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Summer cruise ship season kicks off in the South Pacific

The “Sea Princess” — a Princess Cruises vessel docking in Pago Pago horbor,
reporters@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The “Sea Princess” — a Princess Cruises vessel — maneuvered its way inside the Pago Pago Harbor around 7:30a.m last week, with the assistance of two ASG tugboats.

The American Samoa Visitors Bureau (ASVB) says the arrival of the Sea Princess “kicks off the Spring-Summer cruise ship” season. The ship docked around 7:45a.m arriving from Suva, Fiji and departed at 5p.m. for Honolulu.

The ship is on a return 35-night cruise from Auckland, New Zealand, carrying 2,417 passengers and 910 crew members.

ASG officials have stated publicly that visiting cruise ships (which have increased in number over the years) bring in new cash and therefore, boost the local economy, the reason the Visitors Bureau takes part in the annual cruise ship convention in Florida.

This is the Sea Princess's second visit to American Samoa this year. Its prior arrival was on April 16th, during Flag Day.

Seven more cruise ships are confirmed to call into American Samoa for the remainder of the year, with the next ship — “Ruby Princess” — arriving here on its maiden visit on Oct. 10th, according to the Visitors Bureau schedule, which also shows that 14 cruise ships are confirmed to visit American Samoa in 2020.