Princess Cruises "Inspired to Cruise" Blog Showcases Reasons to Cruise 11-15

Princess Cruises' blog, "Inspired to Cruise: A Year of Reasons to Get Away From the Everyday"has chronicled its next five reasons to cruise, offering readers a new collection of distinct passenger stories about what can inspire travelers to vacation at sea.

With touching tales of a Vietnam veteran returning to Southeast Asia thanks to a gift from his late mother, a trip to educate the world's youth about geography, a chance to discover family stories, warming up after an extreme ice storm, and even a surprise wedding, the blog, found at "http://inspiredtocruise.com", illustrates some of the diverse reasons people take cruise vacations.

Each week during 2012 the blog will explore the celebrations, accomplishments, milestones and other inspired reasons to cruise, each told by a different passenger. This diverse group of contributors -- from long-time cruisers to those who set sail for the first time -- will share a total of 52 stories throughout the life of the blog.

Reasons to cruise 11-15 are:

Story #15: To Travel the World with a Purpose -- Sandy and Darren Van Soye of Orange County, Calif., describe their mission to educate 55,000 students around the world by devoting 424 days to exploring 50 countries and six continents. Their travels, which include five Princess cruises, are being shared with school children who are following their progress and adventures.

Story #14: To Escape the Ice Storm -- Debbie Parson of Campbellsville, Kentucky, tells how her husband, Ron, an electrical supervisor, had to work day and night to restore electricity throughout an area devastated by an intense ice storm that created a freezing cold disaster area. They could only cruise the balmy Caribbean if he managed to get the power on in time.

Story #13: To Learn About Your Family Ancestry -- Barbara Carpenter of San Diego, Calif., tells how she convinced her parents to go on a cruise and used the time together to ask them more about their early lives and to write down many of the remembrances and unique family stories they recalled.

Story #12: To Revisit Vietnam -- Les Brooks of Rogue River, Oregon, a Vietnam veteran, surprised his mother when she asked where he would go if he could cruise anywhere in the world, and he decided it was Vietnam. His mother gave him the trip, but passed away before the cruise departed, so her gift took on greater poignancy and meaning, and became an unexpectedly healing experience.

Story #11: A Surprise Wedding -- Laura Gow of La Grande, Oregon, tells of how her boyfriend, Steve, secretly planned the perfect wedding at sea aboard Sapphire Princess -- and completely surprised her by proposing on deck ...10 hours before the ceremony.

Also featured on the blog is a weekly "Escape Inspiration" video. Each 30-second favorite moment at sea is introduced by a Princess crew member who describes why the scene is meaningful to them.