Gary Buchanan gets a full inside look at next year’s all-new offering from
Princess Cruises
A Royal T
64 WORLD OF CRUISING I Winter 2012-13
Future
he birth of Princess Cruises can be traced back to the 1962 World Fair in Seattle when local businessman Stanley McDonald came up with a unique way of solving a shortage of hotel rooms by chartering several ships to offer accommodation. Three years later this entrepreneur – who was to become the founder of Princess Cruises – saw the potential of cruising as a holiday choice and chartered the Princess Patricia, at the time owned by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. He liked the name so much he christened his fledgling company Princess Cruises and began operating sailings to the Mexican Riviera.
In 1974, the company was bought by P&O, then
the world’s largest shipping company with 320 ocean-going vessels. This was followed in 1988 when P&O/Princess merged with Italian line Sitmar
Cruises. Then, 12 years later, Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises fought a protracted battle to buy Princess. The victor was Carnival. The first purpose-built ship for P&O/Princess
was the 44,588-ton Royal Princess, constructed at the Wartsila Shipyard in Finland. When this 1,260-passenger ship entered service in 1984 she was the largest new British passenger ship for a decade. A defining feature of this elegant ship, with her sleek lines and long tapered bow, was the all outside cabin concept. This, the most luxurious ship of the fleet at the
time, was christened by Her Royal Highness, Diana Princess of Wales on November 15, 1984. I well remember this blustery day as it was the first such ceremony I ever attended. Twenty eight years later, memories of the late Princess with her coy appearance looking radiant
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