It took Phileas Fogg eighty days to circumnavigate our glorious planet so the one hundred and seven days it will take the Pacific Princess from January 2010 is not intended to break any records. There is even a little cheating, in that the connection between London and the departure port of Fort Lauderdale and the return from the finishing point at Rome is completed by aeroplane, at least it is not hot-air balloon as with Jules Verne’s hero. The ship will be calling at 37 ports during the voyage.
The prices for this once-in-a-lifetime extravagance start at nearly £10,400, which includes a 45% discount if bookings are made well in advance. This figure excludes transfers and hotel accommodation, which must be arranged by the passenger and is a way for the cost conscious traveller to save some money. The price is obviously based on an inside cabin, but includes all the usual cruise holiday facilities and dining options.
The Pacific Princess cruise ship was built in 1999 and is the smallest ship in the Princess Cruise fleet, weighing in at just 30,000 tons and with accommodation for 673 passengers. The advertising suggests that this is because the experience of round the world cruises are better when undertaken on a more intimate and personal level, an argument that is difficult to disagree with. However, it would be interesting to see whether, if the current economic climate were different, a larger size ship would have been chosen and if the offer of onboard spending money for each cabin booked within a certain timeframe would disappear. This is an incentive now used by most cruise operators to gain custom.
Posted by: James Ted
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