Princess has a 129 day world cruise leaving Fort Lauderdale on January 6, 2027, and it does not go anywhere near Europe.
No Mediterranean. No Africa. No Suez.
Instead, Coral Princess spends four months circling the Pacific, then finishes in Los Angeles by way of six stops in Alaska.
Princess calls it the most destination packed cruise the line has ever offered, at 61 destinations across 20 countries.
It is also not the Princess world cruise most people have been reading about, which is a separate sailing a year later.
What Princess Has Announced
The full name is the World Cruise Grand Circle Pacific Voyage, and Princess opened it for sale back in April 2025.
There are three ways to sail it.
The headline option is 129 days from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles, departing January 6, 2027.
A 114 day roundtrip from Los Angeles leaves January 21, 2027.
A 110 day version runs Los Angeles to Vancouver, also departing January 21.
The route heads through the Panama Canal first, then four Hawaiian islands, then the South Pacific with calls in Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu.
From there it works through Australia and New Zealand, covering Brisbane, Tasmania and both New Zealand islands, before Southeast Asia takes in Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Photo by Adrian Rubiales on Pexels
Japan follows, including Okinawa and Osaka. Then Alaska, then Vancouver, then Los Angeles.
The whole thing runs 35,400 nautical miles and crosses the equator and the International Date Line twice each.
How This Differs From The 2028 World Cruise
This matters because both sailings use the same ship, and the 2028 voyage got far more coverage.
We wrote up the 115 day 2028 world cruise and its onboard credit offer earlier this year. They are not the same trip.
| 2027 Grand Circle Pacific | 2028 World Cruise | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 129 days | 115 days |
| Route | Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles | Roundtrip Fort Lauderdale or LA |
| Destinations | 61 | 49 |
| Countries | 20 | 24 |
| Continents | 3 | 5 |
| UNESCO sites | 23 | 39 |
| Departs | January 6, 2027 | January 3, 2028 |
The 2028 sailing is a true circumnavigation. It transits the Panama Canal, crosses the Pacific, then continues through Africa and the Mediterranean before returning across the Atlantic.
The 2027 sailing never leaves the Pacific basin. It is longer, hits more individual destinations, and covers less of the globe.
Heads up: Princess brands this a World Cruise, but three continents is not a lap of the planet. If your bucket list includes the Mediterranean, Egypt or South Africa, the 2028 voyage is the one you want. Read the route before the label.
A World Cruise That Ends With Alaska
The Alaska leg is what makes this itinerary odd, and I mean that as praise.
World cruises almost never include Alaska. The season does not line up, the water is cold when most world cruises are in the tropics, and the region gets treated as its own separate product.
Princess is the exception because Alaska is the thing the line does better than anyone, and a January departure puts the ship in the North Pacific right as the season opens.
Photo by Henry C Wong on Pexels
So passengers go from Fiji and Vanuatu to Okinawa to glaciers, on one booking.
Among the 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the route are Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Sydney Opera House, Ha Long Bay and the Great Barrier Reef, which has held World Heritage status since 1981.
Princess has also built in nine late night stays plus an overnight in Hong Kong, with extended evenings in Anchorage, Cairns, Honolulu, Osaka, Singapore, Suva, Sydney and Tokyo.
What This Means For Cruisers
The ship is small, and that is the point.
Coral Princess carries 2,000 guests, which is roughly a third of what an Icon class ship holds. She was built to fit the Panama Canal locks, so the canal transit on day one is what she was designed for.
Onboard, expect the traditional Princess product rather than a thrill ship: Crown Grill, Sabatini’s, Movies Under the Stars, MedallionNet and the Medallion itself. This is a sailing for the 50 and over crowd that Princess quietly built its whole business around.
Four months is also not the only option. Princess sells segments running from four to 68 days, joining at Auckland, Hong Kong, Honolulu, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo or Vancouver. A three week chunk of this route is a far easier sell than 129 days.
Photo by Will Waters on Unsplash
One practical note on the full voyage. It ends in Los Angeles rather than where it started, so factor a one way flight home into the budget. Anyone wanting a Pacific crossing without the four month commitment might look at Royal Caribbean’s 25 night Los Angeles to Australia run instead.
What To Watch Next
The nearest milestone is departure itself, which is about five months out.
The early booking perks Princess attached to this voyage expired at the end of October 2025, so anyone booking now is doing it at standard pricing. Whether Princess adds a late incentive to fill remaining cabins is worth watching, because long voyages this close to sailing sometimes see movement.
Segment availability is the other thing to track. The shorter joins tend to be the first to go, particularly the Australia and Japan legs, and they are the realistic entry point for most people.
What is confirmed is a real itinerary with real dates, sailing from a port most American cruisers can reach without a connecting flight.
The catch is the name. This is sold as a world cruise, and it is closer to the most thorough Pacific tour a mainstream line has ever put on sale.
Would 129 days in the Pacific appeal more than a full lap of the globe, or does a world cruise have to actually circle the world?
