Princess Cruises Circle The Globe

Continuing its long tradition of bringing passengers to some of the world's most intriguing places, Princess Cruises has released its 2009-10 schedule of exotic itineraries which include long-time passenger favorites along with some new, emerging destinations.

Also announced today is that Tahitian Princess, one of the small ships in the Princess fleet, will be renamed in 2009, becoming Ocean Princess. The new name is intended to reflect the ship's new deployment on worldwide itineraries. The renaming will take place while the ship is out of service during a routine maintenance period in Singapore in Nov 2009. The 670-passenger Tahitian Princess joined the Princess fleet in 2002, and has been primarily deployed on sailings in the South Pacific, particularly French Polynesia and Hawaii. Beginning this summer, the ship sets off on new worldwide deployments, featuring a Connoisseur's cruise in Alaska, a world cruise in early 2009 and a season of unique Northern Europe sailings next summer. Following the 2009 renaming, Ocean Princess will sail on a series of Asia voyages to be announced separately.

"Tahitian Princess, along with our other two small ships, has developed a loyal following of passengers who enjoy a more intimate cruise experience, and also the opportunity to visit some off-the-beaten-path destinations. As this ship is now sailing on itineraries around the world, we felt its name should reflect a more global theme," said Jan Swartz, Princess' senior vice president of customer service and sales.

During next year's fall season, Pacific Princess, another of the line's small vessels, will provide cruises from Papeete, Tahiti, where the Tahitian Princess has been based. For full details on Princess Cruises' 2009 itineraries, see CruiseDiva.com's Cruise News.