Princess


Did you know that Carnival Corporation owns Princess? What else didn’t you know about Princess? Well, if you read on, you might find out some information.

Facts

  • Founded
    • 1965
  • Headquarters
    • Santa Clarita, California
  • Incorporated
    • In Bermuda
  • Number of employees
    • 30,000
  • Key person
    • John Padgett
      • President

Did you know that the Love Boat, which aired on American TV, featured the Pacific Princess as its set? Which set sail weekly from LA to Acapulco, Mexico.

They have incorporated the Love Boat theme on some ships and tried to keep the connection to the series.

History

Early History

From 1965, when Founded, to 1972, the founder Stanley Mcdonald charted a ship from Canadian Pacific Limited Alaska called Princess Patricia to do Mexican Rivera cruises from LA during the winter. That was a good move, in my opinion. Use a ship while it is not running.

But since that ship, Princess Patricia wasn’t built for the hot weather in the Mexican Rivera, that didn’t last long. You needed to have some AC for that climate.

That is when the ship, called Italia, came into the picture. Princess called her Princess Italia but never renamed her. However, in 1967, the logo appeared on the ship. Starting in 1969, they began to do Alaskan Cruises out of San Francisco until 1969, when the charter was canceled.

Princess charted another ship from Costa; the Italia was also charted from them. Princess marketed her as Princess Carla but never renamed her.

In 1974, Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) acquired Princess Cruise lines. That is when the Spirit of London became the Sun Princess.

The Spirit of London was a Norwegian Cruise Line ship but was moved to Princess. The TV show The Love Boat featured two ships very heavily. They were built in 1971 and called Island Princess and Pacific Princess.

The Love Boat: Clockwise from left: Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, Bernie Kopel, Lauren Tewes, and Gavin MacLeod (center). Image Source: Paramount Home Entertainment

In 1991, Princess started to develop Princess Cays, a private island in the Caribbean. (It is OK.)

In 2003, P&O and Carnival Corporation merged.

The Cruise Fleet 

Here is the fleet, and they all end with Princess

Coral Class

ShipBuiltIn fleetFlag
Coarl20022003 -presentBermuda
Island20032003 – presentBermuda

Grand Class

ShipBuiltIn fleetFlag
Grand19981998 – PresentBermuda
Diamond20042004 – presentUnited Kingdom
Sapphire20042004 – presentUnited Kingdom
Caribbean20042004 – presentBermuda
Crown20062006 – presentBermuda
Emerald20072007 – PresentBermuda
Ruby20082008 – presentBermuda

Royal Class

ShipBuiltIn fleetFlag
Royal20132013 – PresentBermuda
Regal20142014 – PresentBermuda
Majestic20172017 – presentUnited Kingdom
Sky20192019 – presentBermuda
Enchanted20202020 – PresentBermuda
Discovery20222022 – PresentBermuda

Future ships

ShipClassBuiltIn fleetFlag
SunSphere20242024Bermuda
StarSphere2025Summer 2025TBA

Former Fleet

There are a lot of former fleets, and a list of them

  • Patrica
  • Italia
  • Carla
  • Sun
  • Sea
  • Royal
  • Sky
  • Star
  • Golden
  • Pacific
  • Island
  • Fair
  • Dawn
  • Crown
  • Regal
  • Ocean
  • Down
  • Sun
  • Sea

They do reuse the names of former ships.

Some issues

They had some issues with General Electric and with some ocean pollution. The ocean pollution resulted in a $20 million fine.

Thoughts of mine

In my own opinion, I think Princess is the best Cruise line to go to Alaska. Yes, I have only been on Princess. But that is what they are voted for almost every year.

I like Princess, it has some features I want. Plus, I grew up seeing what the Pacific Princess looked like on The Love Boat.

Video

Yep, I did a video on Princess.


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