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New Ship To Boost Tahiti's Sagging Cruise Industry

Sunday: August 03, 2008

(Tahitipresse)

Tahiti's tourism industry will only need to wait until the end of March before Silversea Cruises' 132-passenger Prince Albert II of Monaco will begin regular voyages out of Papeete.

The cruises will be held at the rate of two or three per month. But this arrival will still leave a cruise ship capacity shortfall of 538 passengers with the departure of the 670-passenger Tahitian Princess at the end of this December.

The Silversea Cruises' Web site shows a schedule running through a 16-day voyage to Easter Island that leaves Papeete on Oct. 8, 2009.

The first voyage out of Papeete will be a 10-day "Tuamotu Expedition" via the Leeward Island of Raiatea to the Tuamotu atolls of Tikehau, Rangiroa, Apataki, Arutua and Fakarava, returning to Papeete via the Leeward Island of Huahine.

There are 11 published fares corresponding to the number of suite categories. They range from US$5,995 for an Adventure Class suite to US$21,740 for the Owner's 1 Suite.

The Prince Albert II is named after Prince Albert of Monaco, where Silversea Cruises is based. The vessel is the former World Discoverer II expedition ship, which underwent a $1 million revamp. The 6,072-ton ship boasts a strengthened hull with a Lloyd's Register 1A ice rating for passenger ships.

With eight Zodiac boats, it offers passengers the opportunity to visit "even the most off-the-beaten path locations." The voyage list posted on the Silversea Cruises Web site offers a rotation of three destinations from March to October. Besides the Tuamotu Expedition, there will be cruises out of Papeete to French Polynesia's southernmost Austral Islands (11 days) and the northernmost Marquesas Islands (14 days).

There's also a June 15-29 voyage of 15 days from Papeete to Lautoka, Fiji, via the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and Samoa. The return 15-day trip leaves Fiji on June 25 and arrives in Papeete on July 9 via the same route. The published fares range from US$9,195 to US$33,490.

http://www.tahitipresse.pf/index.cfm?snav=see&presse=24863&lang=2