|
|
 |
 MS Star Princess
(2002)
A PARNAMI Cruise Page
Star Princess was built in Italy for an approximate cost of $450 million. She entered service February 2002 and is the third of three virtually identical ships, collectively known as the Grand Princess Class.
Construction on Star Princess began in October of 1999 with her design reflecting lessons learned through several years of operating older sisters Grand and Golden Princess. Most notably, Princess has substantially enlarged the children's facilities making Star Princess friendlier to passengers with families. Other "evolutionary" changes made since the debut of Grand Princess include the opening up of the central "crew only" stairway to passengers, the re-designation of the former business center as "AOL Internet Café"; an enlarged spa/fitness area; and, some altered/revised locations for public areas made with an eye toward helping to facilitate passenger flow and comfort.
Esthetically, Star Princess remains a huge ship, dominating the skylines of most of the ports she visits. Passengers touring Star's ports of call are unlikely to catch the local population by surprise: everyone WILL know you are there!
Although Star can carry upwards of 3,100 passengers, her crew of 1200 proves themselves to be adept at moving people on or off the ship, whether via gangways or to waiting tenders. Princess' security procedures require all embarking/debarking passengers to clock on or off the ship each time they do so. The process involves inserting the "cruise card" which serves as passenger ID, credit card and room key, into machines strategically located at the gangway's/tender platforms. Having done so, an electronic photo of the card's actual owner appears on security monitors for ship's personnel to compare with the person actually boarding. Princess was the first major cruise line to implement this system which, since, has become almost universally implemented in the industry.
Externally, ship watchers, easily, can differentiate Star Princess from her earlier siblings. A common, not so flattering observation from many past passengers regarding Grand Princess' silhouette likened it to that of a shopping cart, with Skywalker's Lounge, at the top of the ship, representing the handle. With Star Princess, that profile has been softened slightly; the Lounge's lines now "wrapping around" the structure versus the "capped end's" shared by the previous two ships. The resultant structure, not only esthetically, is more pleasing, its improved aerodynamics and reduced bulk lend improvements to passenger comfort as well.
Star Princess and Golden Princess share a design feature different from that on Grand Princess. On Grand Princess, the Grand Suite and several other balcony cabins are located just forward of the Neptune's Reef & Pool on Lido Deck, with balconies overhanging the superstructure and included as part of the overhang provided to widen the Neptune's pool area. Golden and Star, on the other hand, having relocated their Grand Suites to the stern, no longer had a need to extend the Neptune's Reef deck overhang forward to encompass cabin areas, the overhang now beginning with the Neptune's Reef pool. These alterations between the three ships, for the observant, make each readily identifiable.
Star Princess is 951 feet long, 118 feet wide (159 at the Bridge Wing), with a 26 foot draft. She is registered in Bermuda with British/Italian officers and an International crew. Her service speed is 22 knots with a top speed of 24 knots. Six electric generators that, in turn are powered by six diesel engines drive two fixed pitch propellers. Bucking the current trend, (and problems associated with them) Star Princess is fitted with conventional propeller shafts/rudders, NOT azimuthing pods. She has two sister ships, Grand Princess and Golden Princess.
Copyright © 2002 Mel Litzenberger. All Rights Reserved
Connect to:
Tour Star Princess:
E-mail: PARNAMI@aol.com
|
|
