MS ''Azamara Onward,'' formerly ''R Three'' and ''Pacific Princess'' is a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

owned and operated by

Azamara Cruises Azamara is a cruise line based in Miami, Florida, that operates four cruise ships on worldwide itineraries. History Azamara Cruises was founded in 2007 after two R-class ships from Pullmantur Cruises that would have gone to Celebrity Cruises wer ...

since 2022. She was built in 1999 by the

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...

shipyard in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for

Renaissance Cruises Renaissance Cruises was a cruise ship operating company that was founded in 1989 and owned by Fearnley & Eger Rederi in Oslo, Norway. It was purchased by Edward Rudner (founder of Alamo Car Rental) as the company faltered during the Gulf War. It o ...

. In 2002, following the failure of Renaissance Cruises, the ship was sold to Princess Cruises and renamed ''Pacific Princess.'' On 21 January 2021, Carnival announced the ship had been sold to an unnamed buyer, later revealed to be Azamara Cruises.

Construction and career

Pacific Princess & Grand Princess in Split on 2011-07-08

''R Three''

The vessel first entered operation in 1999, with

. The ship was not owned by the company, with possession instead residing with a group of French investors, who leased the ship to the company. In late 2001, the entire Renaissance fleet was seized by creditors.

''Pacific Princess''

In late 2002,

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the List of cruise lines# ...

chartered the ''R Three'', along with sister ship ''R Four'' (previously and now ). Both vessels entered operation by the end of 2002. The charter terminated at the end of 2004, at which time, both vessels were purchased by Princess Cruises.

Gabi Hollows Gabrielle Beryl Hollows (' O'Sullivan; 21 May 1953) is an Australian orthoptist. An Australian Living Treasure, she was also given the ''Advance Australia Award'' for Community Service, and was made ''Paul Harris Fellow'' by Rotary Internatio ...

renamed the ship '' Pacific Princess'' in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 8 December 2002, named after the earlier ''Pacific Princess'' which served as the ship featured in the television series, ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...

''. From 2002 to 2007 ''Pacific Princess'' was operated by P&O Cruises Australia from November to April every year. While From May to October she would be operated by Princess. This agreement was maintain until 2007 when ''Regal Princess'' was transferred to P&O and became ''Pacific Dawn''. Pacific Princess, 2008

The ship was the subject of a state aid decision by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

: Decision 2006/219, in which the European Commission held a discussion on ''R Three'' and ''R Four'', regarding the two ships' original purpose of intending to support local tourism in

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

, and whether or not the re-deployments of the two ships beyond the French Polynesia region were a misuse of Commission-provided development aid. The conclusion presides that France unlawfully breached the treaty that governed the regulations surrounding development aid when the ships were redeployed outside of the local region, but with the devastating economic effects (''

force majeure In contract law, (from Law French: 'overwhelming force', ) is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such ...

'') of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and the fact that the expectations of local development impact have now otherwise been met, the ships' re-deployments were allowed and the development aid given to France was still rendered lawfully used. ''Pacific Princess'' has often been deployed on itineraries servicing more exotic locales or ports within areas unreachable by larger vessels. These itineraries have included the World Cruise itineraries of more than 100 days. As of October 2019, ''Pacific Princess'' is operating voyages within the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

before embarking on the 2020 World Cruise. She was scheduled to return to Alaska in the summer of 2020, sailing between

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and Whittier, before returning to the South Pacific for itineraries serving French Polynesia and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

. In January 2021 Carnival announced the sale of the ship.

Incidents

On 14 October 2016, ''Pacific Princess'' collided with the breakwater at

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

, France and was holed below the waterline. There were no injuries amongst the 669 passengers and 382 crew. On 25 August 2018, ''Pacific Princess'' rescued three fisherman from a sunken trawler in the North Sea, about north-east of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

Coronavirus quarantine

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in 2020, ''Pacific Princess'' was refused permission to dock at numerous destinations including

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, even though there were no confirmed cases on board. The ship was allowed to dock in Perth, Australia on 21 March and most passengers disembarked. Those who were unable to fly home remained on the ship which was heading to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. The company stated that 115 passengers were still on board and that they had no confirmed cases of COVID-19. On 13 April 2020, 4 passengers were allowed to disembark in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The last passengers disembarked when the ship returned to Los Angeles on 20 April.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Official website

{{2016 shipwrecks Ships of Princess Cruises Ships built in France 1999 ships Merchant ships of Liberia Passenger ships of Liberia Merchant ships of Gibraltar Passenger ships of Gibraltar Merchant ships of Bermuda Passenger ships of Bermuda