Princess Cruises Launches “50 Essential Experiences: The Travel Bucket List” Blog

Everyone with the urge to travel has their own bucket list of places they want to go and even those of us who travel frequently have places we have yet to see. Cruise Diva has the Norwegian Fjords and North Cape at the top of her list. To celebrate those travel destinations, Princess Cruises has launched a new blog that will reveal the top travel bucket list experiences recommended by the line’s own well-traveled destination experts. “50 Essential Experiences: The Travel Bucket List” will be gradually unveiled over the next year in a series of weekly posts, each authored by one of Princess’ longest-serving shipboard and shoreside employees.

The 50 selected experts–each who have been with the company for more than 15 years and traveled thousands of sea and air miles visiting hundreds of countries, cities and sites–will share one of their inspiring experiences chronicling their unique perspective of must-see travel spots around the globe. Each blog entry will be a personal story, and readers will also meet the expert through a “revealing” questionnaire.

“Few people have seen more of the world than Princess' own destination experts,” said Jan Swartz, executive vice president for Princess Cruises. “And because they’ve been to so many destinations, they’re often asked to recommend those ‘don’t miss’ experiences that people should be sure to put on their travel bucket list.” Swartz emphasized that the blog is not just a list of places, but instead a list of experiences Princess hopes inspires others.

The experts featured in the blog will represent an array of departments and positions within Princess, including those in shoreside positions such as itinerary planning, ship operations and marketing, along with those who sail aboard its ships such as captains, hotel managers and cruise directors. Their posts will gradually be revealed through Sept 2011.

Crystal Morgan, director of market planning for Princess Cruises, authored the first blog post. She started her cruise career as an onboard shore excursion manager sailing to worldwide destinations and, after moving shoreside, now oversees itinerary planning for the line’s fleet of ships. Morgan shares one of her most memorable travel experiences, when she traced her grandmother’s footsteps to visit the famous Christ the Redeemer statue, the most celebrated monument in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a place that held a special meaning for her grandmother who had visited the site some 70 years earlier. In her post she writes, “I didn’t hear about my grandmother’s visit to this famous statue until I told her that I was being deployed to South America aboard Pacific Princess. It dawned on me that I would have the opportunity to trace her footsteps to this world-renowned landmark so many decades after her visit. Our circumstances could hardly be more different. She was barely a teenager on her journey up the mountain, traveling with her family, including several younger siblings for whom she cared. I would have charges of my own, but not children.”

Blog visitors will be encouraged to share their own essential experiences, and a different reader experience will be selected and showcased each week. All of the destinations described in the blog will be ones that passengers can travel to aboard a Princess ship, and links will help readers discover how they, too, can embark on similar adventures.

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 Princess.com.