<p>Princess Cruises launched a new blog that will reveal the top travel bucket list  experiences recommended by the line's own well-traveled destination  experts. "50 Essential Experiences: The Travel Bucket List" (www.50essentialexperiences.com)  will be gradually unveiled over the next year in a series of weekly  posts, each authored by one of Princess' longest-serving shipboard and  shoreside employees.</p>
<p>The 50 selected experts -- each who have been with the company for more  than 15 years and traveled thousands of sea and air miles visiting  hundreds of countries, cities and sites -- will share one of their  inspiring experiences chronicling their unique perspective of must-see  travel spots around the globe. Each blog entry will be a personal story,  and readers will also meet the expert through a "revealing"  questionnaire.</p>
<p>"Few people have seen more of the world than Princess' own destination  experts," said Jan Swartz, executive vice president for Princess  Cruises. "And because they've been to so many destinations, they're  often asked to recommend those don't miss' experiences that people  should be sure to put on their travel bucket list." Swartz emphasized  that the blog is not just a list of places, but instead a list of  experiences Princess hopes inspires others.</p>
<p>The experts featured in the blog will represent an array of departments  and positions within Princess, including those in shoreside positions  such as itinerary planning, ship operations and marketing, along with  those who sail aboard its ships such as captains, hotel managers and  cruise directors. Their posts will gradually be revealed through  September 2011.</p>
<p>Crystal Morgan, director of market planning for Princess Cruises,  authored the first blog post. She started her cruise career as an  onboard shore excursion manager sailing to worldwide destinations and,  after moving shoreside, now oversees itinerary planning for the line's  fleet of ships. Morgan shares one of her most memorable travel  experiences, when she traced her grandmother's footsteps to visit the  famous Christ the Redeemer statue, the most celebrated monument in Rio  de Janeiro, Brazil, a place that held a special meaning for her  grandmother who had visited the site some 70 years earlier.</p>
<p>In her post she writes, "I didn't hear about my grandmother's visit to  this famous statue until I told her that I was being deployed to South  America aboard Pacific Princess. It dawned on me that I would have the  opportunity to trace her footsteps to this world-renowned landmark so  many decades after her visit. Our circumstances could hardly be more  different.  She was barely a teenager on her journey up the mountain,  traveling with her family, including several younger siblings for whom  she cared. I would have charges of my own, but not children."</p>
<p>Blog visitors will be encouraged to share their own essential  experiences, and a different reader experience will be selected and  showcased each week.</p>
<p>All of the destinations described in the blog will be ones that  passengers can travel to aboard a Princess ship, and links will help  readers discover how they, too, can embark on similar adventures.</p>