Princess Cruises is offering a way for passengers to ease the cost of getting to their dream Europe or Alaska cruise with a special “Sky High Savings” sale that offers airfare savings of up to $1,000 for two. Running from April 4-19, the promotion also offers up to $2,000 off the cruise fare per stateroom, as well as up to $100 in free onboard spending money per stateroom. The “Sky High Savings” sale offers deals on cruises throughout Europe, including sailings to the Greek Isles, British Isles and Scandinavia & Russia. Travelers will also save on cruises and cruisetours to the natural wonders of Alaska, where they can explore the best of the state by land and sea.

In addition to special fares, passengers booking balcony staterooms or above will receive an onboard credit of $100 (for sailings 10 days or longer) or $50 (cruises up to nine days), and those booking interior or oceanview staterooms can get credits of $50 (cruises 10 days or longer) to $25 (cruises up to nine days). More information about the cruise sale and pricing can be found at www.princess.com/sale.

Samples of the available Sky High Savings cruise deals include:

• Greek Isles cruise – 12 days: $1,779 interior (was $2,379); $2,379 balcony (was $3,379). Air savings: $500

• British Isles cruise – 12 days: $1,839 interior (was $2,439); $2,539 balcony (was $3,439). Air savings: $400

• Scandinavia & Russia cruise – 11 days: $1.869 interior (was $2,369); $2,669 balcony (was $3,369). Air savings: $400

• Gulf of Alaska cruise – 7 days: $899 interior (was $1,259); $1,559 balcony (was $2,159). Air savings: $250

• Alaska cruisetour – Denali Explorer – 10 nights: $1,476 interior (was $1,730); $1,976 balcony (was $2,340). Air savings: $150

Air savings available to passengers booking Princess eZAir flights in conjunction with the cruise. Princess eZAir gives passengers easy and full control of their flights and the ability to seamlessly coordinate them with their cruise itinerary. Featuring real-time pricing and flight availability, immediate flight confirmation, competitive airfares, and next port protection in the event of flight delays, the innovative program provides passengers and their travel agents the ease of a single booking source for both air and cruise reservations. Travelers using Princess eZAir can choose air carriers and flights, as well as select their preferred cabin level and seating, all with no extra customization fee.

All cruise and air prices are per person, based on double occupancy and include government fees and taxes. The “Sky High Savings” sale runs through April 19, 2013, and is available to residents of the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel agent, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS, or by visiting the company’s website at www.princess.com.

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Regal Princess reached a significant construction milestone today when the Princess Cruises vessel was “floated out” at its building dock at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. A traditional ceremony marked the occasion as the ship met the ocean for the first time.

Following the Italian shipyard’s custom, the float out of a ship begins when a “madrina,” or godmother, cuts the cord that begins the flow of water into the ship’s building dock. Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor in chief of the popular online community Cruise Critic, served in this role to begin the two-day process of setting the ship afloat. “To mark this important milestone we selected a woman who lives and breathes the cruise industry,” said Alan Buckelew, president and CEO of Princess Cruises. “Carolyn has been the editor-in-chief for Cruise Critic for 10 years and not only is she a champion of cruising, she’s helped to build an avid community of cruisers. Her passion for cruising made her the perfect choice to serve as madrina for our new Regal Princess.”

Once afloat, the ship will be moved to the outfitting dock where final construction and interior outfitting will take place. Regal Princess, a sister ship to the soon-to-debut Royal Princess, will debut in June 2014 with a season of Mediterranean cruises. Regal Princess and Royal Princess are new-generation ships for Princess Cruises. Among the special features found on board the 3,600-passenger vessels will be a greatly expanded atrium, the social hub of the ship; a dramatic over-water SeaWalk, a top-deck glass-bottomed walkway extending more than 28 feet beyond the edge of the vessel; plush private poolside cabanas that appear to be floating on the water; the new Princess Live! television studio; a pastry shop; a special Chef’s Table Lumiere, a private dining experience that surrounds diners in a curtain of light; and balconies on all outside staterooms.

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Princess Cruises today marked the beginning of construction of the second of its new generation of ships with the official keel laying ceremony at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. At the same time the line announced that the ship’s name will be Regal Princess.

The vessel, a sister ship to Royal Princess, will debut in Spring 2014. The company and shipyard officials started the countdown to the ship’s launch today as the keel – the bottommost part of the ship – was ceremoniously lowered into position in the building dock.

“Just as Royal Princess was named after one of our iconic early vessels, Regal Princess also takes a name from our past that we think is well suited for this spectacular ship,” said Alan Buckelew, president and CEO of Princess Cruises. “Today’s keel laying is an exciting event as it marks a key milestone in our newbuilding program.”
Following a traditional blessing by a priest, the ship’s keel – which weighs approximately 500 tons – was moved into position by a huge crane onto the keel blocks. The computer-guided maneuver took only minutes, belying the more than 2 million man hours that will ultimately go into building the vessel. The 3,600-passenger, 141,000-ton ship will remain in the building dock until its float-out next summer.

Regal Princess will offer many of the same special features as Royal Princess, which debuts in June 2013. Among these are a greatly expanded atrium, the social hub of the ship; a dramatic over-water SeaWalk, a top-deck glass-bottomed walkway extending more than 28 feet beyond the edge of the vessel; plush private poolside cabanas that appear to be floating on the water; the new Princess Live! television studio; a pastry shop; a special Chef’s Table Lumiere, a private dining experience that surrounds diners in a curtain of light; and balconies on all outside staterooms. More information and video previews of Royal Princess are available at www.princess.com/royalprincess.
Additional details including schedules and itineraries for Regal Princess will be announced next year.

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Princess Cruises has launched its first-ever Pinterest contest, asking fans to show “How I Escape Completely” through relaxing images. Using the social “pinboard” site, entrants can create their own boards depicting exactly what “escape completely” means to them. The top five boards will win a Sanctuary Relaxation Kit, complete with a Lotus Spa plush robe, skin nourishing milk bath and an iPod® with a $50 iTunes® gift card. The contest runs from August 1-14, 2012 – leading up to National Relaxation Day on August 15.

“We hope both experienced and novice ‘pinners’ will show us their perfect way to escape completely,” said Jan Swartz, executive vice president of Princess Cruises. “It’s easy to do and I expect we’ll see some really creative ways of depicting relaxation and escape.” To enter, participants can go to http://www.princess.com/pinterestcontest or Princess’ Facebook page to register and follow Princess on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/princesscruises/. Each entrant can then “pin” images to their personal boards showing the places, phrases and products that help them escape – including their own Princess cruise memories. Boards must contain at least five images pinned from Princess’ Pinterest board, princess.com, or Princess’ blogs at http://www.inspiredtocruise.com and www.50essentialexperiences.com.

All boards will be judged between August 16 and August 31, 2012 on creativity, originality and how well they define “escape completely.” Participants can also use any inspirational or mood imagery to enhance their board. Each image should be tagged with the hashtags #PrincessCruises and #Travel.
All entries for the “How I Escape Completely” contest must be received by August 14, 2012. The contest is open to legal residents of the United States, Canada (excluding Quebec), the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Official rules are available at: https://pinterest.brandmovers.net/rules. iPod and iTunes are trademarks of Apple, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries. Apple is not a participant in or sponsor of this program.

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