Restaurants include the New Orleans-style Bayu Café, with Creole and Cajun signature dishes.

Book a table at Sabatina's Trattoria where you can enjoy an authentic Italian 5-course extravaganza or if you prefer to tuck into a succulent steak, the Sterling Steak House is ready to cook yours just how you like it.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the details of this page are correct at the time of publication. However, you should always check prior to booking that any essential information is accurate with either Virgin Holidays Cruises or Princess Cruises.

Which Princess Cruises cruise ship is right for you?

• Caribbean Princess
• Coral Princess
• Crown Princess
• Dawn Princess
• Diamond Princess
• Emerald Princess
• Golden Princess
• Grand Princess
• Island Princess
• Ocean Princess
• Pacific Princess
• Royal Princess
• Ruby Princess
• Sapphire Princess
• Sea Princess
• Star Princess
• Sun Princess
• Tahitian Princess

Princess Cruises Destinations

Established over 40 years ago, Princess Cruises has risen from humble beginnings to become one of the most recognised travel brands in the world.

The cruise line now operates a fleet of 17 modern vessels, including the recently launched Ruby Princess, which has been widely praised by the critics.

Other vessels in the Princess Cruises' fleet include the Dawn Princess, Coral Princess and Sapphire Princess.

Blast from the past

Founded in 1965, Princess Cruises began by offering sailings between Los Angeles and Mexico on a converted ferry named the Princess Patricia.

It soon became clear that the Princess Patricia was not suited to tropical climates and the company chartered the Princess Italia, which was one of the first modern vessels built specifically for cruise holidays.

In 1967 Princess became one of the first companies to offer regular voyages to the Panama Canal.

Princess Cruises continued to expand and the following year began to operate sailings to Alaska, along with transatlantic voyages between Nassau and Genoa.

The 1970s saw the cruise line's fleet begin to expand at a steady rate, with the addition of the Island Princess, Pacific Princess and Sun Princess.

Princess shot to fame in 1977, when the cruise line became the back-drop for the popular Love Boat TV series, which was produced by Aaron Spelling and introduced an audience of millions to the concept of cruise holidays.

The 1980s was a period of major activity for Princess, with the cruise line pioneering the idea of affordable veranda accommodation and launching a number of ships including the Royal Princess, Sea Princess and Dawn Princess.

Meanwhile, 1985 saw the launch of the company's first Mediterranean cruises and in 1987 Princess began to operate its first cruises from Miami to the Caribbean.

Not afraid to take risks, Princess continued to evolve and in the mid-90s it pioneered the concept of offering passengers more control over their cruise experiences and became one of the first cruise lines to provide 24-hour dining.

As the 90s gave way to the noughties, the cruise line added several more ships to its fleet, including the Golden Princess, Star Princess and Sapphire Princess and for the first time began offering voyages to Antarctica, as well as the first Caribbean sailings from Texas.

Princess has continued to pave the way for the cruise industry by continually evolving to meet the needs of modern-day passengers. The cruise line constructed the first wedding chapel at sea and launched the Sanctuary - an adults-only relaxation area which has been well-received by passengers.

Cruising into the future

November 2008 saw the launch of the Ruby Princess, which was christened during a glittering ceremony in California by US TV stars Trista and Ryan Sutter.

The 3,080-passenger Ruby Princess features an impressive piazza-style atrium, complete with street performers, a number of small-bite eateries, a pool-side movie screen and a luxurious health spa.

During her inaugural season Ruby Princess will make a series of seven-day sailings from Fort Lauderdale and the Caribbean, before moving to Europe in the spring to offer 12-day Mediterranean cruises.

The cruise line has certainly come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1965 and looks set to continue going from strength to strength in the future.

Princess Cruises currently offers more than 100 itineraries to 350 destinations such as the Mexican Riviera, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the South Pacific and Hawaii.

As well as offering a wide range of exciting itineraries, passengers travelling with Princess Cruises also have the opportunity to enhance their travel experience by taking part in one of the in-port excursions organised by the cruise line.

Princess Cruises' Adventures Ashore programme features more than 4,000 excursion options and passengers can do everything from visiting a wilderness lodge to travelling through Alaska in a luxury domed rail car.