''Pacific World'' (previously ''Sun Princess'') is a built in 1995 and operated by

Peace Boat is a global non-government organization headquartered in Japan established for the purpose of raising awareness and building connections internationally among groups that work for peace, human rights, environmental protection and sustainable de ...

. At the time of her construction, she was one of the largest cruise ships in the world. She was the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of her class that included

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s and the P&O ships and . ''Sun Princess'' was the ship on which the 1998–99 (1977-86 previously known as ''The Love Boat'' in its earlier seasons in its original run on TV) television show ''The Love Boats short-lived revival run as '' Love Boat: The Next Wave'' starring

Robert Urich Robert Michael Urich (December 19, 1946 – April 16, 2002) was an American film, television, and stage actor, and television producer. Over the course of his 30-year career, he starred in a record 15 television series. Urich began his ca ...

was filmed. She made the news in October 2007 as the largest ship to ever cross beneath the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

while entering the harbor for the first time, with a vertical clearance of approximately to spare at low tide. In July 2018, ''Sun Princess'' underwent a two-week

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

. She received new livery design, new stateroom category, shops, and other onboard amenities. In September 2020, ''Sun Princess'' was sold to

. The ''Sun Princess'' was renamed ''Pacific World''.

Ports of call

From its debut in 1995 until 2007, ''Sun Princess'' primarily served Caribbean and Alaskan cruise routes. Since November 2007, ''Sun Princess'' has been seasonally based at

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Cruises offered from that time circumnavigations Australia, circumnavigations

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and visits to

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

. In 2012, she offered her first world cruise. In April 2008, ''Sun Princess'' was based in Australia, operating out of Sydney during the winter months, and from Melbourne during the summer months. For the 2008/2009 season the cruise program included Australian circumnavigations,

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

Malacca Straits The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

return,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

- New Zealand / South Pacific. ''Sun Princess'' also sailed from Sydney for Melbourne plus

Whitsundays The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...

return, a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

return itinerary, and a 75 night Grand Pacific trip. During summer 2008/2009 whilst ''Sun Princess'' was operating out of Melbourne, she was joined by ''Dawn Princess'' operating out of Sydney. ''Dawn Princess'' was also permanently based in Australia from that time which was a change from Princess Cruises' original plans. Demand for ''Sun Princess'' cruises between Sydney and Fremantle and beyond from April to June 2008 was so strong that Princess Cruises scheduled additional sailings for 2009. The company also decided to base the vessel in Fremantle from April to August that year. Despite the availability of cheap domestic air connections, many customers booking ''Sun Princess'' voyages between Sydney and Fremantle in 2009 opted instead to extend their trips by traveling across Australia on a connecting

Indian Pacific The ''Indian Pacific'' is a weekly experiential tourism passenger train service that runs in Australia's east–west rail corridor between Sydney, on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, and Perth, on the shore of the Indian Ocean – thus, l ...

rail service. Cruises on ''Sun Princess'' from Fremantle in 2009 included the first Indian Ocean voyage of its kind from Australia. A 46-night sailing from Fremantle visited

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 ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

, the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. In 2013, ''Sun Princess'' sailed round-trip cruises from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan marking the first of Princess Cruises deployments from there. In 2014, she sailed an extended Japan cruise program, sailing from

Otaru, Hokkaido is a city and port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular to ...

and

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. She was joined by which replaced her Tokyo sailings. In 2019-2020 cruise season, ''Sun Princess'' sailed an extended Western Australia program. The ship homeported in

Fremantle, Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Austral ...

for 141 days. It was announced in June 2018 that ''Sun Princess'' would be used as a floating hotel for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. The ship was to be docked at Tokyo's Yokohama Port between 23 July and 9 August 2020, specifically to provide more hotel room space for Olympic guests. It was estimated that the ship would receive 36,000 overnight stays during the Tokyo Olympics.

Accidents and incidents

In October 2013, a 73-year-old man "disappeared". The ship was on a 16-day cruise from Fremantle to Sydney. The wife of the man reported him missing. The search included: three aircraft and the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

ship in an area just north of Cape Londonderry. As of 8 October 2013 the missing passenger had not been found. In November 2014, an 84-year-old elderly man fell overboard off the coast of Sydney. The ship was returning to White Bay in Sydney after a 13-day New Zealand cruise. On 6 September 2017, a pipe burst onboard ''Sun Princess'' causing flooding to the lower decks affecting passengers in their cabins. Outbreaks of

gastroenteritis Gastroenteritis, also known as infectious diarrhea and gastro, is an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract including the stomach and intestine. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Fever, lack of energy, and dehydra ...

occurred repeatedly on cruises in 2016 and 2017.

COVID-19 pandemic

Princess Cruises ship was not allowed to dock at a port in Madagascar on 13 February 2020 as it had visited Thailand, where there were cases of SARS-CoV-2, less than 14 days before. The ship docked at

on 1 March, but passengers were met by a crowd of about 30 people who insisted that the passengers must be inspected for SARS-CoV-2, and tried to prevent them from leaving the port area. Objects were thrown at passengers, and the police deployed tear gas. Princess Cruises said that there were no concerns of SARS-CoV-2 on the ship. On 26 March 2020, the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

announced that a passenger from ''Sun Princess'' had tested positive for the virus.

Notes

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Princess Cruises website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific World 1995 ships Ships built in Monfalcone Ships built by Fincantieri Ships of Princess Cruises Cruise ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic