MS Island Princess (2002)

For the original Princess Cruises liner, see MS Island Princess (1971).

Island Princess is a Coral-class cruise ship for the Princess Cruises line. She is the sister ship to Coral Princess and together they are the only Panamax ships in Princess's fleet. She was constructed at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France.^[2]

Island Princess

Island Princess in Tallinn, 2023
History
Bermuda
Name	Island Princess
Owner	Carnival Corporation & plc
Operator	Princess Cruises
Port of registry	Hamilton, Bermuda
Ordered	1999
Builder	Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Cost	US$330 million
Laid down	2001
Launched	2 July 2002
Christened	11 July 2003
Completed	18 June 2003
Maiden voyage	12 July 2003
In service	12 July 2003
Identification	IMO number: 9230402 MMSI number: 310384000 Callsign: ZCDG4
Status	In service
General characteristics
Class & type	Coral-class cruise ship
Tonnage	91,627 GT
Length	294 m (964 ft)
Beam	32 m (106 ft) (waterline) 37 m (122 ft) (bridge wings)
Height	62 m (204 ft)
Draught	7.9 m (26 ft) [1]
Decks	16 (12 for passengers)
Installed power	Two Wärtsilä 16V46C diesel engines General Electric LM2500+ gas turbine
Propulsion	Combined diesel-electric and gas (CODLAG) Two shafts; fixed pitch propellers
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)[1]
Capacity	2,214 (double occupancy) passengers
Crew	900[1]

Service history

Island Princess in her original pre-refit configuration

The Island Princess was the second of the Coral-class ships constructed at Chantiers de l'Atlantique, France. This is the second ship to bear the name, after the first Island Princess of 1972.

The ship debuted in 2003, and was named by Olympic gold medalist Jamie Salé and David Pelletier.^[3]

Island Princess's main itinerary consists of seven-day Alaskan cruises from Vancouver, British Columbia to Whittier, Alaska during the summer months. During the fall, winter, and spring, Island Princess and her sister ship Coral Princess run 10/14-15 day Panama Canal cruises with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, San Juan del Sur, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Cartagena, Colombia, and Oranjestad, Aruba.

The ship has had outbreaks of community-spread illnesses. Norovirus hit the ship in March 2006 (72 passengers, 16 crew), October 2006 (109 passengers, 11 crew), January 2007 (179 passengers, 37 crew), January 2018 (71 passengers, 7 crew), February 2019 (101 passengers, 9 crew), e. coli and Shigella in April 2009 (100 passengers, 8 crew), and unknown outbreaks in two May-June 2004 sailings (441 passengers, 68 crew).^[4][5]

In 2015 Island Princess sailed on cruises for the first time in Europe, traveling between Barcelona and Venice.^[6]

Refit

In 2015, the Island Princess was given a major refit that saw the removal of a lounge and the aft part of its promenade to accommodate 121 new staterooms. This increased the ship's capacity from 1,974 to 2,200 double occupancy guests.^[7] This altered the ship's profile in addition to the removal of the symbolic gas turbines on the ship's funnels.

In the 2019/2020 cruise season, Island Princess continued to operate the West Coast cruises.^[8]

Island Princess after removal of faux gas turbine cylinders and added aft cabins

As part of the COVID-19 pandemic on cruise ships, the ship repatriated crew members to Asia in April 2020. In May 2020, the summer cruise schedule for the ship was cancelled.^[9][10]