MS Caribbean Princess is a modified Grand-class cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises, with a capacity of over 3,600 passengers, the largest carrying capacity in the Princess fleet until June 2013 when the new Royal Princess, another Princess ship superseded its record. She has 900 balcony staterooms and a deck of mini-suites.
 Caribbean Princess docked in Cobh in 2017
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Bermuda | |
| Name | Caribbean Princess |
| Owner |  Carnival Corporation & plc |
| Operator | Princess Cruises |
| Port of registry |  Hamilton, Bermuda[1] |
| Builder | Fincantieri (Monfalcone, Italy)[2] |
| Cost | US $500 million[1] |
| Launched | 4 July 2003 |
| Christened | 2 April 2004 by Jill Whelan in Fort Lauderdale[3] |
| Maiden voyage | 3 April 2004[4] |
| In service | April 2004[1] |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Grand-class cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 112,894 GT |
| Length | 951 ft (289.9 m) |
| Beam | 118 ft (36.0 m) |
| Draft | 26.2 ft (8.0 m)[1] |
| Decks | 17 total, 15 passenger[1] |
| Installed power | 2 diesel-electric propellers (42,000 kW (56,000 hp) each)[1] |
| Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)[1] |
| Capacity | 3,142 passengers |
| Crew | 1,200 crew[7] |
Caribbean Princess is slightly larger than the other ships in her class (Star Princess, Golden Princess, and Grand Princess), due to an additional deck of cabins called the "Riviera" deck. Another difference is that, being initially designed to cruise the Caribbean year-round, there is no sliding roof over the pool area for shelter in poor weather.
Incidents
editOn 12 March 2012, Caribbean Princess suffered a problem with her port side propulsion engine that required her to return to her home port of San Juan, Puerto Rico after a stopover in St. Maarten. The problem caused Princess Cruises to cancel the next two trips (scheduled for 18 and 25 March).[8]
Caribbean Princess experienced a norovirus outbreak in January 2014 sickening approximately 200 people on board. The scheduled cruise ended two days early.[9]
On 3 August 2016, Caribbean Princess experienced a power outage while on a British Isles cruise. The ship completely lost propulsion about 25 nautical miles (46 km) southeast of Dublin, Ireland in the Irish Sea, and was left adrift for nine hours. During the power outage, air conditioners, lighting, hotel functions, and toilets were all functional.[10] The ship regained power and sailed to Belfast, Northern Ireland, missing her next port of Dublin on her itinerary. An ocean-going tug was dispatched from Holyhead in North Wales, UK and an air/sea rescue helicopter from Dublin monitored the situation. The cruise continued without any further problems to either the ship or the passengers.
In 2019, a man in his 30's drowned in a pool aboard Caribbean Princess.[11]
Ocean pollution
editOn 26 August 2013, the crew of Caribbean Princess deliberately discharged 4,227 US gallons (16,000 L) of oil-contaminated bilge pollution off the southern coast of England.[12] The discharge involved the illegal modification of the vessel's on-board pollution control systems and use of a "magic pipe", and was photographed by a newly hired engineer.[13][14] When the ship subsequently berthed at Southampton, the engineer resigned his position and reported the discharge to the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency.[15] An investigation was launched by the United States Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division which found that the practice had been taking place on Caribbean Princess and four other Princess ships since 2005.[16] In December 2016, Princess Cruise Lines agreed to plead guilty to seven felony charges and pay a $40 million penalty. The charges related to illegal discharges off the coasts of Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.[17] As part of the agreement cruise ships from eight Carnival companies, including Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line, are required to operate for five years under a court-supervised environmental compliance plan with independent audits and a court-appointed monitor.[18] According to the US Justice Department, the fine was the "largest-ever criminal penalty involving deliberate vessel pollution."[17]
Areas of operation
editCaribbean Princess has undertaken cruises from European ports around the British Isles, northern Europe and the Mediterranean and from North American ports to the Caribbean, New England and Canada. The ship in July 2019 left her current home port of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and sailed up to a new home port in New York for cruises to Canada, New England, and Greenland. As of 2020, however, the ship sails primarily in the Caribbean.
References
editNotes
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Ward, Douglas (2005). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. ISBN 978-9812467393.
- ^ "CARIBBEAN PRINCESS". Vessel Assessment System. Archived from the original on 8 April 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ "Caribbean Princess Arrives in Ft. Lauderdale". Goliath. PR Newswire. 31 March 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ Stieghorst, Tom (24 October 2004). "Cruise lines add big, bold features to entice travelers". Access my Library. Tribune Business News. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ "Caribbean Princess (9215490)". Equasis. Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ^ "MV Caribbean Princess (IMO: 9215490)". vesseltracker.com. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
- ^ "Princess Cruises: Caribbean Princess – Cruise Ship Facts". www.princess.com. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
- ^ Sloan, Gene (16 March 2012). "Caribbean Princess cruises ship cancel". USA Today.
- ^ Haiken, M. "Is it Safe to Take a Cruise? 8 Virus Outbreaks in 3 Months". Forbes. pp. 1–2.
- ^ Jim Walker (3 August 2016). "Caribbean Princess Loses Power in Irish Sea". Cruise Law News.
- ^ "Air Force major drowns in pool aboard Caribbean Princess".
- ^ "The $40m 'magic pipe': Princess Cruises given record fine for dumping oil at sea". The Guardian. London. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Martin, Hugo (1 December 2016). "Princess Cruises to pay $40-million fine for dumping oily waste and lying about it". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Carnival's Princess Cruises to pay record fine for pollution, cover-up". CBS News. New York. 2 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Rogers, Katie (2 December 2016). "Princess Cruise Lines to Pay $40 Million Fine for Illegal Dumping". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Flechas, Joey; Herrera, Chabeli (1 December 2016). "Carnival Corp ship caught in pollution scheme. Now they're paying $40 million for it". Miami Herald. Miami. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ a b "Princess Cruise Lines fined $40m for waste dumping after UK tip-off". BBC News. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Dennis, Brady (2 December 2016). "'Magic pipe' used to spew oily waste into water: Princess Cruises to pay record-breaking fine for pollution". Calgary Herald. Calgary. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
Bibliography
edit- Saunders, Aaron (2013). Giants of the Seas: The Ships that Transformed Modern Cruising. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781848321724.
- Smith, Peter C. (2010). Cruise Ships: The World's Most Luxurious Vessels. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 9781848842182.
External links
edit
- Caribbean Princess official page (Princess site)
- Fincantieri Ship Building