Princess Cruise

A unique duel christening is set to take place of two new Princess Cruises liners next year. Princess Cruises is an American cruise line that operates cruise ships. It is one of the many cruise lines operated by the Carnival Corporation. The company was made famous by The Love Boat TV series, in which two of its former ships, the Island Princess and Pacific Princess were featured.

The 710-passenger Royal Princess and the 3,100-passenger Emerald Princess will be christened at a ceremony in the Greek island of Santorini on May 12th. Royal Princess is a cruise ship currently operating as Minerva II for Swan Hellenic. The Emerald Princess is a cruise ship for Princess Cruises that will be going into service in 2007. She is the sister ship of the Caribbean Princess and the Crown Princess.

It is the first time that the Spanish company has had two ships christened together but both will already have seen a month's service, as they begin itineraries around the Mediterranean in April 2006.

"These two ships represent the full scope of our fleet - from large to small - and it will be a wonderful contrast to launch them together at the same time," remarked Princess' senior vice president of customer service and sales, Jan Swartz.

"And because we're renowned for our wide-ranging worldwide itineraries to exciting places, we're excited to celebrate this historic event in such a fabulous port."

The two ships will eventually ply their trades around the Greek islands, Egypt and the Holy Land, the Caribbean and the Crimea.

There are also plans for visits to a number of new destinations in the Adriatic like .