About the Ships

Touring the Queen Mary 2

Posted on July 8, 2013

This is our second sailing on the QM2. Our first was a coastal cruise from New York to Bar Harbour to Halifax then back to New York. It was an autumn cruise in October and we enjoyed the ship very much. QM2 is regarded as an ocean liner as opposed to a cruise ship and it is reflected in her design. She presents a much higher freeboard than most ships, her draft is deeper and her foredeck is designed to clear water that might break over the bow in heavy weather. I have compiled her technical specifications below.

Her namesake, Queen Mary, first put to sea on her maiden voyage in 1936. Her basic specifications were:

Gross Tonnage – 81,237

Length – 1,019.4 feet

Beam – 118 feet

Cruising speed – 28.5 knots

Passengers – 2,139

Crew – 1,101

Queen Mary 2

Class:                  Queen (individual design)

Name:RMS Queen Mary 2

Namesake:Queen Mary

Owner:Carnival plc[1]

Operator:Cunard Line

Port of registry:Hamilton, Bermuda

Builder:STX Europe Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France

SIZE

Gross tonnage:         151,400

Length:                    1,132 feet

Beam:                      135 feet at the waterline

Draft:                       32 feet 10 inches

Height:                     236 feet keel to funnel

TECHNICAL

Speed:                     30 knots (max); 26 knots (service)

Power Plant:           4 diesels (each capable of producing 16.8 MW), 2 gas turbines (each capable of producing 25 MW)

Propulsion:             2 fixed pods; 2 azipods

Thrusters:              3 (3.2 MW)

PEOPLE

Passengers:            2,620 (1,330 cabins, 173 suites)

Crew:                     1,253

Officers:                British

Stephen Payne Interview

Queen Mary 2 Cunard Technical

Wikipedia Queen Mary 2


About the Crown Princess

Posted on July 12, 2013

As we complete our eastbound Trans-Atlantic crossing and make port in Southampton we will disembark at one pier and re-embark the Crown Princess at another. The Crown Princess is the second largest ship on which we will sail during this trip. We will be aboard for our 14 day Baltic tour. We sailed once on the first Crown Princess and we have sailed on earlier Grand Class ships but on neither of the Crown’s sister ships, the Emerald and Ruby. As you can see, the first Crown was about half the size of the current vessel.

Name: 1990—2002: Crown Princess (earlier) Now the P&O Pacific Jewel

Tonnage: 69,845 GT

Length: 245.08 m (804 ft 1 in)

Beam: 32.25 m (105 ft 10 in)

Draught: 7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)

Decks: 11

Crown Princess

Class & type:Grand-class cruise ship

Name:Crown Princess

Owner:Carnival plc

Operator:Princess Cruise Line

Port of registry:   Bermuda

Builder:Fincantieri

SIZE

TONNAGE:                113,000 gross tons

LENGTH:                   951 feet

BEAM:                       118 feet (159 feet including bridge wings)

DRAFT:                     27.88 feet

HEIGHT:                    195 feet

TECHNICAL

SPEED:                      21.5 knots (service) 23   knots (maximum)

POWER PLANT:         Diesel electric Wärtsilä-Sulzer 16ZAV40S and 12ZAV40S diesel engines

PROPULSION:           Two fixed pitch propellers with Siemens electric propulsion (19 MW each)

REGISTRY:                Bermuda

OWNER:                    Princess Cruises

BUILDER:                  Fincantieri (Italy)

PEOPLE

CAPACITY:                3,080

CREW:                       1,200

ENTERED SERVICE:   June 2006

Ship Profile

Wikipedia

About the Ocean Princess

Posted on July 13, 2013

The smallest of the three ships on this tour will be the Ocean Princess. She is what is referred to as an R-Class ship, one of eight originally built for Renaissance Cruises. Now, 12 to 15 years later, Renaissance Cruises is no more but all eight ships are still in service. Two are with Princess Cruises as the Ocean Princess and the Pacific Princess, another is sailing for Hapag-Lloyd as the Columbus 2, two more sail as the Oceania Nautica and Regatta, another pair ply the seas as Azamara Journey and quest while the eighth in now the Adonia with P&O.

We are truly looking forward to this ship. It has a great reputation and it will be the first time we have sailed on such a small, intimate vessel.

Ocean Princess

Class & type:R class cruise ship

Name:1999–2002: R Four

2002–2009: Tahitian Princess

2009-present Ocean Princess

Owner:1999–2001: Renaissance Cruises

2002–present: Princess Cruises

Operator:1999–2001: Renaissance Cruises

2001–2002: laid up

2002–present: Princess Cruises

Port of registry:  Liberia, Monrovia 1999–2002

 Gibraltar 2002–2005

Bermuda, Hamilton 2005–present

Builder:Chantiers de l’Atlantique

St. Nazaire, France

SIZE

TONNAGE:                32,277 gross tons

LENGTH:                   594 feet

BEAM:                       84 feet

DRAFT:                     19.5 feet

TECHNICAL

SPEED:                      20 knots

POWER PLANT:         Diesel electric 4 × Wärtsilä 12V32 diesel engines combined 13,500 kW

PROPULSION:      Two propellers

Speed:18 kn (33.34 km/h)

REGISTRY:           Bermuda

LINE:Princess Cruises

BUILDER:             Chantiers de l’Atlantique (France)

PEOPLE

Decks:11 (9 passenger accessible)[3]

CAPACITY:            680

CREW:                   373

Ocean Princess Profile

Wikipedia

© Edward Thorpe, 2012, 2013