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P&O and Princess Cruises
Page 3: 2000-2010
This page is one of a series devoted to the cruise ships of P&O and Princess Cruises.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below. Below this are official
postcards of the fleet
in chronological order. Earlier cruise ships up to 1988 are shown on
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 1
. Ships delivered between 1989-1999 are shown on
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 2
. There is a
Table of Ship Histories
on the
P&O Header Page
.
This page continues the story of the P&O and Princess Cruises fleets, covering the giant cruise ships which have joined the fleet in more recent years. Combining official cards from the two fleets shows the evolution of the original Sitmar designs of
Star Princess
and
Crown/Regal Princess
through
Oriana
to the Grand Class ships and P&O's
Aurora,
which joined the P&O fleet in 2000.
P&O/Princess Cruise Ships from 2000 on this Page:-
Adonia (2)
Arcadia (4)
Artemis
Aurora
Azura
Caribbean Princess
Coral Princess
Diamond Princess (1)
Diamond Princess (2)
Golden Princess (2)
Island Princess (2)
Ocean Princess (1)
Ocean Princess (2)
Oceana
Pacific Princess (2)
Royal Princess (2)
Sapphire Princess
Star Princess (2)
Tahitian Princess (2)
Ventura
- new delivery 2008
- new!
P&O/Princess Cruise Ships up to 1988 on
Page 1
:-
Dawn Princess (1)
- ex-Sitmar
Fair Princess
- ex-Sitmar
Fairstar
- ex-Sitmar
Hyundai Pungak
- ex-Island Princess
Island Princess
- ex-Flagship Cruises
Pacific Princess (1)
- ex-Flagship Cruises
Pacific Sky
- ex-Sky Princess
Princess Patricia
Princess Carla
- Chartered from
Costa Cruises
Princess Italia
- Chartered from
Costa Cruises
Royal Princess
Sea Princess (1)
- later Victoria
Sea Venture
- Flagship Cruises - became Pacific Princess
Sky Princess
- ex-Sitmar
Spirit of London
- later Sun Princess (1)
Sun Princess (1)
- ex-Spirit of London
Victoria
- ex-Sea Princess (1)
P&O/Princess Cruise Ships 1989-1999 on
Page 2
:-
Adonia
Arcadia (3)
Arosa Blu
Crown Princess
Dawn Princess (2)
Golden Princess (1)
Grand Princess
Ocean Village
Oriana(2)
Regal Princess
Sea Princess (2)
Star Princess (1)
Sun Princess (2)
P&O Pages:-
P&O Header Page
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 1
- 1962-1988
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 2
- 1989-1999
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 3
- 2000-2008
- this page!
P&O Liners - Page 1
- 1837-1899
P&O Liners - Page 2
- 1900-1914
P&O Liners - Page 3
- 1915-1939
P&O Liners - Page 4
- 1940-1961
P&O Australia
P&O and Princess Cruises Photographs
P&O and Princess Cruises Cards by Simplon Postcards
Ocean Village
- P&O Subsidiary
Swan Hellenic
- P&O Subsidiary
Associated Pages:-
Arosa Cruises
Sitmar Line
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
Search This Website:-
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P&O/Princess Cruises
Fleet List Part 3: 2000-
Ocean Princess
(Princess Cruises: 2000-2002)
Oceana
(P&O: 2002- )
The fifth
Grand
Class ship (the fourth of 77000grt), introduced in 2000.
Ocean Princess
was transferred to the P&O fleet as
Oceana
in 2002.
The name
Oceana
was previously used on a P&O passenger liner between 1888-1912.
Additional postcards and photographs of
Ocean Princess
are available
on this link
.
Princess Cruises postcard of
Ocean Princess.
The card of
Ocean Princess
included in the
Princess Postcard Set
.
As with the card above, this is actually
Sun
or
Dawn Princess
, since it does not have the enclosed bridge wings introduced on
Sea Princess
.
Ocean Princess
was transferred to the P&O fleet as
Oceana
in 1992.
This is the first official P&O postcard.
Additional postcards and photographs of
Oceana
are available
on this link
.
This P&O postcard is available for sale in the shop.
Aurora
(P&O Cruises: 2000- )
Aurora
entered service in May 2000, built by Meyer-Werft of Papenburg. She was built specifically for the British market, running cruises out of Southampton, and is a development of the
Oriana
design, but with diesel-electric propulsion. The first cruise was aborted after 18 hours due to overheated propeller shaft bearings. repairs were carried out in Hamburg, and she ran for over 24 hours at over 24 knots at the start of the third cruise.
A complete history of this ship is shown
on this link
.
Three official cards were available initially, as shown below:-
This is the Maiden Season card, using the same photo as the card above, but with a white border.
Three further official cards were available in 2001, which are shown below:-
The card above has been reissued with a white border.
Golden Princess (2)
(Princess Cruises: 2001- )
The initial official card of
Golden Princess
uses the same image as the
Grand Princess
card shown above (use of a magnifying glass even shows the name as
Grand Princess
still). She is the second ship in the 108000grt Grand Class, and has replaced
Grand Princess
on her Mediterranean and Caribbean itineraries. The third sister,
Star Princess
, is due in 2002, and will operate out of LA to Mexico.
Photographs of the Maiden Voyage of
Golden Princess
are available
on this link
.
A sample is shown below, photographed by Ian Boyle.
Star Princess (2)
(Princess Cruises: 2002- )
Star Princess (2) is the third ship in the 108000grt Grand Class, which entered service out of Los Angeles in March 2002. Photographs of the
Star Princess
are available
on this link
.
The official postcard is yet again a re-issue of the
Grand Princess
, although the name has been removed on this version.
Tahitian Princess
(Princess Cruises: 2002-2009)
Ocean Princess (2)
(Princess Cruises: 2002-2009)
Two of the bankrupt
Renaissance Cruises
fleet, R3 and R4, were acquired for the Princess fleet in 2002.
R4 (built 1999 in St Nazaire) became the
Tahitian Princess
in 2002 and was initially used all year round from Tahiti. In 2009 she was renamed
Ocean Princess (2)
. She is due to be sold in spring 2016.
Official Princess postcard of
Tahitian Princess
.
Pacific Princess (2)
(Princess Cruises: 2002- )
Two of the bankrupt
Renaissance Cruises
fleet, R3 and R4, were acquired for the Princess fleet in 2002.
R3 became
Pacific Princess (2)
. Additional photos of
Pacific Princess (2)
are shown
on this link
. She is due to be sold in spring 2016.
Official Princess postcard of
Pacific Princess (2)
.
An advance Princess publicity image of
Pacific Princess (2)
.
Photograph of
Pacific Princess (2)
by Marvin Jensen.
Royal Princess (2)
(Princess Cruises: 2006-2011)
Adonia (2)
(P&O Cruises: 2011-2016)
Swan Hellenic
chartered the R8 of failed Renaissance Cruises from 2002 as
Minerva II
.
Minerva II
became the
Royal Princess (2)
with Princess Cruises in 2006. She was transferred to P&O Cruises as the
Adonia (2)
in May 2011. Sisters
Pacific Princess (2)
and
Ocean Princess (2)
are being sold in 2016.
From April 2016,
Adonia (2)
will be reassigned to a new brand called fathom (
www.fathom.org
), focusing on the growing number of people who want to work alongside local communities as part of their travel experience in areas such as education, the environment and economic development. She will be sailing out of Miami to the Dominican Republic on a weekly basis and passengers will be working on programmes that make a positive social impact on the communities they visit.
Adonia (2)
will continue to be part of the P&O Cruises fleet and will be based in America.
P&O official postcards of
Adonia (2)
P&O publicity image of
Adonia (2)
Adonia (2)
leaving Southampton - seen from Hythe
Photo: ŠIan Boyle 26th June 2011
Adonia (2)
leaving Southampton - seen from Calshot
Photo: ŠIan Boyle 26th June 2011
Coral Princess
(Princess Cruises: 2002- )
Two sisterships of 91627grt were ordered from Chantier Atlantique, St Nazaire, for delivery in 2002/2003 as
Coral Princess
and
Island Princess (2)
.
An official Princess postcard of
Coral Princess
.
An official Princess publicity image of
Coral Princess
.
Photograph of
Coral Princess
by Marvin Jensen.
Inaugural call at San Francisco, 8th May 2003.
Photograph of
Coral Princess
by Marvin Jensen.
Inaugural call at San Francisco, 8th May 2003.
Island Princess (2)
(Princess Cruises: 2003- )
Island Princess (2)
is the second of two sisterships of 91627grt built by Chantier Atlantique, St Nazaire. The first sister,
Coral Princess
,
was delivetred in 2002.
An official Princess postcard of
Island Princess (2)
.
An official Princess postcard of
Island Princess (2)
.
Diamond Princess (2)
(Princess Cruises: 2004- )
Two sisterships of 113000grt were ordered from Mitsubishi in Japan, to be named
Diamond Princess
and
Sapphire Princess.
Diamond Princess (1)
was seriously damaged by a fire whilst under construction at Nagasaki on 1st October 2002. The second ship of the class was renamed
Diamond Princess (2)
for 2004 delivery.
Standard-sized Princess postcard of
Diamond Princess (2)
.
Oversized Princess postcard of
Diamond Princess (2)
.
Enlarged image from Princess postcard above of
Diamond Princess (2)
.
An advance Princess publicity image of
Diamond Princess (2)
.
An advance Princess publicity image of
Diamond Princess (2)
.
Caribbean Princess
(Princess Cruises: 2004- )
Caribbean Princess (2)
is a slightly enlarged version of the original Grand Class design, 120,000grt in size compared to 109,000grt. She carries 3000 (compared to 2600) passengers in lower berths, although the maxi,um for both designs is the same at 3300.
Oversized Princess postcard of
Caribbean Princess (2)
.
Princess postcard of
Caribbean Princess (2)
.
Diamond Princess (1)
Sapphire Princess
(Princess Cruises: 2004- )
Two sisterships of 113000grt were ordered from Mitsubishi in Japan, to be named
Diamond Princess
and
Sapphire Princess.
Two photos of
Diamond Princess (1)
under construction at Nagasaki on 31st May 2002. She was originally due to enter service in 2003. On 1st October 2002, a fire started in the Art Gallery, which spread to much of the ship, causing extensive damage. Princess have stated that the ship will be rebuilt, but I do not have an estimated completion date. The second ship of the class was renamed
Diamond Princess (2)
for 2003 delivery, and
Diamond Princess (1)
will enter service as
Sapphire Princess
.
Photo: Ken Murayama.
Photo: Ken Murayama.
News photo of
Diamond Princess
on fire.
Arcadia (4)
(P&O Cruises: 2005- )
Arcadia
is the fourth ship of this name in the P&O fleet.
Arcadia (4)
entered service in April 2005, built by Fincantieri of Italy. She was originally ordered for
Carnival
subsidiary
Holland America
, but was later reassigned as the
Queen Victoria
of
Cunard Line
. Finally, she was transferred to P&O Cruises as the
Arcadia (4)
. A new
Queen Victoria
of similar design has been ordered from Fincantieri for delivery to Cunard in 2007.
Complete history of
Arcadia (4)
Large publicity image of
Queen Victoria (1)
, issued by the builders Fincantieri.
The details on the back will be opened in a new window
on this link
.
The first official P&O postcard of
Arcadia (4)
.
Artemis
(P&O Cruises: 2005- )
Artemis
was the
Royal Princess
, transferred from the Princess to the P&O fleet in the spring of 2005, and her earlier history is covered on
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 1
.
Complete history of
Royal Princess - Artemis
Official P&O postcard of
Artemis.
Ventura
(P&O Cruises: 2008- )
It was announced in September 2005 that one of two ships due for delivery from Italian shipbuilders Fincantieri in 2008 had been allocated to P&O Cruises. The new 116,000 tonne cruise ship, to be named
Ventura
, will be the largest ever built specifically for Britain and will carry 3,100 passengers and 1,200 officers and crew.
More images of Ventura
Advance P&O publicity image of
Ventura
.
Advance P&O publicity image of
Ventura
.
Click to open larger image in new window
Azura
(P&O Cruises: 2010- )
More images of Azura
Azura approaching the dry dock at Trieste prior to sea trials
Photo: � Sergio de Luyk, 21st February 2010
Click to open larger image in a new window
Princess Cruises Fleet Postcard Set
In 2000, a set of 12 postcards was available on Princess ships, showing the fleet of that year. The cards come enclosed in an attractive card wallet, the cover of which is shown below. Some of the cards are similar to those issued by Princess previously. The card backs are all different, however, showing a large Princess logo. The distributor (the Smith Novelty Company of San Francisco) is also named, unlike all previous Princess cards. The cards were not available on
Star Princess
in 2002.
The set of 12 cards consists of 10 individual ship portraits, a card showing the Princess logo, and a composite card showing miniatures of the 10 ship portraits. The latter design was also used on the wallet back. This composite postcard is shown below. The individual portrait cards are shown full size under the respective ship headings elsewhere on this page.
The postcard showing the Princess logo.
P&O/Princess Fleet and Advertising Cards
A POSH Club 'Welcome Aboard' card of the 1999 P&O Cruises fleet, supplied to members who take a cruise (the POSH Club is P&O's frequent travellers club).
A POSH Club 'Welcome Aboard' card of the 2000 P&O Cruises fleet, supplied to members who take a cruise.
A POSH Club 'Welcome Aboard' card of the 2002 P&O Cruises fleet, showing both
Victoria
and
Oceana
, which will not be in the fleet simultaneously.
A Princess advertising card issued with UK magazines in 2001.
P&O Header Page
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 1
-
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 2
-
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 3