News Article

Princess Cruises Celebrates 40 Years of Operation
Company was Pioneer of Modern-day Cruising

One of the pioneers of the modern-day cruise industry, Princess Cruises began as a one-ship company operating cruises to the Mexican Riviera in 1965. Celebrating 40 years of operation in 2005, the Los Angeles area-based company ranks as one of the largest cruise lines in the industry, with 14 ships cruising to all seven continents. Today Princess is a leader in the rapidly growing cruise market, proudly sailing its ships to more worldwide destinations than any other major line, with cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska, Mexico, Panama Canal, Australia/New Zealand, South Pacific, Hawaii/Tahiti, Europe, India, Africa, Asia, South America/Amazon, Canada/New England and Antarctica.

Early History

The company's first ship was a 6,000-ton ferry vessel chartered from the Canadian Pacific Railway named Princess Patricia, from which the "Princess" company name emerged. During the winters of 1965 and 1966, Princess "Pat" pioneered cruising to Mexico's West Coast, and became an overnight success. After two highly successful seasons and with demand far exceeding the capacity of the small vessel, Princess chartered the newly completed Italian ship M/S Italia and renamed her Princess Italia.

The popularity of Princess Italia spurred yet a greater interest in the company's cruises, resulting in the charter of SS Carla -- renamed Princess Carla -- in 1968. In 1971, the new Norwegian ship, Island Venture, joined the growing Princess fleet and became Island Princess in the fall of 1972.

In 1974, as Princess looked for new ways to meet the increasing popularity of its product, the company entered into negotiations with the London-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the world's largest and oldest shipping company, culminating in P&O's acquisition of Princess Cruises. The new partnership instantly placed Princess Cruises in the number-one spot in West Coast cruise travel.

With the union of P&O and Princess, Island Princess was purchased outright, and both the chartered Italia and Carla were returned to their owners. P&O's new Spirit of London was renamed Sun Princess and Island Princess' twin sister, Sea Venture, was bought and transformed to become Pacific Princess.

Princess Becomes "The Love Boat"

By the end of 1975, Princess Cruises owned a fleet of some of the finest and most modern passenger cruise ships in the world. In addition, Princess soon became a household name as the star of the long-running television series, The Love Boat, a moniker that today is still synonymous with the company.

It began when television producer Douglas S. Cramer, who had created the popular television series Love American Style, decided to transplant his popular comedy vignette series from its studio setting to the environs of a modern cruise ship. In searching out a location for the movie pilot of what was to become his Love Boat television series, Cramer found the ideal setting with the real thing -- a Princess ship. The rest is history and the resulting show has been widely credited with introducing millions of viewers to the concept of a contemporary cruise vacation, and the dramatic expansion of the industry to its current size.

In 1998, Princess returned to television in a revised version of the popular show, Love Boat: The Next Wave. The show, which ran for two seasons on the UPN network, was set aboard Sun Princess.

Shipbuilding Expands

In 1984, the company's newly built Royal Princess, with its all-outside cabins, was a trendsetter for the bigger "superships" to come, and introduced new standards of elegance and innovative concepts in comfort and space. The addition of P&O's Sea Princess in 1986 expanded the Princess fleet to five ships.

With the company's desire to maintain its leadership position in the burgeoning worldwide cruise industry, Los Angeles-based Sitmar Cruises was acquired in 1988, which brought the number of ships to nine with the addition of Fair Princess, Sky Princess and Dawn Princess. In 1989 Star Princess, which was originally under construction for Sitmar, joined the Princess fleet. In 1991, the line's Sea Princess was returned to parent company P&O to serve the European cruise market.

The introduction of two new 70,000-ton "superships" -- Crown Princess in 1990 and Regal Princess in 1991 -- launched yet another era of sea-going innovation for the line, with their distinct dolphin-like exteriors designed by the renowned architect Renzo Piano, of Pompidou Center fame.

This new spate of shipbuilding ushered in a modernization program that saw a number of changes to the fleet, including ships that were retired or reassigned. In 1993, the chartered Golden Princess joined the Princess fleet, replacing the retiring Dawn Princess. Its sister ship, Fair Princess, left the Princess fleet following its 1995 Alaska season and was repositioned to P&O Australia. Golden Princess was retired from the Princess fleet in 1996. In fall 1997, the line's popular Star Princess was renamed Arcadia and turned over to P&O for British market cruising. In Spring 1999, Island Princess was sold to enter the Asian cruise market, and the original Pacific Princess left the fleet in 2002.

Dramatic Growth

In 1995 the line entered a new era defined by innovative ship design and an impressive newbuild program. A new concept in cruising, introduced as Grand Class Cruising? and subsequently named Personal Choice Cruising?, redefined the idea of a cruise vacation by offering passengers a greater range of dining and entertainment options, introducing the concept of 24-hour dining, and making the luxury of a private balcony an affordable amenity for all rather than a pricey feature for an exclusive few. Beginning with the 77,000-ton Sun Princess, which at the time was the largest cruise ship in the world, Princess began introducing ships featuring multiple dining and entertainment venues and hundreds of balcony staterooms. The shipbuilding program continued with a number of sister ships, including Dawn Princess in 1997, Sea Princess in 1998, and Ocean Princess in 2000.

However, the most dramatic step in the line's newbuild program came with the 1998 introduction of the 109,000-ton Grand Princess, which debuted as the world's largest and most expensive cruise ship. The ship brought the concept of choice in cruising to a new level and featured the never-before-seen total of three main dining rooms and entertainment lounges, a greatly expanded number of alternative dining venues, and an array of new features, including a wedding chapel, a dramatic nightlclub 15 decks above the ocean and more balconies than on any other cruise ship. This ship proved remarkably popular and is spawned an entirely new class of ships which incorporate these features today -- Golden Princess (2001), Star Princess (2002) and Caribbean Princess (2004).

The Princess fleet expansion continued with the introduction of two new ship designs based on these successful models. Coral Princess (2003) and Island Princess (2003) were conceived to offer many of the Personal Choice features of Grand Princess in a smaller vessel that could transit the Panama Canal. The Grand Princess design also inspired Diamond Princess (2004) and Sapphire Princess (2004), which offered some additional elements such as themed dining rooms. All four of these vessels also were powered by a new gas turbine/diesel engine combination that allowed for efficient and environmentally sound operation.

In addition to this newbuilding program, Princess' fleet also saw the addition of two smaller vessels, Tahitian Princess and a new Pacific Princess which were purchased in 2002. Formerly sailing for Renaissance Cruises, these 670-passenger ships diversified the Princess fleet to offer passengers a wide range of choice in vessel size.

During this period, several Princess ships, including Sky Princess, Crown Princess, Sea Princess and Ocean Princess were moved to other companies within the P&O corporation, giving Princess a current fleet of 14 ships. In 2005 another ship, Royal Princess will also move to P&O Cruises and Sea Princess will return to the Princess fleet. "World's Leading Cruise Lines"

In 2003, Princess' corporate ownership changed again with the merger of parent company P&O Princess Cruises, plc (which had de-merged from the Penninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company in 2000) and cruise giant Carnival Corporation. With this new chapter, Princess joined the ranks of the "World's Leading Cruise Lines," a group of widely diverse cruise companies dedicated to offering a quality vacations.

An Industry Leader

As Princess celebrates its 40th year, the company's reputation as a leader in the cruise industry rests, as it long has, its innovative ship design, unique and diverse itineraries, and industry innovations that have been instrumental in the growing popularity of the modern-day cruise vacation.