Up to 50% of the Princess Cruises fleet is going to be deployed within Europe for next summer.

A record seven ships from the 16-strong fleet are going to sail upon 57 itineraries, with over 125 departures between April and December 2012. The Caribbean Princess, which can hold up to 3,114 passengers, makes its European debut operating round-Britain cruises and trips to Iceland and Norway. Grand Princess goes back to Southampton to operate cruises to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The ship will run a new Baltic Heritage route covering Oslo, Gdansk, Tallinn, St Petersburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen. Caribbean Princess and also the small ship Ocean Princess will additionally provide ex-UK departures. With Grand Princess, they will operate over ten itineraries ranging from 8 to 16 days in length.

Five ships will sail within the Mediterranean, providing voyages from 7 to 30 days. Both Crown Princess and Ruby Princess will provide the line’s Greek Isles and Grand Mediterranean fly-cruise itineraries, in addition to Aegean and Egypt sailings. Pacific Princess and Ocean Princess will supply small-ship sailing choices within the Med. Due to the fact that Grand Princess will be sailing from Southampton to the Med, passengers will be provided with over 25 different itineraries. Emerald Princess goes back to the Baltic area for the line’s 11-day sailings from Copenhagen. Two new ports will be added – Nessebar in Bulgaria and the island of Korcula in Croatia.

Jan Swartz, executive vice president, said “The vast diversity of attractions in Europe has inspired our growing collection of intriguing cruise options.”