By Paul Motter, iCruise Blogger | August 29, 2017 ( Comments)
Whenever I am asked to pick the best cruise lines for "cruise value," meaning a high quality cruise experience at a great price, I always cite Princess Cruises as one of my top picks. The line consistently delivers a premium cruise experience, with intimate and personalized onboard service, at a price point that competes with mainstream cruise lines.
But beyond the onboard offerings of Princess' ships, I am always even more impressed with the itinerary planning and shore tour options. I would sail on Princess in any part of the world and still feel like I was getting the same immersive destination experience as I can get from far more expensive luxury cruise lines.
The reason is Princess' extensive itinerary planning, with a reputation for securing the best local tour operators and other suppliers worldwide a step ahead of the competition. That is the key ingredient to any cruise line offering the best regional experience in faraway places.
But now I would make this claim for Princess especially in Asia, because they just claimed the title "top North American cruise line in Japan." 2018 will bring the Princess Cruises'most extensive Japan cruise season yet. Having the need for more tour guides, food and other locally supplied products and services than any other line is yet another reason Princess is most likely to secure the best local providers first.
(L) Tocho-ji Temple, Fukuoka, Japan | (M) Hong Kong Harbour | (R) Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Busan, South KoreaAnd so I hear the siren song of the Japanese-built Diamond Princess, scheduled to sail a total of 63 voyages in Asia this coming April through December 2018 season, on cruises ranging from four to 23 nights, with 38 destinations in seven countries. This includes calls in South Korea, Taiwan, China, Russia, Hong Kong and Vietnam along with maiden port calls to Ishinomaki, Iwakuni, Niigata, Sakata, Toba and Yokkaichi.
The ship will also offer late night calls in 12 different ports, featuring a longer stay on every call to Hakodate for a breath-taking view of the city at night - known as one of Japan's top evening views. And if that is not enough, there are even several cruisetours (cruises with land tours added) available to Kyoto and Tokyo, and visits to Togendai, Lake Ashi and Mt. Fuji.
Princess also just announced another especially intriguing Asian cruise option; a 29-day Southeast Asia, Japan and North Pacific crossing on Golden Princess sailing April 28, 2018, from Singapore with visits to 11 ports in Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City & Nha Trang), Hong Kong, Taipei in Taiwan, Busan South Korea, and the Japanese ports of Osaka, Shimizu, Yokohama, Sakaiminato, Hakodate and Muroran. All of this followed by five days at sea before landing in Whittier, Alaska.
If you want, you can even add a seven day Alaska cruise and finish your voyage in Vancouver, BC (Canada). That cruise visits Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, Skagway and Juneau. Combined, these two voyages make a 36-day sailing. Not only can you see Asia, but you can end your journey close to your home town for about the same added price as airfare from the Far East.
As a cruiser who has already seen most of the world's ports of call, Japan still remains at the top of my top bucket list, and even though it would be my first and possibly only opportunity to see Japan, I would feel extremely confident in choosing Princess as the cruise line to take me to those places I still yearn to see.
About Paul Motter, iCruise Blogger
Paul Motter took his first cruise in 1983, when he was lucky enough to get hired by Royal Viking Line, a small but very influential cruise line still credited with inventing all-inclusive luxury cruises. At the time less than one million Americans had ever sailed on a cruise. For the year 2017 the projected number of cruise passengers is over 25-million people.
Paul's first cruise included sailing ten straight days at sea from San Francisco to Bora Bora, and he had no idea that was unusual. In the next year he sailed to destinations all the way from Tahiti to the North Cape of Norway. In later years Paul also worked aboard Norwegian Cruise Line's S.S. Norway and aboard three Holland America Line ships.
In 1999 Paul started the web site CruiseMates.com, the first professional cruise review site on the Internet, with well-known AOL cruise reviewer Anne Campbell as his partner. Paul served as the CEO of CruiseMates until 2007 when he became the editor-in-chief, the role he maintained until 2016.
Paul has cruised on every popular cruise line in the U.S. His favorite ships include the Royal Caribbean Oasis-class, Carnival's Vista-class, Norwegian Cruise Line's Breakaway class, Celebrity's Solstice class, Oceania, Crystal, or any cruise on Princess or Holland America. His favorite river cruise experiences include the Nile in Egypt and a 10-day Russian River on Viking River Cruises.
His favorite memories as a cruise reporter include seeing Queen Elizabeth, Princess Kate and Camilla (all separately) commission the three Cunard ships now in service.
Paul has written about cruising for Women's Day, The San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Herald, Sherman's Travel, FoxNews.com and CruiseMates.
