Princess Cruises to cut Alaska fleet by 1 in 2016

Princess Cruises will have one less ship gliding through Alaska waters in 2016.

Only six ships will voyage through Alaska that year, one ship fewer than in 2015, when the company will transfer a 672-passenger vessel to Europe, in a move first reported in USA Today Thursday.

The loss of the ship, the smallest the company operates in Alaska, will mean a 15 percent decrease to the amount of sailings in 2016 compared to this year, Princess Cruises confirmed. There will be 125 sailings this year and only 106 Alaska sailings next year.

But Princess Cruises spokesperson Karen Candy said it isn't unusual for the company to adjust its global fleet and removing one vessel from the Alaska fleet isn't a reflection of dwindling passenger numbers.

Princess Cruises only had two small vessels and sold one, Candy said. They plan to move the remaining small vessel -- the Pacific Princess, now part of the Alaska fleet -- to Europe, where she said small ships are in high demand and often dock in smaller ports.

But Candy added that Alaska remains among the company's most robust destinations.

In 2016, three of the remaining ships will sail on seven-night trips between Whittier and Vancouver, British Columbia, and include a visit to Glacier Bay National Park and either a trip to Hubbard Glacier or College Fjord.

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Two other ships will sail round-trip voyages from Seattle, with the sixth ship operating round-trip voyages from San Francisco.

In 2017, Princess Cruises will add another ship to its worldwide fleet, but Candy could not say where that ship would be stationed.

Megan Edge

Megan Edge is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News.

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