Regal Princess

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john sefton
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Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:59 pm

Regal Princess

Post by john sefton » Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:51 pm

She was built in 1991 by the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy as Regal Princess for Princess Cruises brand. Although completed for Princess Cruises, the ship had originally been ordered by Sitmar Cruises.
Following delivery the Regal Princess sailed to New York City, where she was officially named by the former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in on 8 August 1991. Subsequently the Regal Princess entered service by joining her sister ship Crown Princess in cruising out of Fort Laurendale to the Caribbean during the northern hemisphere winter, transferring to the Alaskan trade for the summer months.
In 1992 the ownership of the vessel was transferred from Astamar to Princess Cruises and she was transferred from the Italian registry under Liberian flag.
During June 1998 during a series of cruises to Alaska, a large number of passengers on the Regal Princess were affected by a viral infection, some seriously. Following failed attempts to control the infections while retaining the ship in service, the ship was withdrawn from service for a week from 5 July 1998 onwards. During this time all linen, towels and surfaces the passenger might come in contact with were disinfected by utilising ultraviolet light and chlorine solutions, destroying the source of the infections.
In 2000 the Regal Princess received a major refurbishment.
From the same year onwards she spent the southern hemisphere summer months cruising out of Sydney, taking over Princess Cruises' Australian itenaries following the transfer of another former Sitmar ship, the Sky Princess, to P&O Cruises Australia as Pacific Sky.
While on a cruise from Sydney to destinations in Asia on 15 March 2001, the Regal Princess experienced difficulties when entering the port of Cairns, due to high winds. While she made it safely to the harbour, it was decided to postprone her departure by eight hours, allowing the winds to subdue and more favourable tidal conditions. Despite these precautions the Regal Princess was grounded while outbound from Cairns, but was able to free herself under her own power after just four minutes. The ship then returned to Cairns for preliminary inspections. Due to sea conditions the hull of the ship could not inspected by divers in Cairns, and the ship was allowed to sail to Darwin for a full inspection of the hull. In Darwin minor damage to the ship's bulbous bow was discovered, but this did not threathen her safety and the Regal Princess was cleared to continue her cruise. A subsequent study to the causes of the accident concluded the Regal Princess was too large to safely traverse the narrow channel leading in Cairns, and that "commercial incentives -- may have influenced the approval process to exceed the limits of a reasonable safety envelope."
Despite these finding the Regal Princess again visited Cairns on 25 February 2002, entering and exiting the port without problems.
For the 2003 northern hemisphere summer season the Regal Princess was repositioned for cruises on the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea.
While on a repositioning cruise from Copenhagen to New York in August 2003 a number of passengers and crew on board the Regal Princess were infected by the Norwalk virus. The number of infected people on board eventually rose to 217, and the decision was made for the ship to drop planned calls in Greenland and Newfoundland in favour of sailing directly to New York. By the time the ship arrived in New York on 2 September 2003, one day ahead of schedule, only four people on board were still suffering from the virus. The ship was again disinfected and was able to depart on her next scheduled cruise without problems.
In 2004 the Regal Princess was planned to join her sister ship A'Rosa Blu (ex-Crown Princess) in the fleet of A'Rosa Cruises, P&O Cruises' brand aimed at the German market, but the transfer was cancelled following the sale of A'Rosa Cruises to Arkona 2003.
In late 2006 the Regal Princess was due to transfer to the fleet of Ocean Village, but this too was cancelled. Instead, the Regal Princess was transferred to the fleet of P&O Cruises Australia in late 2007.
Following an extensive refurbishment, the Regal Princess was renamed Pacific Dawn on 8 November 2007.

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D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen
Posts: 871
Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2010 7:46 pm

Re: Regal Princess

Post by D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen » Mon Nov 13, 2017 10:29 am

Panama 1999, B.0.35, StG.?
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