Cruise Ships that TRANSFORMED Princess Cruises. Sun Princess & Sea Princess Farewell.

Sadly we are saying goodbye to the popular Sea Princess, and her sister Sun Princess, two of the most loved Princess Cruises ships.

Smaller than the other ships of the Princess fleet, Sea Princess and Sun Princess are Sun-class cruise ships – two of four originally built by Princess Cruises.

Comprising of the Sun Princess, Dawn Princess, Sea Princess and Ocean Princess, the ships helped transform the brand from a small subsidiary of P&O, to become a leading cruise line worldwide.

In the 1990s Princess Cruises was coming of age. At the time the brand was a subsidiary of P&O – which had been modestly investing in the growing the Princess business since it acquired it in the 1970s.

The success of the Sitmar designed 70,000 ton Regal and Crown Princess led Princess Cruises to dream bigger. And in the 1990s they commenced a building programme that would transform the Princess brand.

The result was four vessels, known as the Sun Class cruise ships - built at the Italian Fincantieri shipyard.

The first was named Sun Princess, and entered service in 1995. The ship left a lasting impression – sporting a modern, angular design that dramatically contrasted with the older ships of the Princess fleet.

The design included ten decks, and incorporated numerous balcony cabins across multiple decks – allowing Sun Princess to boast an even higher balcony cabin ration than P&O’s much celebrated flagship Oriana – that entered service the same year.

Sun Princess was followed two years later by Dawn Princess. Sea Princess, the third to be built, took to the seas in 1998 while Ocean Princess joined the fleet in 2000. The ships are virtually identical in their external design with one notable difference - the older two feature open bridge wings while the newer vessels sport enclosed bridge wings giving them a more commanding forward profile.

The Sun-Class interior design wowed travellers in the 1990s, and introduced signature Princess spaces.

For example, the Sun Class’ impressive internal atrium included glass elevators, cafés, lounges and restaurants. Additionally, the Princess Theatre and Vista Lounge became popular night time entertainment venues aboard the ships.

It was the success of these ships that led Princess to develop an even larger design – the Grand Glass. At over 100,000 tons, the Grand Class is noticeably bigger than the Sun Class – yet it borrows from the Sun Class design in various areas.

In the late 1990s, Sun Princess hosted the TV series “Love Boat: The Next Wave”. A reboot of the iconic 1980s show “The Love Boat,” the series lasted only two seasons but did give viewers good exposure to the shipboard ambiance aboard the Sun Princess.

Despite the popularity of the Sun Class with regular Princess cruisers, in 2002 Sea Princess and Ocean Princess were transferred to P&O Cruises. Renamed Adonia and Oceana respectively, they cruised from Southampton and aided P&O in growing its presence in British Waters.

In 2003, P&O Princess merged with Carnival Corporation. Following the merger, Adonia was transferred back to Princess. The ship reverted to its original name of Sea Princess, while Oceana remained with P&O Cruises until just recently.

Dawn Princess – which had been a regular cruiser in Australian waters – left the Princess fleet in 2017 – transferring to P&O Australia to become Pacific Explorer.

With Dawn Princess gone, Sun and Sea Princess focused more on long-duration cruises to international markets – with both ships having extended seasons in Australia over the last few years.

To accommodate their new role, both ships were refurbished – Sea Princess in 2017 and Sun Princess in 2018.

This included adding Camp Discovery to the ships – which is Princess Cruises new kids club run in conjunction with the Discovery Channel. Additionally, a specialty restaurant was added to Sun Princess, while Sea Princess was "Australianised" with the Legends Sports Bar featuring Cricket and Australian Rules Football memorabilia.

The departure of the Sea Princess and Sun Princess will be felt by regular Princess travellers for years to come. It has led to over 50 cruises in Australia being cancelled in 2021 – however longer term it will mean that there are fewer smaller ships available for Princess travellers.

Sun and Sea Princess have been beloved by Princess travellers for more than twenty years. Have you sailed aboard either?

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Images / Video - Chris Frame & Rachelle Cross unless otherwise noted. Those are:
Ref 1: Royal Princess - Travelling Otter - CC-BY-2.0 https://bit.ly/3cPc95W
Ref 2: Royal Princess - Travelling Otter - CC-BY-2.0 https://bit.ly/3ivmp4J
Ref 3: Sky Princess - Aah-Yeah - CC-BY-2.0 https://bit.ly/3nd8cg0
Ref 4: Dawn Princess - Bahnfrend - CC-BY-SA-3.0 https://bit.ly/3lc5UMF

Music: YouTube Audio
My Website: https://www.chrisframe.com.au
Maritime History Books: https://www.chriscunard.com/books
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriscunard

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Видео Cruise Ships that TRANSFORMED Princess Cruises. Sun Princess & Sea Princess Farewell. канала Chris Frame