MS ''Dream'' 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 Tourism, tours k ...

owned by Tianjin Orient International Cruise Line from 2023. She was built in Italy in 1998 as the ''Sea Princess'' for

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California and is incorporated in Bermuda. As of 2025, it is the List of cruise lines#List of cruise lines by size, s ...

, which operated her until 2020, except for a short period (2003–2005) with

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival Corporation & plc#Carnival UK, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the freight transp ...

as ''Adonia''. Sold in 2020 and renamed ''Charming'', the ship did not re-enter service until acquired by Tianjin Orient.

History

The vessel was delivered to Princess Cruises from

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

and began operation in 1998 under the name of ''Sea Princess''. ''Sea Princess'' was transferred to

in late 2002/early 2003. P&O renamed her ''Adonia'' on 21 May 2003 (not to be confused with a different P&O vessel of a different class which was also given the ''Adonia'' name later in 2011).

The Princess Royal Princess Royal is a title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been ...

and her daughter

Zara Phillips Zara Anne Elizabeth Tindall (; born 15 May 1981) is a British equestrian, Olympian, socialite and member of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips, and the eldest niece of King Charles ...

renamed the vessel to ''Adonia'' at a launching ceremony with sister ship ''Oceana'', in the first double ship naming ceremony ever in the UK. ''Adonia'' filled the gap left in the P&O Cruises fleet in the period between ''Arcadia'' leaving the fleet to become ''Ocean Village'' and the launch of the new ''Arcadia'' in 2005, when the vessel was transferred back to Princess Cruises. When Princess Cruises reacquired her in 2005, the vessel was once more named ''Sea Princess'', in a ceremony by

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an Indian-born British actress, presenter, author, television producer, activist and former model. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulo ...

. From 2019, ''Sea Princess'' was homeported in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and was intended to sail from new homeports in

Fremantle 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 Australi ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

for the 2020–2021 calendar season. However, in September 2020 Princess Cruises announced that it had sold ''Sea Princess'', and on 13 November 2020 she was delivered to Sanya International Cruise Development and renamed ''Charming''. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the ship did not enter service as ''Charming'' and remained laid up, though some reconditioning work was undertaken at China Merchants Industry Holding's shipyard at Mazhou Island in 2021. In January 2023 ''Charming'' was sold to Tianjin Orient International Cruise Line and renamed ''Dream''. Homeported at

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

, cruises were commenced in September 2023, with destinations including Jeju in South Korea, and Japanese ports.

Accidents and incidents

Norovirus outbreaks

At the end of May 2006, 250 people, including 18 crew, were affected by a

norovirus Norovirus, also known as Norwalk virus and sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may ...

. Evidence of a gastrointestinal virus had been found during the last two days of the previous cruise, but the company stated that it did not believe the two outbreaks to be linked. The passengers were notified of this occurrence by a letter found in their cabins after boarding. Although the ship's itinerary had been altered, and the vessel ordered to dock away from other vessels, no other countermeasures were effected. ''Sea Princess'' returned to port in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

a day early, and the vessel underwent a complete sanitisation and decontamination before resuming cruising. Passengers were offered a 30% refund and a £150 voucher for use on a later Princess cruise; some demanded a full refund. A norovirus outbreak occurred again on the following cruise, although to a lesser extent, and visible precautions included waiter service at the buffets and the absence of salt and pepper shakers. This cruise was also affected by force 11-12 winds in the vicinity of

Ushant Ushant (; , ; , ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and in medieval times, Léon. In lower tiers of government, it is a commune in t ...

, causing the first scheduled port to be missed, while the remaining itinerary remained unaltered. The ship was undamaged, the nearby '' Legend of the Seas'' suffered broken windows, and terminated her Spain-bound voyage in France due to storm damage. It is likely that the rough seas caused increased use of the handrails, contributing to the difficulty of eradicating norovirus. In January 2018, about 200 passengers were reported to have been infected with norovirus during a two-week round trip from Brisbane to New Zealand.

Drug smuggling

On 28 August 2016, three Canadian nationals were arrested after ''Sea Princess'' berthed in

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

. After the ship docked

Australian Border Force The Australian Border Force (ABF) is a federal law enforcement agency, part of the Department of Home Affairs (Australia), Department of Home Affairs, responsible for offshore and onshore border control, border enforcement, investigations, comp ...

officers along with drug sniffing dogs boarded the ship. During a search of the ship of cocaine was found packed in suitcases. The estimated value of the cocaine is $30 million AUD (US$22 million). The maximum penalty for this offense is life in prison.

Gallery

File:P&O Adonia now Sea Princess (recropped).jpg, ''Adonia'' File:Martinique-fort-de-france-sea-princess-cruiser.jpg, ''Sea Princess'' at

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. History Before it was ceded to France by Spain in 1635, the area of Fort-de-Fra ...

, Martinique, 2006. File:MS Sea Princess, Sydney Harbour, 2013.JPG, ''Sea Princess'' passing underneath the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...

, 2013. File:Seaprincessdeck.jpg, The main deck of ''Sea Princess'' during a cruise in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. File:Sea Princess at Port of Burnie 20190315-001.jpg, ''Sea Princess'' in 2019

References

External links

www.princess.com
nbsp;– Princess Cruises site
Video clip of M.V. ''Sea Princess''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dream Ships of Princess Cruises 1998 ships Ships built by Fincantieri Maritime incidents in 2006 Ships of P&O Cruises