Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com

Events at Sea by Sea Princess

Events by Ship:
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The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns when viewed separately by ship.




dd/mm/yy
2010
Incident
23.12.10 Metro News (UK) reports a 50-year-old woman went overboard from the balcony of her cabin while the ship was sailing between Curaçao and Grand Turk islands. The ship turned around to comb the area and a search plane was launched but both drew a blank. The woman was reported missing by her husband on the fifth day of their two-week Christmas trip. Princess Cruises published a statement which said: 'The ship was alerted by her husband, who had discovered her missing from their cabin, and our missing persons routine was immediately begun to account for all passengers onboard. 'A review of CCTV footage confirms that the passenger went over the side of the ship from a balcony cabin.' The ship is currently on a two week cruise from Barbados. The ship was on the fifth day of the sailing, which is scheduled to conclude on December 27.
Pax overboard
12.3.10 From a passenger: We sailed from Bonaire at midday on Wednesday 10th March 2010 as planned and spent the next day at sea as planned sailing towards Grand Cayman. We experienced force 6 winds on the day at sea and they were still force 6 on arrival at Grand Cayman. The Captain announced that the Port Authorities would not allow them to disembark pasengers so the ship sailed around Grand Cayman without stopping and sailed slowly on towards the final port of call in Jamaica. We not only missed our main reason for the cruise but it meant we spent a full 2 1/2 days at sea non stop.
Missed port call
5.1.10 Virgin Islands Platinum News reports a cruise passenger from a ship docked at Tortola died after he was pulled out of the sea in the area of Cane Garden Bay (CGB) beach. The man, in his 50´s, was unconscious but relentless CPR work assisted him in regaining some level of consciousness. At one point, he was not breathing on his own and information suggests that he had a weak pulse. Rescuers were able to get a substantial amount of food and liquid out of him during rescuing measures at the beach, however one and a half hours later he was pronounced dead at the hospital. BVI lifeguard officials have been warning persons not to go into areas where there are red flags and a bulletin issued for Tuesday had clearly stated the dangerous areas on Tortola included Apple Bay, Josiah´s Bay, Lambert Beach and with Cane Garden Bay being the most dangerous for Tuesday. All these areas have red flags as warning signs.
Death ashore
dd/mm/yy
2009
Incident
2.11.09 The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in September. On September 4, the ship's effluent exceeded the allowable level of ammonia. Environmental
23.10.09 The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in August. There were two violations. The ship's effluent on August 16 and August 26 exceeded the allowable level of ammonia. Environmental
1.9.09 The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in July. On July 27, the ship's effluent exceeded the allowable level of ammonia. Environmental
14.8.09 The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in June. On June 17, the ship's effluent exceeded the allowable level of ammonia. Environmental
27.7.09 The Juneau Empire reports the ship violated Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards for ammonia in May 2009. On May 27th the concentration of ammonia was 99 mg/L (effluent limit is 80.4 mg/L). Environmental
dd/mm/yy
2008
Incident
4.11.08
SKN Vibes (St. Kitts and Nevis) reports the ship encountered ‘technical difficulties’ as it attempted to dock at Port Zante this morning which resulted in passengers being ferried to the nearby marina by the ship’s life crafts. Initial reports indicated that there had been a fire onboard the Sea Princess which caused engine damage to the vessel and hindered its berthing. However an employee at the Port explained that the ship developed engine problems earlier today and was drifting out at sea. The individual informed that since there is no tug boat at the pier, the passengers were therefore tendered to the marina adjacent to the Port. A press release issued by the St. Christopher Air and Sea Port Authority (SCASPA) shortly after the incident indicated that the cruise vessel will remain at anchor for the entire day due to said engine problems. Engine failure
15.9.08
From a reader: The ship appears to have had problems with one of the Stern Thrusters, entering and departing Boston.  Both times a Tug was required to assist [if needed]. It doesn't look like it is affecting schedules, but today due to the Winds [remnants of Hurricane Ike] it seemed to be a precaution.
Thruster problems
10.9.08
From a passenger: During Sea Princess' recent transatlantic 'repositioning' cruise the port of St Johns, Newfoundland was missed on 10th September 2008 due to high winds making the passage through 'The Narrows' too dangerous.   Captain stayed offshore for 2 hours before making the decision to sail for New York in advance of scheduled departure time, making for a very slow transit to final destination. Editor's Note: Winds that day were 40 kph (24 mph) and coming from the WSW meaning there was no cross wind affecting entrance through the narrow. Note event on September 15 -- this may be a more logical explanation for skipping St. John's given the absence of tugs at the harbour.
Skipped port call
dd/mm/yy
2007 and earlier
Incident
12.5.07
The cruise scheduled to depart today was cancelled at the last minute due to technical problems with one of the propulsion systems.  The cruise scheduled for May 26 is expected to sail as planned.  Passengers received a full refund plus a 25% discount on a future cruise.
Cancelation
3.3.07
From a passenger on the 14-day sailing (17 Feb - 3 Mar): The Southern Caribbean sailing experienced 3 missed ports: Princess Cays (rough water), Dominica (the captain claimed swells too large to permit safe docking, though the seas appeared calm, what appeared to be average-sized swells hitting the sea wall in port, and another cruise ship docked!), and Curacao (the captain claimed winds were too high to attempt to enter the channel into port). As a replacement port for Curacao, the Captain announced that he had obtained corporate approval and obtained allocation of a berth in Aruba. But when we arrived there, he turned the ship around and sailed away, again saying the winds were too high to dock. However, another cruise ship was observed to be docked there.  Another event was a power outage while docked in Barbados, that the captain said was due to an engine problem. The emergency power did come on very quickly, and full power came back on in about 20 minutes. Missed ports
26.5.05 After being flown to Southampton on a private jet, Goldie Hawn said she was unwell and refused to christen the ship.  Guests were "disappointed, and the ship's owners were apoplectic."   British actress Joanna Lumley christened the ship in Hawn's absence.  The ship was returning to the Princess fleet after sailing two years as P&O's Adonia.
Christening
   
(1)  Golden Princess now sailing as SuperStar Capricorn (Star Cruises)
(2)  Star Princess now sailing as Arcadia (P&O Cruises)





Illness Outbreaks at Sea by Sea Princess

dd/mm/yy
Reported Illness Outbreaks
20.5.09 Grimsby Telegraph reports a norovirus outbreak on a cruise ending in Montego Bay (thus it will not be reported to the CDC). According to the newspaper, the day the cruise was to end the captain announced there was an outbreak of Norovirus, An elderly couple celebrating their golden wedding anniversary were struck with the illness and moved by the cruise line to the Altamont Hotel in Montego Bay, decribed by the husband as "cheap and small, situated on the Hip Strip, with police patrolling up and down the promenade in pairs." They say they were not allowed to leave the hotel for 48 hours, and claim to have received no information from the Princess Cruises, which organised the trip. Eventually, 10 more couples who were affected by the outbreak joined the pair in the hotel. Princess Cruises confirmed the norovirus outbreak.
17.3.07 The ship reported that 5 (0.57%) crew and 82 (4.07%) passengers had reported ill on a 14 day cruise to/from Fort Lauderdale (3 - 17 March).
31.5.06
The ship will skip Lisbon and end its current cruise a day early because of a norovirus outbreak.  (The ship anchored at Vigo but passengers were no allowed to disembark.)  Many fell sick within 24 hours of embarkation; there had been a similar outbreak on the previous cruise.  The Mirror reports that 215 passengers and 15 crew had fallen sick on the current cruise and there were similar numbers the cruise before.  (Here's a collection of media reports.)
April 06
From a passenger: My wife and I both got the Norwalk virus on  the second 14 day cruise on the Sea Princess in April, 2006. Helen got it  first and than me. They really had a big break-out but really tried to cover  it up. I asked the doctor how many cases they had on board and he told me a  few. When he was preparing a shot for me in the outer room, I noticed a  computer listing(listed all the cases by cabin and date,etc.) on his desk.  IT WAS NOT JUST A FEW-the list looked(I glanced it for about 3-4 minutes) to  be about 40/page and covered about 10 pages!!!! The doctor did not notice  that I saw it but he did turn it over when he came back into his office. The  crew was told to say nothing to us but our cabin attendant told us they had  hundreds of sick passengers and crew. I should have suspected something was  really wrong when they were cleaning everything all over the ship.


Illness Outbreaks by Ship: