What are Princess Local Partnerships?
Princess Cruises and our guests are giving back to the communities that already give so much to us. That’s why we created the Princess Local Partnership Program. Through a period of consultation with local communities, local governments and stakeholders, our crew and our guests, we understood what was most important to Aotearoa / New Zealand. Conservation of the ecological environment and Māori culture. With those in mind, we set out to find the right partners who share our passion for giving back.
Starting in the beautiful Bay of Islands in New Zealand, right down to Dunedin in the Port of Otago, we have worked with local community groups to assist with conservation programs that deliver on these efforts. Princess Cruises donated $100,000 to initiate this fund back in 2019, and as part of an ongoing voluntary guest donation program, we continue to expand the program and deliver real change. Learn more about our partners below.
A traditional double-hulled Waka sails across calm waters of Tauranga, with Mt. Maunganui in the background.
Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, the waka to be used for the sailing from Aotearoa to Samoa in late 2025.
Tauranga Moana (Tauranga)
The art of celestial navigation (using the sun, moon, stars and planets to guide journeys across the ocean) is intrinsic to Māori culture and their seafaring heritage. That’s why we’ve partnered with Te Kura Waka, a celestial navigation school in Aotearoa, dedicated to training future navigators through traditional Pacific wayfinding and waka knowledge under the teachings of Pwo navigator Jack Thatcher.
More than just a school, Te Kura Waka is a movement to reclaim indigenous intelligence, and his students will undertake their graduation voyage – a traditional non-instrumental journey from Aotearoa to Samoa in September 2025 that marks the culmination of 10+ years of training, and the birth of the next generation of navigators.
Ōtepoti (Dunedin)
Working with the team at Nature’s Wonders, our efforts on the Otago Peninsula has facilitated new structures being built to enable more nesting boxes for the endangered blue eyed penguin as well as the preservation of the last major yellow-eyed penguin colony.
By working to extend the predator-free boundary, and by working to plant trees back down to the shore line (as it was before human intervention), the aim is to create a pristine environment for local bird life to not only call home, but to flourish.
Blue Eyed penguin.
Nature’s Wonders on Otago Peninsula.
A New Zealand kererū perches among lush green ferns.
Bay Bush Action group leader smiles standing in Opua State Forest while gently holding a kiwi bird in his arms.
Te Pēwhairangi (Bay of Islands)
Our work with Princess Local Partnerships is designed to encourage the regeneration of the Opua State Forest, and the return of both the Kiwi Bird to the Forest and the Kororā (Little Blue Penguins) along the shoreline of the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The hard work of the Bush Bay Action trustees and volunteers, together with the generous donations from Princess guests, has seen a 120% increase in Kiwi numbers in the Ōpua State Forest and revival of the Kukupa and the flightless Weka native bird species in the region.
The support has allowed the Bush Bay Action group to work on restoring a forest that has been forgotten about for over 25 years; as well as creating jobs and supporting the local economy.
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