Sun Princess now the latest ship with mechanical issues

Jason · August 20, 2013

Princess Cruises has canceled today's sailing of the 1,950-passenger Sun Princess, citing a power problem.

The 18-year-old vessel had just emerged from a $30 million overhaul in a Singapore dry dock and had been scheduled to sail a 14-night voyage from the city to Freemantle, Australia.

In a statement sent to USA TODAY, Princess spokeswoman Karen Candy says a malfunction occurred in the ship's switchboard resulting in "limited onboard power hindering (the ship's) ability to run all hotel operations."

The Sun Princess is the second vessel this week operated by a major cruise line that has been beset by mechanical problems. Celebrity Cruises' 2,138-passenger Celebrity Millennium made an unscheduled return to Ketchikan, Alaska late Sunday due to a propulsion issue and remains docked in the port today undergoing evaluation.

The problems come nearly six months after a string of mechanical issues on Carnival ships left many Americans questioning the reliability and safety of cruise ships.

Princess says the Sun Princess' next sailing -- an 11-night cruise from Freemantle to Singapore scheduled for Sept. 3 -- will go ahead as planned after repairs are made.

Passengers on today's sailing will receive a full refund, a credit for a future cruise and reimbursement for incidental costs related to the canceled sailing, Princess says.

By Gene Sloan, USA Today

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DebbieandJerry · August 20, 2013

wow

Mach · August 21, 2013

When the entire thing about the Triumph reared it's ugly head I can't tell you how many clients I told 'It's a machine... occasionally, things go wrong.' citing issues with cars not starting, washing machines needing repair, etc.

It's a ship... it's not perfect. Nothing is. Something will break eventually. Face it.

Now, if we could get the media to treat all cruise lines equally...

:angry:

jacketwatch · August 21, 2013

And it happened after an overhaul and its in Singapore to boot. I wonder what Princess will do for those who paid their own air to get there and back.

DebbieandJerry · August 21, 2013

Still haven't seen anything in the newspaper about this ship or the Celebrity ship. Makes you want to wonder ...

Mach · August 21, 2013

I saw a very short piece on Fox News about the Celebrity ship. It lasted less than 20 seconds, if that long. There were, of course, references to the Carnival Triumph.

Mach · August 22, 2013

Princess has stated that the Sun Princess will be delayed returning to service by at least two weeks...

Additionally, Celebrity has announced that they have cancelled the next four sailing for the Celebrity Milennium due to the ongoing issues with the ship's propulsion systems...

http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/news/c_news.asp

Where's the media???