Princess sets more Japan cruises for 2016
Princess Cruises will be back in Japan in 2016 for a fourth year.
The Love Boat line says the 2,670-passenger Diamond Princess will operate four- to 20-night sailings from Yokohama (near Tokyo) and Kobe from April to October.
The voyages will include full circumnavigations of the country as well trips that circle Hokkaido Island in northern Japan. The latter will feature stops in Korsakov, Russia.
Other voyages include Kyushu Island sailings that will feature first-for-Princess stops at the southern Japan beach town of Miyazaki and the castle ruins of Yatushiro. Voyages also are being timed to include stops at top Japanese festivals.
After years of expansion across the Pacific, California-based Princess in 2013 became the first major international cruise line to offer an extended season of voyages around Japan. The trips deliver vacationers to such iconic Japanese destinations as Nagasaki and temple-filled Kyoto (via the port of Kobe).
The 11-year-old Diamond Princess has a distinct Japanese flavor — the result of a massive makeover in drydock in 2014. Among several new features are an extensive traditional Japanese bath area — a first for a cruise ship — as well as a sushi restaurant. Menus in the Diamond Princess' main restaurants and Horizon Court buffet feature Japanese items, such as miso soup and noodles, alongside Western fare.
Some of the new features were designed specifically to lure Japanese vacationers, who until now haven't cruised in great numbers. But they're proving popular with Princess' traditional Western customers, too. Read our first-hand account of a Japan sailing
For a deck-by-deck tour of the revamped Diamond Princess, click through the carousel below.