Princess Ships Returning to the United States Ahead of Restarts

Princess Ships Returning to the United States Ahead of Restarts

The Diamond Princess and the Sapphire Princess are returning to the United States. After several years of sailing in Asia and the Pacific, the vessels are currently sailing to Los Angeles ahead of their service restarts in North America.

Out of service since early 2020, the Diamond Princess will be the first to arrive, on August 4.

The 2004-built cruise ship welcomes guests back on September 1 for a series of San Diego-based sailings.

The program includes cruises to the California Coast, the Baja Peninsula, the Sea of Cortez and Hawaii, marking the first time the vessel sails from a U.S. port since 2013.

In November, the Diamond is also offering a 20-night cruise to Central America that features visits to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala.

The Sapphire Princess, meanwhile, is set to arrive in Los Angeles on August 20. Completing the Princess Cruises restart, the ship is resuming service on September 24.

Also out of service since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2,600-guest ship is offering four- to 15-night cruises to Mexico, Hawaii and the California Coast from its Los Angeles homeport. The program marks the ship’s return to the U.S. after an eight-year gap.

In December, the Sapphire heads to South America for cruises to Patagonia, Antarctica and the Falklands.

After initially being laid up in Southeast Asia, both ships had been anchored off Cyprus since mid-2021. 

With the Diamond and the Sapphire resuming service, the entire Princess Cruises fleet will sail with guests again.

Following a 16-month operational pause, the premium brand first welcomed guests back in July 2021 for a shortened summer season in Alaska.

A few days later, the company also returned to the UK before relaunching service on the West Coast in September 2021 and the Panama Canal in October 2021.

Over the past months, 13 Princess cruise ships resumed service as well, bringing the company back to other areas such as Australia, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.