NAME
|
GRAND PRINCESS
|
CLASS
|
CRUISE SHIP
|
ENT/SERVICE
|
1998
|
BUILT
|
FINCANTIERI SHIPBUILDERS / MONFALCONE
/ ITALY
|
WEIGHT
|
109,000 TONS
|
LENGTH
|
951 FEET
|
WIDTH
|
118 FEET
|
SPEED
|
22 KNOTS
|
PROPELLERS
|
2 - FIXED PITCH + 6 THRUSTERS
|
|
ENGINES
|
6 - 16 CYLINDER SULZER DIESEL
ELECTRIC - 93,972 HP
|
|
Grand Princess was the first of
four ships in this class built for
P&O Princess Cruises. Her three
sister ships ar Golden
Princess 2001, Star
Princess 2002 and Caribbean
Princess 2004. Caribbean
Princess has an extra deck and a
larger volume of 112,894 gross registered
tons.
The Diamond Princess class
that includes Saphire Princess
2004, Crown Princess
2006, Emerald Princess 2007 and
Ruby Princess 2008 are a
slightly different design with the aft
spoiler situated further forward.
Although Grand Princess
was the world’s largest passenger
ship in 1998, she only held that title
for one year as the Royal Caribbean
Cruise Line's 142,000-ton Voyager
of the Seas entered
service in 1999. P&O Princess Cruises
are now regarded as the third largest
cruise line; only Carnival and Royal
Caribbean carry more passengers.
Grand Princess has 15
decks, 748-seat theatre, 4 pools, casino,
fitness center and 12 bars. One of these
bars is the spectacular Skywalkers
bar/disco situated on deck 15 in the aft
spoiler 140 feet above the waterline. She
has 366 inside cabins, 930 outside cabins
of which 710 have verandas, can carry
over 2,600 passengers and a crew of
1,100.
The image below shows Grand
Princess with her aft spoiler. The
spoiler was removed during a refit in
2011 to give her a sleeker look. Large image
of Grand Princess without the
spoiler.
|
|
|
|
|
Stanley Mc Donald founded Princess Cruises
in 1965 when he chartered the 6,000-ton
Canadian Pacific steamship Princess
Patricia. The Princess part of that
ships name was adopted for the new company
and used in all their ships names thereafter.
This line’s first cruises were from
California - Mexico and later from Canada -
Alaska. P&O took over Princess Cruises
and their three aging steamships in 1968 with
the intentions of expanding their fleet. The
first ships to be added were the cruise ships
Island Venture and Sea
Venture, acquired from Falgship
Cruises. These two 20,636-ton ships were
renamed Island Princess and
Pacific Princess. Both became
famous after being used in the filming of the
long running television show Love Boat. The
success of that show led to a massive
increase in people booking cruises and cruise
lines ordering fleets of new ships.
P&O Princess Cruises took over Sitmar
Cruises in 1988 adding another four ships to
the fleet. To date, P&O Princess Cruises
have 18 ships with many more on order. The
line now comprises, P&O/UK, Swan
Hellenic/UK, Princess Cruises/North America,
Aida Cruises, A’rosa and Seatours
International/Germany, and P&O
Cruises/Australia. P&O founded a new
cruise line in 2003 named Ocean Village. This
new company operates the former 63,525-ton
Arcadia under the name Ocean
Village out of Palma/Majorca on seven
night cruises throughout the
Mediterranean.
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