Island Princess departs on 2025 World Cruise, with Cape Town grand voyage on offer

Princess Cruises’ Island Princess has set sail on her 2025 World Cruise, departing earlier this week from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with an overnight stay and grand voyage departure from Cape Town also on offer.

The full 116-night World Cruise will take guests to 43 destinations across the globe, including an overnight stay in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of a grand voyage up Africa’s west coast.

The sold-out roundtrip cruise began with a stop in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, followed by a transit through the historic Panama Canal. 

The itinerary continues through the Pacific, offering calls in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, California, and Hawaii before heading to the South Pacific. 

Scenic cruising at New Zealand’s Fiordland National Park and visits to Fiji and New Zealand precede the ship’s arrival in Australia, where it will call in Sydney, Melbourne, and Fremantle.

Guests booked on the 21-night Sydney to Cape Town cruise, departing February 16th, will also visit Melbourne, Fremantle and Mauritius before arriving in Cape Town, from which the ship sails a range of grand voyages of 33 to 69 nights.

These itineraries visit Namibia, with further calls in destinations such as Dakar, Senegal, and Tenerife in the Canary Islands as the ship makes its way toward the Mediterranean.

The Cape Town grand voyage departs March 9th bound for Civitavecchia (Rome), offering an exploration of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, including stops in Cape Verde, Gibraltar, and Italy. 

Guests can also extend this leg to a 69-night voyage that crosses the Atlantic and transits the Panama Canal to end in Los Angeles, or opt for a 54-night journey to Fort Lauderdale.

Built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique in 2003, the 88,000-ton Island Princess underwent a significant refurbishment in 2015, which added 121 staterooms and new public areas. The ship offers a comfortable and intimate cruising experience, with diverse dining options, entertainment venues, and wellness facilities.

Princess Cruises’ decision to feature Cape Town as its mid-World Cruise turnaround port rather than Dubai in the Middle East reflects the modern cruise industry’s wariness of Red Sea transits amid the current security concerns in the region.