Last week Princess Cruises announced that it was scheduling the
Pacific Princess for a 14-night 50th Anniversary cruise from Los Angeles
to the Mexican Riviera on December 3, 2015, fifty years to the day
after the chartered Princess Patricia departed on her first voyage for
the new line. In other news, last month Princess transferred its
Japanese-built Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess to UK flag, where
along with three Australian-based P&O ships, they join a very small
circle of five UK-flag ships in the Carnival fleet out of the thirty
operated by Princess (17), P&O (10) and Cunard (3). Meanwhile,
Adventure Canada will up its capacity by two-thirds next year with the
charter of the larger Ocean Endeavour to replace Sea Adventurer in 2015.
THIS WEEK’S STORY
Princess 50th Anniversary Cruise On Pacific Princess
To celebrate its 50th anniversary next year, Princess Cruises has
scheduled the 680-berth Pacific Princess for a special Mexican Riviera
itinerary departing Los Angeles on December 3, 2015. She will leave
fifty years to the day after the line’s original ship, the 347-berth
Princess Patricia, left on the line’s first cruise in 1965.
The original vessel, from which Princess Cruises took its name, was
chartered from Canadian Pacific, who normally operated her in the Alaska
cruise trade by summer and laid her up in Victoria each winter.
The Pacific Princess
It was Stan McDonald who saw this opportunity. McDonald had got his
start in cruising during the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962, when he
chartered the 401-berth Miami-Nassau cruise ship Yarmouth for seventeen
10-day cruises between San Francisco and Victoria.
From Victoria, passengers were ferried to Seattle in the Princess
Marguerite, sister ship of the Princess Patricia. The name Princess
Cruises had actually been used by Canadian Pacific for its Alaska
service as early as the 1930s.
As it happened, although schooled in Seattle, like the Princess name,
Stan McDonald was also of Canadian origin. He located Princess Cruises’
first offices at 643 South Flower Street, at the corner of Wilshire
Boulevard in Los Angeles, in the same building as the British-American
Chamber of Commerce and not far from the Harbor Freeway.
The Pacific Princess, which will perform the 50th anniversary cruise,
is the smallest ship in the Princess fleet, and the 14-night cruise
will be of the same duration as that first cruise on the Princess
Patricia. It will include a blend of ports from the maiden itinerary,
including Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Manzanillo, and add some newer
destinations such as La Paz and Loreto.
During her two winter seasons with Princess, the 23-knot Princess
Patricia turned at Acapulco and it was her success that allowed McDonald
to move on to larger ships and expand into the Alaska trade as well.
McDonald managed the fledgling cruise line from Los Angeles until 1974,
when he sold out to P&O.
The 347-berth Princess Patricia
The 50th anniversary cruise goes on sale on May 13, with fares
starting at $1,699 per person, double occupancy. By way of comparison,
fares on the 1965 Princess Patricia cruise began at $430. While that
fare may seem high for 1965, they were less per day than her 8-night
Alaska summer cruises, which started at $275.
Guests on the commemorative cruise will also be treated to activities
and entertainment celebrating half a century of cruising and will be
joined by some surprise guests.
“This nostalgic cruise to Mexico will be the perfect finale to what’s sure to be a special 50th anniversary year for Princess,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president.
“For
this significant milestone we couldn’t resist recreating, with some new
touches, the very first cruise our company operated. And because the
name Pacific Princess is so integral to our company’s history, we wanted
to offer the cruise aboard the current ship with this iconic name.”
Now one of the best-known names in cruising, Princess Cruises’ first
season offered ten cruises to Mexico between December 3 and April 8
accommodating about 3,200 cruisers. Nearly fifty years later, Princess
is the third largest cruise line in the world, with seventeen ships
carrying 1.7 million cruisers to destinations around worldwide.
OTHER CRUISE NEWS
Princess Pair Moved To UK Flag
Still on the subject of Princess Cruises, there are interesting
changes of registry occurring there at the moment. After Princess,
P&O and Cunard all abandoned the British flag for Bermuda, except
for the three P&O Australia ships that still fly the UK flag, two
Princess ships were transferred from Bermudian to British flag last
month.
This is not a return as the two ships in question had been registered in Bermuda since they were built in Japan ten years ago.
On April 1, Princess moved its Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess
to UK flag and the ships now have London painted on their sterns
instead of Hamilton.
The Diamond Princess
Princess has made no announcement but according to sources in Bermuda
it may have something to do with the new trades the ships are shifting
to in Singapore and the Far East as there may be some fiscal advantage
to UK registry in Far East and Australian waters.
At least, there is not the threat of the EU laws that apply when
ships operate from the UK. On August 1, 2011, when the Equality Act was
implemented, it was no longer lawful to pay differential rates of pay to
other EU nationals, no matter where recruited. This meant that market
rates of pay that had been negotiated for other nationals could no
longer be paid under UK flag. The Act had misunderstood the competitive
nature of shipping and how it works.
On September 23, 2011, after a polite few weeks’ interval, Peter
Shanks, then president of Cunard Line, started talking of weddings,
telling The Financial Times that
“weddings at sea are now very big business” and
“this business is currently denied to us, as our fleet is registered in the UK.”
Soon, there were no Cunard ships under UK flag, nor any P&O or Princess ships for that matter, except in Australia.
The Sapphire Princess
According to The Transport Select Committee report on UK Shipping
Strategy report of March 26, the number of UK ratings has fallen nearly
30% in the time since passage of the Equality Act, to the current level
of 8,590, and a significant shortfall in UK trained seafarers is
predicted by 2021.
Of the two Princess ships that have been reflagged, the Diamond
Princess also cruises from Australia during their summer season,
bringing the UK-flag cruise ship fleet based in Australia to four on a
seasonal basis. She is now cruising from Yokohama until November, when
she shifts back to Sydney, remaining there until her return to Yokohama
in April 2015. From next month through November, Sapphire Princess will
be cruising from Shanghai, Tianjin and Singapore and from November she
will be based in Singapore.
While on the subject of Bermuda, millions of cruise tickets have now
been issued by Cunard, P&O and Princess showing their ships as
“Bermudan.” The preferred usage in Bermuda is actually Bermudian, a term
that generates ten times as many search results on Google, in excess of
9 million, compared to just 900,000 for Bermudan.
One cannot say that Bermudan is incorrect but it is not favoured in Bermuda, where Bermudian is regarded as proper.
Adventure Canada Takes On Larger Ship Next Year
Toronto-based Adventure Canada announced a new ship last week when it
revealed that it would be chartering the 12,907-ton Ocean Endeavour for
its 2015 Arctic expedition season. The Ice Class 1B ship will replace
the 4,376-ton Sea Adventurer.
Adventure Canada’s Ocean Endeavour
Outfitted with a fleet of twenty Zodiacs, advanced navigation
equipment, several lounges and a ship-top observation room, Ocean
Endeavour is perfect for intimate expeditions to remote environments
around Newfoundland, Labrador, the Canadian Arctic, Greenland and the
Northwest Passage.
“Not only will we retain the entertaining and educational
expedition programming our guests value, but we’ll be able to invite
even more resource staff aboard to further enhance the experience,” said Cedar Swan, Adventure Canada’s vice president.
“Ocean Endeavour allows us to provide more options for our guests.”
Ocean Endeavour’s shallow draft and maneuverability allow her to
navigate isolated fiords, sheltered bays and visit secluded communities
to deliver the routes Adventure Canada is known for. While venturing to
some of the world’s last great frontiers, such as the Northwest Passage,
guests can appreciate the comforts of a boutique hotel and know their
safety is first.
The Ocean Endeavour will comfortably accommodate a maximum of 198
passengers when in service with Adventure Canada. Compared to 118 on the
Sea Adventurer this will allow two-thirds more passengers to enjoy
these popular expedition voyages.
Clipper Adventurer – Sea Adventure
Guests can select from a variety of cabin categories, ranging from 100 to 320 square feet, all en suite and with television.
Built in 1982, the ice-strengthened Finnish-registered vessel was
converted for cruising in 2010 and underwent further extensive
renovations this year. Passengers enjoy spectacular views on several
decks equipped with comfortable lounge chairs and can take advantage
of amenities including sauna, Jacuzzi, gym and spa.
Ocean Endeavour’s three lounges also provide spacious public spaces
for simultaneous workshops, events and presentations, inviting each
guest to tailor their own on board experience.
(Kevin
Griffin is managing director of specialist cruise agency The Cruise
People Ltd in London, England. For further information concerning
cruises mentioned in this article readers can visit his blog)
Royal Caribbean is offering travelers the chance to save 50 percent off a second guest on 2015-2016 sailings.
