MS ''Azamara Onward,'' formerly ''R Three'' and ''Pacific Princess'' is a cruise ship 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 for Renaissance Cruises. 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 Renaissance Cruises. 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 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 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''. 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: 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 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 before embarking on the 2020 World Cruise. She was scheduled to return to Alaska in the summer of 2020, sailing between Vancouver and Whittier, before returning to the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

for itineraries serving French Polynesia and Oceania. In January 2021 Carnival announced the sale of the ship.

Incidents

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

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 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, Phuket, Thailand, 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. 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, Hawaii. 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