Golden Princess

This article is about the ship currently sailing with Princess Cruises as "Golden Princess". For the previous Princess Cruises vessel, see Golden Princess (1993). For the casino cruise ship, see MS Golden Princess (2000).
Golden Princess tendering in Cabo San Lucas
History
Name: Golden Princess
Owner: Carnival plc
Operator: Princess Cruises
Port of registry: London, United Kingdom
Route: Australia & New Zealand and Asia
Builder: Fincantieri
Cost: US$450 million
Yard number: Monfalcone-Trieste, Italy 6050
Christened: October 12, 2001 by Merlisa Rhonda George(2002 Miss US Virgin Islands) at Fort Lauderdale[1]
Maiden voyage: May 16, 2001 (Southampton to Barcelona)
In service: May 2001
Refit: April 2009
Identification:
Status: Operational
Notes: [2][3][4][5]
General characteristics
Class and type: Passenger
Type: Grand class cruise ship
Tonnage: 108,865 GT
Length: 951 ft (290 m)
Beam: 118 ft (36 m)
Draught: 8.7 m (29 ft)
Draft: 26.2 ft (8.0 m)
Decks: 17 total, 13 passenger
Ice class: 1A Super
Propulsion: 2 diesel-electric propellers (42,000kW each)
Speed: 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Capacity: 2,600 passengers
Crew: 1,100
Notes: [2][3][4]

Golden Princess is a Grand-class cruise ship with Princess Cruises that entered service in 2001. She is the sister ship of Grand Princess and Star Princess. She measures 109,000 gross tons and carries 2,600 passengers (double occupancy) plus 1,100 crew members. From 2009 to September 2015, she primarily operated on the Hawaii, and the West Coast of the United States. Golden was constructed in Italy by Fincantieri and is Bermudan flagged.

Golden Princess was one of the first major cruise ships to sail to Antarctic waters in 2006.[6] She was dry docked in Victoria from mid-April to early-May 2009, in order to refurbish the entire ship. She was also drydocked in 2012 and again in 2015, where major refurbishments and addition of several new amenities took place.

Amenities

Golden Princess features three formal dining rooms and two high-end specialty restaurants, Crown Grill and Sabatini's.[7] mini golf course (9 holes), several pools, a spa, a gym,[8] a video arcade, a children's facility, a dedicated teen center,[9] a screening room (for recent movie releases), Movies Under the Stars screen, multiple bars and lounges and three modern show lounges. The ship's main theater located at the forward of the ship seats approximately 1,000.[10] The ship has four swimming pools, nine spas and an adults-only area, The Sanctuary, forward on the ship.

Ports of call

Prior to 2016, the Golden Princess sailed from Alaska in the northern summer months. Before moving to South America for the southern summer season and to Alaska for the northern summer season, she would reposition to Los Angeles, California sailing short cruises to the West Coast and/or a single 28-night cruise to Hawaii and Tahiti. For the seasons that she did not sail to South America, she would do round-trip sailings to Hawaii from Los Angeles.

Starting with the 2015-16 season, she will sail Australia cruises from Melbourne for the southern summer months. This will take the number of Australian-based Princess ships to five.[11] In the northern summer season starting in 2016, she will sail roundtrip cruises from China-based out of Tianjin.[12] At this time, she will join the Sapphire Princess, which will based out of Shanghai year-round beginning in 2016 taking the numbers of the Chinese-based Princess ships to two. In 2017, the Golden Princess will be based in Australia year-round filling the gap with the departure of the Dawn Princess.[13] However in 2018, the Golden Princess will return to Alaska during the northern summer months.

References

  1. "Jane Seymour to Christen Golden Princess". BNET. Business Wire. 2004-03-31. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  2. 1 2 Ward, Douglas (2005). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. ISBN 981-246-510-3.
  3. 1 2 "Golden Princess (26988)". Port State Information Exchange. United States Coast Guard.
  4. 1 2 "Golden Princess (IMO: 9192351)". vesseltracker.com. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  5. "Golden Princess". Simplonpc. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  6. "First cruise ship sets sail for Antarctica". Mail Online. 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  7. "Personal Choice Dining". Princess Cruises. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  8. "Golden Princess Activities". Princess Cruises. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  9. "Golden Princess Under 18". Princess Cruises. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  10. "Golden Princess Entertainment". Princess Cruises. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  11. "Princess Cruises Announces Largest-Ever Australia Deployment for 2016-2017". PR Newswire. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  12. "Golden Princess to China for 2016". Cruise Ship Industry News. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  13. "Dawn Princess to be Transferred to P&O Australia". Cruise Industry News. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
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