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Princess Cruises chief John Padgett vows to make the line 'the best in the UK'

Caribbean
Harry Kemble
23 September 2024

The boss of Princess Cruises believes growing the line’s fly-cruise business rather than homeporting a new ship in Southampton could help it become the biggest operating in the UK market. 

Eithne Williamson and John Padgett, Sun Princess, September Credit: TTG

Eithne Williamson and John Padgett (far right) lay out Princess Cruises' future plans on Sun Princess (Credit: TTG)

Princess has seen UK passenger numbers hit record levels for third successive year with bookings for 2025 running 20% ahead of where they were this time last year.

When the line’s president John Padgett was asked by TTG if he planned to bring a Sphere-class vessel here as a reward for the strong booking levels, he said: “Princess is a globally deployed cruise brand. We sail to 330 destinations around the world and we really value the fly-cruise market out of the UK. 

“We want to make sure our UK guests know all of our products on our ships so that they can sail all around the world.”