Engineering:Pacific Princess

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Mykonos EM1B8684 (24779148068).jpg
Azamara Onward as Pacific Princess in Mykonos, 2017
History
Name:
  • 1999–2002: R Three
  • 2002–2021: Pacific Princess
  • 2021–present: P Prince[1]
Owner:
  • 1999–2001: Renaissance Cruises
  • 2002–present: Princess Cruises[2]
Operator:
  • 1999–2001: Renaissance Cruises
  • 2001–2002: laid up
  • 2002–2021: Princess Cruises[2]
  • 2002–2007 P&O Cruises Australia
  • 2021–present: Azamara Cruises
Port of registry:
Builder: Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France
Cost: yes|yes|GB|}}£FXConvert/Wordify error: cannot parse value "Template:FXConvert/Scale"[3]
Yard number: N31[2]
Launched: August 1999[2]
Acquired: 1999[2]
In service: December 1999[2]
Identification:
Status: Out of service
General characteristics [2]
Class and type:

list error: mixed text and list (help)
R-class cruise ship

Length: 181.00 m (593 ft 10 in)
Beam: 25.46 m (83 ft 6 in)
Draught: 5.80 m (19 ft 0 in)
Decks: 9 (passenger accessible)[3]
Installed power:
Propulsion: 2 propellers[3]
Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity:
  • 688 passengers (lower berths)
  • 826 passengers (all berths)[3]
Crew: 373[3]

MS Pacific Princess is a cruise ship that was owned and operated by Princess Cruises until 2021. On 21 January 2021, Carnival announced the ship had been sold to an unnamed buyer.[4] The ship was sold to Azamara Cruises and will be operated with the new name Azamara Onward. The ship was also formerly operated in partnership with P&O Cruises Australia. She was built in 1999 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France as MS R Three for Renaissance Cruises.[5]

Construction and career

Pacific Princess and Grand Princess in Split, Croatia in 2011.

R Three

The vessel first entered operation in 1999, with Renaissance Cruises.[5] The ship was not owned by the company, with possession instead residing with a group of French investors, who leased the ship to the company. In late 2001, the entire Renaissance fleet was seized by creditors.

Pacific Princess

In late 2002, Princess Cruises chartered the R Three, along with sister ship R Four (previously Ocean Princess and now MS Sirena). Both vessels entered operation by the end of 2002. The charter terminated at the end of 2004, at which time, both vessels were purchased by Princess Cruises. Gabi Hollows renamed the ship Pacific Princess in Sydney on 8 December 2002, named after the earlier Pacific Princess which served as the ship featured in the television series, The Love Boat.

From 2002 to 2007 Pacific Princess was operated by P&O Cruises Australia from November to April every year. While From May to October she would be operated by Princess. This agreement was maintain until 2007 when Regal Princess was transferred to P&O and became Pacific Dawn.[6]

File:Pacific Princess, 2008.jpg
Pacific Princess in Yalta Bay

The ship was the subject of a state aid decision by the European Commission: Decision 2006/219,[7] in which the European Commission held a discussion on R Three and R Four, regarding the two ships' original purpose of intending to support local tourism in French Polynesia, and whether or not the re-deployments of the two ships beyond the French Polynesia region were a misuse of Commission-provided development aid. The conclusion presides that France unlawfully breached the treaty that governed the regulations surrounding development aid when the ships were redeployed outside of the local region, but with the devastating economic effects (force majeure) of the September 11 attacks and the fact that the expectations of local development impact have now otherwise been met, the ships' re-deployments were allowed and the development aid given to France was still rendered lawfully used.

Pacific Princess has often been deployed on itineraries servicing more exotic locales or ports within areas unreachable by larger vessels. These itineraries have included the World Cruise itineraries of more than 100 days.[8][9] As of October 2019, Pacific Princess is operating voyages within the Mediterranean before embarking on the 2020 World Cruise. She was scheduled to return to Alaska in the summer of 2020, sailing between Vancouver and Whittier,[10] before returning to the South Pacific for itineraries serving French Polynesia and Oceania.[11]

In January 2021 Carnival announced the sale of the ship.[4]

Incidents

Pacific Princess in Juneau, Alaska

On 14 October 2016, Pacific Princess collided with the breakwater at Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France and was holed below the waterline. There were no injuries amongst the 669 passengers and 382 crew.[12]

On 25 August 2018, Pacific Princess rescued three fisherman from a sunken trawler in the North Sea, about 25 miles (40 km) north-east of Great Yarmouth.[13]

Coronavirus quarantine

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pacific Princess was refused permission to dock at numerous destinations including Bali, Singapore, Phuket, Thailand, and Sri Lanka, though there have been no confirmed cases on board.[14] The ship was allowed to dock in Perth, Australia on 21 March and most passengers disembarked.[15] Those who were unable to fly home remained on the ship which was heading to Los Angeles . The company stated that 115 passengers were still on board and that they had no confirmed cases of COVID-19.[16] On 13 April 2020, 4 passengers were allowed to disembark in Honolulu, Hawaii.[17] The last passengers disembarked when the ship returned to Los Angeles on 20 April.[18]

References

Notes

  1. "Lloyd's Register vessel search: P Prince". https://www.lr.org/en/lrofships/. Retrieved 2021-07-20. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Three (1999)" (in sv). Fakta om Fartyg. http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_three_1999.htm. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Ward, Douglas (2006). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. pp. 469–470. ISBN 981-246-739-4. https://archive.org/details/berlitz2006compl00doug/page/469. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Princess Cruises Announces Pacific Princess to Leave the Fleet". Princess Cruises. 21 January 2021. https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/princess-cruises-announces-pacific-princess-leave-fleet. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Three (1999)" (in sv). Fakta om Fartyg. http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/r_three_1999.htm. 
  6. "P&O Pacific Princess Cruises Australia 20011-13 SAVE $$$'s HERE on P&O Pacific Princess Cruises!". https://www.globenettravel.com.au/cruises/p&o_pacific_princess.asp. 
  7. Kroes, Neelie (20 July 2005). "COMMISSION DECISION of 20 July 2005 on the State aid implemented by France for two cruise ships with a view to the development of French Polynesia". Official Journal of the European Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32006D0219. 
  8. "Princess Cruises Reveals 2020 World Cruise on Pacific Princess". https://www.travelpulse.com/news/cruise/princess-cruises-reveals-2020-world-cruise-on-pacific-princess.html. 
  9. Souza, Ben (26 May 2017). "Princess Cruises Offering Exotic Cruises for 2018-2019" (in en-US). https://cruisefever.net/princess-cruises-offering-exotic-cruises-2018-2019/. 
  10. "Princess Cruises: Princess Cruises Announces 2020 Alaska Cruises and Cruisetours" (in en). 13 November 2018. https://www.princess.com/news/news_releases/2018/11/Princess-Cruises-Announces-2020-Alaska-Cruises-and-Cruisetours.html. 
  11. "Pacific Princess Returns to Australia" (in en-gb). 2 July 2019. https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/21181-pacific-princess-returns-to-australia.html. 
  12. "Cruise ship Pacific Princess breached after collision with breakwater in Nice". Maritime Herald. 14 October 2016. http://www.maritimeherald.com/2016/cruise-ship-pacific-princess-breached-after-collision-with-breakwater-in-nice/. 
  13. "North Sea search for fishermen after ship saves three men". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45311589. 
  14. Zdanowicz, Christine (17 March 2020). "Multiple cruise ships are left stranded as coronavirus cases increase". CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/cruise-ships-stranded-coronavirus-trnd/index.html. 
  15. "I was stranded at sea on a cruise ship. Now I'm owed $37,000". CNN. 29 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cruise-refund-cancellation-coronavirus/index.html. 
  16. "Cruise ships are still scrambling for safe harbor". CNN. 3 April 2020. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/cruise-ships-still-sailing/index.html. 
  17. "4 residents allowed to disembark from cruise ship docked at Honolulu Harbor". Hawaii News Now. 13 April 2020. https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/04/13/residents-allowed-disembark-cruise-ship-docked-honolulu-harbor/. 
  18. "The Last Three Cruise Ships at Sea Are Finally Going Home". New York Magazine. 20 April 2020. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/the-last-three-cruise-ships-at-sea-are-finally-going-home.html. 

Bibliography

Curtis, Paul (2005). Pacific Princess: The New Love Boat. Rose Publishing. ISBN 0-975726-6-09. 

External links