Pacific Adventure
Pacific Adventure in Sydney, 2023
History
United Kingdom
Name
  • Golden Princess (2001–2021)
  • Pacific Adventure (2021–Present)
Owner Carnival Corporation & plc
Operator
Port of registryLondon,  United Kingdom
OrderedJanuary 1998
Builder
CostUS$425 million
Yard number6050[2]
Launched31 August 2000[1]
Sponsored byMerlisa George (Miss US Virgin Islands 2002)
Christened17 April 2002
Completed2001
Maiden voyage16 May 2001 (Southampton to Barcelona)[3]
In service2001–Present
Identification
StatusIn Service
General characteristics
Class and typeGrand-class cruise ship
Tonnage109,000 GT[2]
Length290 m (950 ft)[2]
Beam36 m (118 ft)[2]
Draught8.05 m (26.4 ft)[2]
Decks
  • 17 total decks[1]
  • 13 passenger decks[1]
Installed power
  • 4 × Sulzer 16 ZAV Diesel generators producing 11,520 kW (15,450 hp) each[2]
  • 2 × Sulzer 12 ZAV Diesel generators producing 8,640 kW (11,590 hp) each[2]
Propulsion2 × diesel-electric propulsion motors producing 19,000 kW (25,000 hp) each[citation needed]
Speed23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)[2]
Capacity2,600 passengers[1]
Crew1,100[1]
Notes[4][5][6][3]

Pacific Adventure is a Grand-class cruise ship operated by P&O Cruises Australia, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. It was previously named Golden Princess.

In 1998, Princess Cruises finalized the order for the ship (then known as the Golden Princess) in response to the strong demand for her sister ship, Grand Princess, making her the fleet's second Grand-class ship. She was built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in Monfalcone, delivered in 2001, and christened by Merlisa George in Saint Thomas in April 2002. While operating as Golden Princess, she has sailed to all seven continents, beginning with her debut in Southampton in May 2001, followed by seasonal deployments serving regions around the Caribbean and Europe. In 2007, she circumnavigated South America and debuted along the West Coast of the United States before also sailing around ports in Asia and Oceania bordering the Pacific Ocean until 2020.

In 2017, Carnival Corporation announced Golden Princess would be transferred from Princess to sister brand P&O Cruises Australia as a part of P&O's fleet renewal. She is currently in service as Pacific Adventure as of 2022, sailing itineraries around Oceania along with her sister ship Pacific Encounter (previously known as Star Princess).

Golden Princess

Construction

In January 1998, Princess announced it was ordering two additional Grand-class ships at a cost of approximately US$425 million each from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for delivery in 2001.[7]

The first ship, named Golden Princess, was floated out on 31 August 2000 in Monfalcone.[8] She sailed her maiden voyage on May 16, 2001.[9] She was originally planned to be christened by Jane Seymour on 12 October 2001,[10] but was later christened by Merlisa George, Miss US Virgin Islands 2002, on 17 April 2002 in Saint Thomas.[11][12]

Design

Princess made several changes to the design of Golden Princess compared with Grand Princess, including a modified stern. Princess commissioned Golden Princess to have similar dimensions to Grand Princess: they both measure 109,000 GT and have an approximate capacity of 2,600 passengers.[7] Additionally, they have a length of 290.0 metres (951.4 ft), a draft of 8.05 metres (26.4 ft), and a beam of 36 metres (118 ft). Golden Princess is powered by a diesel-electric genset system, with six Sulzer engines: four producing 11,520 kilowatts (15,450 hp) and two producing 8,640 kilowatts (11,590 hp). Main propulsion is via two diesel-electric propellers. The system gives the vessel a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). The ship has 1,299 passenger cabins and 627 crew cabins. She has a maximum capacity of 4,160 passengers and crew.

On board, Golden Princess retains much of the design of Grand Princess, aside from several changes. Instead of the slanted bulkheads of the tiered decks below her sister ship's navigation bridge, she has flat bulkheads.[13] Additionally, in order to reduce the ship's weight, she features a modified stern made of lighter materials, particularly in the "handle," which housed the ship's nightclub.[13]

COVID-19

The 2019–2020 season marked the last active season that the ship sailed as Golden Princess. She began with weekly Alaska voyages in summer 2019[14] before returning to Melbourne in fall 2019.[15] In March 2020, during a round-trip sailing from Melbourne to New Zealand amid the COVID-19 pandemic, three passengers were quarantined onboard after one was suspected of having the coronavirus when they began developing symptoms.[16] At the time of the announcement, the ship was bound for Akaroa[16] and proceeded to anchor in Akaroa Harbour to allow for medical officials to test the guests, who ultimately tested negative.[17] The remainder of the voyage was subsequently cancelled and the ship was cleared to return to Melbourne, following the Australian government's ordinance for all cruise ships to return to their homeports.[18] The ship returned on 19 March 2020 and all guests finally disembarked around 6:00pm after some of the guests were tested earlier in the day, and none of those tests returned positive.[18] Golden Princess was scheduled to perform a full season of Alaska voyages from Los Angeles in summer 2020[19] and a final transpacific crossing to Singapore in fall 2020,[20] but due to the pandemic, all sailings of the ship were suspended.[21] There were rumors of the vessel possibly being sold for scrap instead of being transferred to P&O Australia, but Carnival Corporation denied the rumors and later did transfer the vessel.[22]

Pacific Adventure

Transfer from Princess to P&O Australia

P&O Cruises Australia, as a part of its "fleet enhancement plan."[23] The new ship, scheduled for delivery in 2019, would become P&O's first-ever new-build vessel and its largest ship overall in the fleet.[23] However, in December 2016, the order for the new ship was transferred to sister brand Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) in exchange for Carnival Splendor joining the P&O fleet instead.[24] In a statement, P&O president Sture Myrmell conceded that the market's current infrastructure and its anticipated pace of development would be inadequate to support the brand's earlier, more ambitious expansion goals.[24] But in September 2017, Carnival issued a further fleet realignment, announcing Golden Princess would transfer to P&O, with Carnival Splendor continuing to operate for CCL.[25] In September 2018, after hosting an online naming contest, P&O announced Golden Princess would be renamed Pacific Adventure and debut in October 2020, featuring modified accommodations and onboard facilities designed in-line with the P&O brand.[26]

Service history

In October 2018, P&O unveiled the inaugural schedule for Pacific Adventure, with cruises of various lengths from Australian ports, visiting New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and other destinations in Oceania, beginning in October 2020.[27] However, the COVID-19 pandemic led P&O to halt its operations, and this delayed the ship's debut until 2022. Australian cruises were suspended in March 2020, with the ban finally being lifted on April 17 2022.[28] The ship was transferred in October 2020, but she did not enter service until 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[29]

Golden Princess transitioned into P&O's fleet in 2022 as Pacific Adventure, her guest capacity has been increased to 2,636, with modifications including the addition of five-berth cabins.[26] P&O also invited the public to contribute suggestions in order to design a more family-oriented experience on the ship.[30] New features added consisted of a new adults-only lounge space[26] and a recreational park.[30][31] Renovations were completed in Trieste in fall 2021.[32]

Pacific Adventure backing out of Circular Quay in Sydney in 2023

Accidents and incidents

2023 fire

On 28 May 2023, at approximately 3:30AM, while off the east coast of Australia on a three day cruise from Sydney a fire broke out on a passenger balcony on the port side of the ship.[33] All passengers were mustered and the fire was extinguished. This incident is the second balcony fire to occur on a Grand-class cruise ship. Pacific Adventure's sister ship Pacific Encounter (then known as Star Princess) experienced a balcony fire in 2006 resulting in significant damage and the death of a passenger.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Golden Princess". scheepvaartwest. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Golden Princess" (PDF). Fincantieri. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Golden Princess". Simplonpc. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
  4. ^ Ward, Douglas (2005). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. ISBN 978-9812467393.
  5. ^ "Golden Princess (26988)". Port State Information Exchange. United States Coast Guard.
  6. ^ "Golden Princess (IMO: 9192351)". vesseltracker.com. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
  7. ^ a b Golden, Fran (6 January 1998). "Princess Orders Two More Cruise Liners". Travel Weekly. Northstar Travel Group. Archived from the original on 1 September 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Fincantieri Launches Golden Princess". Maritime Activity Reports. 31 August 2000. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Golden Princess Fact Sheet". Princess Cruises. Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Jane Seymour to Christen Golden Princess". BNET. Business Wire. 31 March 2004. Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  11. ^ "Princess Cruises Ship Christeners". Princess Cruises. 24 August 2022.
  12. ^ Dake, Shawn (10 October 2014). "Princess Cruises Golden Anniversary Celebration In 2015". Maritime Matters.
  13. ^ a b Saunders, Aaron (2013). Giants of the Seas: The Ships that Transformed Modern Cruising. Barnsley, England: Seaforth Publishing. pp. 80–82. ISBN 9781848321724.
  14. ^ "Princess Cruises Celebrates 50th Year of Alaska Cruises with Largest Deployment Ever in 2019". Princess Cruises. 5 December 2017.
  15. ^ Wu, Vanessa (13 March 2020). "Princess Cruises Voluntarily Suspends All Operations Of Its Fleet Until May 10". Cruise Passenger.
  16. ^ a b "Coronavirus in NZ: Golden Princess passenger suspected case, ship quarantined in Akaroa". The New Zealand Herald. 15 March 2020. Archived from the original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  17. ^ Zdanowicz, Christine (17 March 2020). "Multiple cruise ships are left stranded as coronavirus cases increase". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  18. ^ a b "Coronavirus cruise ship: Golden Princess passengers to disembark in Melbourne after tests return negative". Nine News. 19 March 2020. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Princess Cruises Announces 2020 Alaska Cruises and Cruisetours". Princess Cruises. 13 November 2018.
  20. ^ "2020-2021 Asia" (PDF). Princess Cruises. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Extension of voluntary pause of our global ship operations" (PDF). Princess Cruises.
  22. ^ "Princess Cruises Advances Transition of Golden Princess and Star Princess to Sister Company P&O Cruises Australia". 21 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  23. ^ a b Goldsbury, Louise (30 December 2015). "P&O Cruises Australia to Build its First Brand New Ship". Cruise Critic. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  24. ^ a b Goldsbury, Louise (14 December 2016). "P&O Cruises Loses Brand New Ship, Replaced with Carnival Splendor". Cruise Critic. Archived from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  25. ^ Mathisen, Monty (26 September 2017). "Golden Princess to Transfer to P&O Australia, Splendor Staying with Carnival". Cruise Industry News. Archived from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  26. ^ a b c Wu, Vanessa (26 September 2018). "P&O names its newest ship, the Pacific Adventure". Cruise Passenger. Cruise Media Australasia. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  27. ^ "P&O Australia Announces Maiden Season for New Pacific Adventure". Cruise Industry News. 18 October 2018.
  28. ^ Murali, Kiran (28 August 2020). "Carnival's P&O Cruises extends suspension of cruises from Australia until Dec. 2". S&P Global. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  29. ^ "Princess Cruises Advances Transition of Golden Princess and Star Princess to Sister Company P&O Cruises Australia". 21 October 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  30. ^ a b Stewart, Sammy (20 October 2019). "First look: Inside new Aussie megaship". Escape.com.au.
  31. ^ Scott, Katherine (19 October 2018). "P&O unveil poshest ship yet, complete with exclusive beach club". 9Travel.
  32. ^ "Pacific Adventure Emerges From Drydock Sporting P&O Australia Livery". 7 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  33. ^ "Small fire breaks out on cruise ship balcony off NSW coast". www.9news.com.au. 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  34. ^ Stieghorst, Tom (24 October 2006). "DEADLY CRUISE BLAZE BLAMED ON CIGARETTE, PLASTIC PARTITIONS". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IMO 9192351.
List of ships built by Fincantieri
Grand-class cruise ships and derived designs
Ships of the P&O Cruises Australia fleet
Ships of the Princess Cruises fleet
Categories