Crown Princess (II)

The Crown Princess is the lead ship of the Crown-class of Princess Cruises, that itself is a part of the Grand-class. The Crown-class ships differ from the original Gand-class ships, because they are offering two more decks to their passengers. The ships are 288,60 meters in lenght, they are 36 meters wide and have a draft of 8 meters. The tonnage measurement is 112.894. The passenger capacity of Crown Princess is 3592 maximum, but based on two beds per cabin the capacity is 3114. There are also 1201 crewmembers aboard. The normal cruising speed is 21,5 knots. The ship has a total of 19 decks.

Crown Princess is ready to dock at the passenger terminal in Rotterdam during her first visit to The Netherlands at the 19th of may 2011.

Her keel was laid, as we still call it, at the 10th of june 2004 at the Fincantieri Shipyard at Monfalcone, Italy. This is the wharf where most modern Princess ships are built.

The name Crown Princess was used earlier in the history of Princess Cruises for a ship that was taken over from Sitmar Cruises in 1990. The ship now sails for P&O Australia as Pacific Jewel. The second Crown Princess was completed in may of 2006 and arrived in New York at the 8th of june for her naming ceremony, that was planned for june the 14th.  Crown Princess was named by Martha Steward and Gavin McLeod, who played the part of captain Meril Stubing in the original Love Boat series, was the master of ceremony. The ship sailed her first cruise from Red Hook, the cruiseterminal at Brooklyn, New York to the Caribbean and Fort Lauderdale, departing just after she was named. Her sailing scedule brings her to the Caribbean in winter and to Europe in summer.

Her smooth service was interupted violently at the 18th of july 2006, when the ship had just departed from Cape Canaveral. The ship was reported to make 'heavy turns' and 'listing'. At first, it was thought that the steering equipment had failed and the ship was directed back to Cape Canaveral. Later, it was found that the second officer had disengaged the automatic steering mode, because he experienced the ship making a hard turn to port and took manual control of the ship. He tried to correct the movement by making sharp movements to port as well as starboard, but because of this the listing got heavier, bringing the ship in a list of up to 24 degrees. In total, 14 passengers and crewmembers suffered severe injuries and 284 were injured lightly. Also, many objects that were not secured to the deck had fallen and poolwater was pooring into the staircases and liftshafts. Passengers were reported bleeding and someone discribed it as a 'war-zone'. Back in port, some 94 people had to be taken to local hospitals and this makes this incident to one of the worst accidents in modern day cruising. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the incident, together with the United States Coast Guard. Princess Cruises also did their own investigation and the ship was returned to service, sailing again from Brooklyn on july 22nd, two days after her planned departure. This, after the Coast Guard and the Bermuda flag authorities, because Crown Princess flies the flag of Bermuda, had approved this. Passengers recieved a full refund and Princess Cruises stated that it was human error that caused the incident and they made 'appropriate personell changes'. After this, the ships service has gone without incidents and the ship continued her normal sailings. 

All pictures were shot at Rotterdam during her stay at the 19th of may, 2011.