Princess Ships Returning to the United States Ahead of Restarts

Posted on 5 August, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

The Diamond Princess and the Sapphire Princess are returning to the United States. After several years of sailing in Asia and the Pacific, the vessels are currently sailing to Los Angeles ahead of their service restarts in North America.

Out of service since early 2020, the Diamond Princess will be the first to arrive, on August 4.

The 2004-built cruise ship welcomes guests back on September 1 for a series of San Diego-based sailings.

The program includes cruises to the California Coast, the Baja Peninsula, the Sea of Cortez and Hawaii, marking the first time the vessel sails from a U.S. port since 2013.

In November, the Diamond is also offering a 20-night cruise to Central America that features visits to Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala.

The Sapphire Princess, meanwhile, is set to arrive in Los Angeles on August 20. Completing the Princess Cruises restart, the ship is resuming service on September 24.

Also out of service since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2,600-guest ship is offering four- to 15-night cruises to Mexico, Hawaii and the California Coast from its Los Angeles homeport. The program marks the ship’s return to the U.S. after an eight-year gap.

In December, the Sapphire heads to South America for cruises to Patagonia, Antarctica and the Falklands.

After initially being laid up in Southeast Asia, both ships had been anchored off Cyprus since mid-2021.

With the Diamond and the Sapphire resuming service, the entire Princess Cruises fleet will sail with guests again.

Following a 16-month operational pause, the premium brand first welcomed guests back in July 2021 for a shortened summer season in Alaska.

A few days later, the company also returned to the UK before relaunching service on the West Coast in September 2021 and the Panama Canal in October 2021.

Over the past months, 13 Princess cruise ships resumed service as well, bringing the company back to other areas such as Australia, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

Carnival Corporation is upgrading its ships’ engines and technical systems to improve energy efficiency

Posted on 4 August, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

The “service power packages” upgrades will include ongoing installations throughout 2023 on ships belonging to the company’s nine brands – Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, P&O Australia, Costa Cruises, Aida Cruises, P&O Cruises and Cunard.

Developed over the last six years and tailored to each vessel, upgrades to save energy include investments in variable speed drives and on-demand automation and controls, cooling enhancements, energy-saving LED lighting and more efficient heating and ventilation systems.

Carnival estimates the programme will deliver an average of 5-10% fuel savings per ship and is expected to reduce fleet-wide greenhouse gas emissions by more than 500,000 metric tons each year.

The upgrades will also result in around $150 million in fuel cost savings per year.

Carnival’s chief maritime officer Bill Burke said: “Based on our improved fleet composition, including adding six industry-leading LNG-powered ships, and our previous investments to increase efficiency and reduce emissions, our absolute carbon emissions peaked in 2011 despite significant capacity growth over the past decade.”

“These tailored service power packages further build on those efforts as part of our comprehensive approach to sustainability.”

The fleet-wide enhancements are part of Carnival’s energy efficiency investment programme. The company has committed to reducing carbon emission intensity by 20% from its 2019 baseline by 2030, supporting its efforts to achieve net carbon-neutral ship operations by 2050.

Pacific Encounter Enters Sydney Harbour with Hero Tugs Salute

Posted on 3 August, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

P&O Australia Cruises’ Pacific Encounter has called into Sydney Harbour for the first time and made her entrance amid big jets from water cannon tugs, according to a press release.

When the Pacific Encounter arrived in Sydney for its brief stay, the words “hero tugs” flashed up on the top deck big screen as a tribute to maritime heroes, according to P&O Cruises.

“We are very proud to welcome Pacific Encounter to begin her P&O Cruises cruising career to offer our guests fantastic and memorable cruise experiences. It is wonderful that we can also use today’s arrival as an opportunity to salute the hero tugs of Sydney and everyone who does so much to support cruise shipping and the maritime sector in general. It is very exciting to see the rebuilding of cruise tourism in Australia and its economic benefits as we look forward to its revival in the wider Pacific region along with a near-normal summer cruise season here,” said Marguerite Fitzgerald, president of Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises Australia.

The Pacific Encounter was escorted by three tugs operated by Engage Towage. The operation to save the bulk carrier Portland Bay after it lost power in bad weather last month involved all three and their tenacious crews.

With local marine engineering and technical services joining the Pacific Encounter and more than half a million kilograms of locally sourced products being loaded to start the ship’s cruising schedule, the ship’s arrival in Sydney will also provide a significant economic boost to the city.

“Port Authority of NSW has a strong capability and history of responding to marine incidents such as this and working with a number of key agencies who stand ready day and night to spring into action when needed,” commented Philip Holliday, chief executive officer, Port Authority of NSW.