Princess Cruises to expand rapidly in Japan

Looks like Princess Cruises is going after the Japanese market in a big way.

The Los Angeles-based line today announced it would send two ships to Japan in 2014 to cater to Japanese vacationers in what amounts to a major expansion of a pilot program that begins this year.

Princess says the 2,670-passenger Diamond Princess and 2,022-passenger Sun Princess will sail 42 voyages between April and October 2014 from three Japanese ports: Yokohama (near Tokyo), Kobe and Otaru (near Sapporo).

That's more than four times the number of sailings aimed at Japanese vacationers the line is offering in Japan this year — its first specifically targeting the Japanese "home port" market.

Read more at:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/01/23/princess-cruises-japan-expansion/1859045/