Star Princess trans-Pacific prices released

Star Princess trans-Pacific prices released

New Zealanders have the opportunity to be among the first passengers to traverse the Pacific on one of the world's great cruising ships and the biggest to visit New Zealand.

Fares have been released for the debut trans-Pacific voyage of P&O Cruises' 109,000 ton Star Princess. Her first ever port of call in Australasian waters will be Tauranga on November 22 on a cruise from Los Angeles via Papeete to her summer base in Sydney.

The 25-night cruise to Australia is via Lahaina and Honolulu in Hawaii, Bora Bora and Papeete in Tahiti, Pago Pago in American Samoa, Suva, Tauranga and Auckland.

Cruise-only lead-in prices for the 12 nights from L.A. to Tahiti are NZ$2,315, the 13 nights from Papeete to Sydney are NZ$2,321 and a twin cabin for the entire voyage is NZ$4,725 per person.

Fares are inclusive of meals and entertainment, taxes, fees, port charges and full accommodation. Connecting flights are available.

At 290-metres, the 18-storey high Star Princess is almost three rugby fields long and will be the biggest vessel of any kind to visit this country. She is more than twice as big as the legendary Titanic and carries 2,600 passengers and 1,100 crew.

She is nearly 50 per cent bigger than the previous biggest cruise ship to visit New Zealand - P&O Cruises' 76,000-ton Aurora - which first sailed here in 2001.

Launched in March 2002 and currently cruising in Alaska and the Mexican Riviera, P&O Cruises' Star Princess has:

* five pools and nine spas;

* nine restaurants and cafes serving 45,000 dishes a day plus a personal choice dining programme;

* 12 bars and lounges plus an internet café and a casino;

* a wedding chapel and art gallery;

* nine-hole putting course;

* golf simulator;

* gym and jogging track;

* 1,300 cabins including 710 with private balconies;

* wrap-around promenade that enables passengers to visit the tip of the bow; and,

* a spoiler-like, glass-walled nightclub suspended 15 storeys above the sea at the rear of the ship and accessed by a moving 'skywalk'.

In addition to Star Princess' Australasian season in 2003/04, P&O Cruises is also bringing UK superliner Aurora (76,000 tons) to New Zealand.

Bookings and cruise brochures are available from travel agents or through P&O Cruises on 0800 44 17 66 freephone or by visiting the company's web site at www.pocruises.co.nz .

About P&O

P&O Princess Cruises was founded 166 years ago as the Pacific and Orient Steam Navigation Company and invented what today we call cruising. The company carries more than one million passengers annually across the world's oceans calling at 285 ports in more than 100 countries. It is the world's third biggest cruise line with an international fleet of 20 ships and a further five beginning service up to 2004.

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