Princess in 2028:
bigger seasons, tighter terms.

The itineraries are genuinely the best Princess has published. The booking terms underneath them got meaningfully stricter in the same year. Read both before you fall for either.

As of 24 August 2026 Cruise line policies, deposits, fees and deployments change without notice. Verify current terms directly with Princess or an accredited advisor before paying anything.

1 · The rule change that actually affects you

Leading with this because it is the part that changes a decision. For new bookings made on or after 2 September 2026, for sailings departing 1 January 2027 or later, Princess moves to a single 120-day final payment deadline for every voyage length.

Worth being precise about who this actually moves: longer voyages were already on 120 days. What changes is shorter sailings, which sat at 90. If you book week-long cruises, your money is now due a month earlier than it used to be; if you book long voyages, the deadline has not moved at all.

• Final payment 90 days on shorter sailings → 120 days, every length One deadline for all voyage lengths. On a week-long cruise that pulls the money forward by a full month.
• Deposit · 5 days or fewer $100 · suite $200 → $125 · suite $250 Per guest, first and second.
• Deposit · 6 to 9 days $250 · suite $500 → $300 · suite $600 The band most week-long sailings fall into. A couple in a suite now commits $1,200 before anything else is booked.
• Deposit · 10 to 44 days $400 · suite $800 → $500 · suite $1,000 Deposits are banded by voyage length — 45 days and longer stay at 30% of fare, unchanged.
• 100% cancellation fee 30 days out (shorter cruises) → 60 days out The point of no refund arrives a month earlier. This is the change with teeth.

If you already hold a Princess booking, none of this touches you. Bookings made before 2 September 2026 are grandfathered and keep their original terms — the old 90-day deadline on shorter cruises and the previous deposit amounts. That is the first thing most people want to know and it is rarely the first thing they are told.

The change with real teeth is the last row. Moving 100% cancellation from 30 days to 60 shortens the window in which you can still change your mind for free by a full month — on exactly the shorter, cheaper sailings people book most casually.

Paying earlier is an inconvenience. Losing the right to cancel a month sooner is a cost.

Worth knowing alongside this: Princess is also one of the lines that does not refund port taxes and fees when a call is skipped without a substitute port. We covered which lines do and don't in what a missed port actually pays.

2 · Europe 2028 — the largest season Princess has run

• 291departures
• 150itineraries
• 128destinations
• 37countries
• 13departure ports
• 101UNESCO sites

Six ships — Caribbean · Enchanted · Majestic · Regal · Sky · Sun Princess — across Northern Europe, the Mediterranean and transatlantic routes, with itineraries running from seven to 53 days and 32 late-night or overnight calls.

Maiden calls at Galway and Killybegs

Both are first-time Princess calls, and both are the kind of port where the name on the itinerary and the day you actually get are different things. Check the published arrival and departure times before you build a plan around either: a short call at a small Irish port can leave less usable time ashore than a longer one somewhere less romantic, and anywhere you need a coach transfer to reach the actual attraction, that transfer comes out of the same clock.

The 53-day Pole-to-Pole Odyssey

The headline route, linking Antarctic waters and the Arctic in a single voyage. If you take one long trip a year rather than several short ones, this is the reason to read the 2028 brochure. It also concentrates your entire annual travel risk into one booking, which makes the insurance and airfare decisions matter more than they would on a seven-night sailing — and it sits well outside the 120-day window from the moment you book.

On the early-booking promotion

The launch incentives run 2 June through 12 October 2026 — up to $500 instant savings, a stateroom location upgrade, up to $500 onboard credit, early access to dining reservations, reduced $100 deposits, and extra savings for Captain's Circle members. At the time of writing that window is still open.

Reduced deposits deserve one specific question before you treat them as a gift: is the reduced deposit refundable? A lower number at the front is worth very little if it is non-refundable while the standard deposit would not have been. And note the timing — a booking made under this promotion before 2 September keeps the old payment terms, while the same booking made after it does not. Those two deadlines are five weeks apart and they are not advertised together.

3 · Alaska 2028 — depth, and the flight that decides it

• 185departures
• 14itineraries
• 8ships
• 86Glacier Bay visits
• 16destinations
• 4–16days

Eight ships — Star · Discovery · Emerald · Royal · Coral · Crown · Island · Ruby Princess — sailing from Seattle, Vancouver, Anchorage (Whittier), San Francisco and Los Angeles, with the cruisetour network running into five Princess Wilderness Lodges at Denali, Mt. McKinley, Fairbanks, Kenai and Copper River.

One-way versus roundtrip, honestly

The one-way Voyage of the Glaciers between Whittier and Vancouver is the better Alaska, and the reason is structural rather than a matter of taste. A one-way covers new water the whole way instead of retracing it, it pairs Glacier Bay with a second glacier experience at College Fjord or Hubbard, and it lands you at the end of the rail corridor that feeds the lodges — which is what makes a cruisetour a continuation rather than a doubling back.

That does not make a Seattle roundtrip wrong. It makes it a different product: simpler flights, one airport, lower total cost, less of the interior. The honest way to choose is to price the open-jaw airfare first — into Anchorage, out of Vancouver — because for a lot of origins that flight is what closes the gap or blows it open. Decide on the total, not the cruise fare.

4 · The Medallion fee, and the free way round it

Since 20 August 2026, having your Medallion posted to you costs $22 per order in the US and $27 in Canada, up from $20 and $25. That is the second increase in 2026.

Collecting it at the terminal during embarkation check-in is still free. It is the same device, activated the same way, and the queue is the one you were already standing in. Unless you specifically want it in hand beforehand — some travellers do, for the novelty or to test the app — decline home delivery. Keep the wearable, skip the postage.

5 · Solo fare maths, without the sleight of hand

Princess solo pricing follows standard cruise economics, and the standard economics are widely misread. Only one component is doubled.

• Cruise fareCharged at the single-occupancy rate — commonly close to double the per-person double rate. This is the line that hurts.
• Port taxes & feesCharged for ONE guest. These are levied per person aboard, so a solo traveller does not pay them twice.
• GratuitiesOne guest. Same logic.
• ExtrasWi-Fi, drinks and speciality dining are per person — a package quoted "per stateroom" is the exception worth checking.

So when a reduced-supplement promotion appears, read what it is actually discounting. The supplement applies to the fare — the one line that was inflated to begin with — and leaves taxes, gratuities, flights and insurance exactly where they were. A promotion that halves the supplement on an expensive cabin can still land above a modest cabin at full supplement. Work the final out-of-pocket number, then compare.

6 · The Voyager Class, in perspective

Princess has contracted Fincantieri for three LNG-powered Voyager Class ships at 183,000 gross tons and 4,700 guests apiece — the largest in the fleet, extending the Sphere Class design behind Sun Princess and Star Princess.

Delivery is scheduled for 2035, 2038 and 2039. That is worth knowing if you follow fleet strategy and worth ignoring entirely if you are choosing between Europe and Alaska in 2028. The newest hardware you can actually book in that window is Star Princess.

7 · What to actually do

• Put the 120-day date in your calendar the day you bookNot the sail date — the payment date. It is now the same deadline whether the cruise is five nights or fifty.
• Decline Medallion home delivery at check-inTerminal pickup on embarkation day is still free. That is $22 a stateroom for a convenience you experience once.
• Buy cover before the money is at riskYour deposit is exposed from the moment it is paid, and the 100% band now starts at 60 days. Cover bought at deposit costs the same as cover bought at final payment and protects two months more.
• Price the open-jaw before falling for the one-wayVoyage of the Glaciers is the better Alaska. It is also a multi-city flight — into Anchorage, out of Vancouver — and that airfare decides whether it is actually the better value.

8 · Consistency, or monetising certainty?

Princess has a real argument. One deadline across every voyage length is simpler to administer and simpler to remember than a sliding scale, and the previous patchwork genuinely confused people. Standardisation has value, and the grandfathering of existing bookings is more than the line had to do.

The counter-argument is equally real, and it is about who carries the risk. Money arrives earlier and in larger amounts, the window in which a traveller can change their mind is a month shorter, and each individual fee increase is small enough to wave through. None of those is outrageous alone. Together they move risk steadily from the operator to the guest.

The sharpest point is one of timing. These terms bite hardest on people booking a long way out — which is precisely how a 2028 season gets sold. The same announcement that opens the itineraries also lengthens the period during which your money is committed and your flexibility is not. That is not a scandal. It is just worth seeing clearly before the launch-season enthusiasm does the deciding.

Frequently asked questions

Subject to change. Cruise line policies, rates, deposit schedules, fees and deployments are set by Princess Cruises and change without notice. Verify specific fare rules directly with the operator or an accredited travel advisor before submitting payment.

Informational only. This article is general information and is not financial, legal, insurance, accessibility or medical advice. Consult an appropriately qualified professional about your own circumstances.