Home
SHIPS A-Z
Memories of the Seas
AG EMS
AIDA CRUISES
ASUKA CRUISE (NYK)
AZAMARA CLUB CRUISES
BLACK SEA SHIPPINGco
CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE
CELEBRITY CRUISES
CELESTYAL CRUISES
CLASSIC INTERNATION.
CMV CRUISES
COSTA CRUISES
CRYSTAL CRUISES
CUNARD LINE
DFDS SEAWAYS
DISNEY CRUISES
DREAM CRUISES
EVT
FJORD LINE
FRED. OLSEN LINES
FTI CRUISES
GRAND CIRCLE CRUISES
HAPAG-LLOYD
HOLLAND AMERICA LINE
HOLLAND NORWAY LINES
HURTIG RUTEN
IBEROCRUCEROS
KRISTINA CRUISES
LINDBLAD EXPEDITIONS
MAJESTIC INTERNAT.
MARELLA CRUISES
MERCY SHIPS
MITSUI OSK LINES
MSC CRUISES
NICKO CRUISES
NOBLE CALEDONIA
NORDIC JET LINE
NORWEGIAN CRUISELINE
OCEANIA CRUISES
OCEANWIDE EXPEDITION
PEACEBOAT
PHOENIX REISEN
PLANTOURS & PARTNER
P&O CRUISES
P&O FERRIES
PONANT
PRINCESS CRUISES
Discovery
Pacific Princess (I)
Mona Lisa
Crown Princess (I)
Regal Princess (I)
Sea Princess (II)
Grand Princess
Golden Princess (II)
Star Princess (II)
Pacific Princess(II)
Ocean Princess (III)
Royal Princess (II)
Crown Princess (II)
Emerald Princess
Royal Princess (III)
Regal Princess (II)
Sky Princess (II)
PULLMANTUR CRUISES
QUARK EXPEDITIONS
REDERIJ DOEKSEN
REGENT SEVEN SEAS
RENAISSANCE CRUISES
ROYAL CARIBBEAN
ROYAL OLYMPIC
SAGA CRUISES
SCENIC CRUISES
SEABOURN CRUISE LINE
SEA CLOUD CRUISES
SERENISSIMA CRUISES
SILVERSEA CRUISES
STAR CLIPPERS
STATEN ISLAND FERRY
STENA LINE
SWAN HELLENIC
TESO
THE WORLD
TUI CRUISES
VENUS CRUISE (JCL)
VIKING OCEAN CRUISES
VIRGIN VOYAGES
VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY
VOYAGES TO ANTIQUITY
WAVERLEY
WINDSTAR CRUISES

Sea Princess (II) 

Sea Princess was the thirth of the class to be built, but the first where the bridgewings were glass-enclosed. Her yardnumber was 5998.
 
The 'Sun Class' of P&O Princess Cruises was built on one of the biggest cruiseship-building wharves of the last decades, Fincantieri Navali Italiani at Monfalcone, near Venice. This new class of ships started with the  Sun Princess in 1995. It was the second time this name was used by the company. The first Sun Princess sailed for Princess between 1974 and 1989 and was the former Spirit Of London of P&O.
At the time the new  Sun Princess floated out, she was the biggest passengership in the world. She has a tonnage measure of 77.441 and her lenght is 261,22 meters. The ship is 32,25 meters wide and has a draft of 7,95 meters. There are 14 decks available to the passengers. The second ship was Dawn Princess in 1996, followed by Sea Princess in 1998 and Ocean Princess in 1999. Their exteriour is first of all massive, but their funnels are just huge. Within it, the tenniscourt is also housed. The first two ships were built with the bridgewings open, but the second pair had the wings enclosed, measuring them a little bit bigger at 77.499 tons. These ships are really good examples of nineties-cruiseship architecture. In some way I think these princesses can be called 'the' ships of the nineties because they are the forerunners of the real megaships. Although they were built as some of the biggest cruiseships in the world, just ten years later they can be called midsized.
 
With Princess Cruises expanding their fleet with bigger and bigger ships especially between the year 2000 and 2005, two of the sun-class were transferred to P&O Cruises in this period. The Ocean Princess was to become Oceana in 2002 and she was joined in the P&O fleet by the former Sea Princess as Adonia in 2003. The name Adonia is a new one for P&O Cruises that has never been used in their long history before. The name was chosen because of the purpose of this ship, that was to be only for passengers of over 18 years of age. She was an adults only ship, hence the name Adults Only-ia. The ships were officially named together in Southampton on the 22nd of may 2003. The BBC covered the naming on live television, mostly because these ships would also be flying the British flag and the British passengerfleet was growing every year, reviving a era where Britain ruled the sea with passengerliners.

Sea Princess as seen in 2004 under the name of Adonia, sailing for P&O Cruises.

But soon it became clear that Carnival was planning to order new ships for P&O Cruises itself and the previously transferred ships would go back to Princess in time. When the fourth Arcadia was launched for the British company, P&O waved Adonia goodbye after just two years when the new Arcadia was taken into service. Adonia recieved her old name as Sea Princess again in 2005. Also, a very big televisionscreen was added to the Lido Deck for entertaining her Princess passengers, something that was added throughout the fleet untill in 2011 every Princess-ship had one of these giant screens. As Sea Princess, she is still dedicated to the British market, sailing out of Southampton, and that gives her a little bit of another atmosphere then her fleetmates of the American orientated Princess Cruises.
Top