CROWN PRINCESS
May 12, 2023 | Vancouver, British Columbia
Crown Princess (Princess Cruises) is docked at Canada Place in Vancouver on May 12, 2023. The Crown-class ship was photographed two days after we completed our Norwegian Spirit Fire & Ice voyage in Vancouver, during the opening weeks of the 2023 Alaska cruise season.
Crown Princess is docked at Canada Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 12, 2023. We photographed the Princess Cruises ship two days after completing our Norwegian Spirit Fire & Ice voyage, during several days in Vancouver surrounding the conclusion of that journey.
Built by Fincantieri at Monfalcone, Italy, Crown Princess entered service in 2006. Her inaugural cruise began on June 14, and television personality and entrepreneur Martha Stewart served as the ship’s christener.
At approximately 113,561 gross tons and 952 feet long, Crown Princess belongs to the generation of large Princess ships developed from the Grand-class platform. Her design combines extensive balcony accommodations with several features that became closely associated with Princess Cruises, including the Piazza, Movies Under the Stars and The Sanctuary.
Information List
Name: Crown Princess
Operator: Princess Cruises
Class: Crown class
Builder: Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiani, Monfalcone, Italy
Inaugural Cruise: June 14, 2006
Gross Tonnage: 113,561 GT
Length: 952 feet / 290 meters
Beam: 118 feet excluding bridge wings
Draft: 27 feet
Guest Capacity: Approximately 3,090 lower berths
Crew: Approximately 1,200
Guest Staterooms: Approximately 1,545
Decks: 19
Christener: Martha Stewart
Registry: Bermuda
Gallery Date: May 12, 2023
Gallery Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
History and Features
Development and Construction:
Crown Princess was built by Fincantieri at Monfalcone, Italy, for Princess Cruises.
Her inaugural cruise began on June 14, 2006.
The ship developed the basic platform established by Princess Cruises’ earlier Grand-class vessels.
At 113,561 gross tons, she was among the larger ships in the Princess fleet when introduced.
Her design emphasizes balcony accommodations, multiple dining and entertainment venues and extensive outdoor deck space.
Crown-Class Design:
Crown Princess is generally identified as the lead ship of Princess Cruises’ Crown-class group.
The design is closely related to the earlier Grand-class ships but incorporates changes in passenger capacity and upper-deck arrangements.
Her recognizable profile includes the elevated Skywalkers Nightclub toward the stern.
Large numbers of balcony cabins line both sides of the superstructure.
The ship’s basic design was continued and developed aboard other Princess vessels of the same generation.
Passenger Spaces:
The Piazza serves as a central atrium and gathering space aboard Crown Princess.
Princess Theater and several lounges provide entertainment throughout the ship.
The Sanctuary offers an adults-only outdoor retreat.
Movies Under the Stars brings films, concerts and other programming to a large poolside screen.
Dining venues include three main dining rooms, specialty restaurants, casual dining and several cafés and bars.
Outdoor facilities include multiple pools, whirlpools, sports areas and open decks.
Princess Cruises Service:
Crown Princess has operated in numerous regions during a career extending across two decades.
Her deployments have included Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, the Pacific and longer international itineraries.
Vancouver has served as an important gateway during her Alaska operations.
The ship’s combination of substantial passenger capacity and open viewing areas makes her well suited to voyages where scenic cruising is an important part of the itinerary.
May 12, 2023 – Vancouver:
These photographs show Crown Princess alongside Canada Place on May 12, 2023.
The terminal places cruise ships directly beside downtown Vancouver and Burrard Inlet.
The mountains of the North Shore provide a dramatic background to ships docked at Canada Place.
May marked the opening portion of Vancouver’s 2023 Alaska cruise season.
The gallery documents Crown Princess seventeen years after she entered Princess Cruises service.
After Our Norwegian Spirit Fire & Ice Voyage:
We photographed Crown Princess two days after completing our 16-night Fire & Ice voyage aboard Norwegian Spirit.
We had arrived in Vancouver aboard Norwegian Spirit on May 10 after traveling from Hawaii across the Pacific and through Southeast Alaska.
Volendam was photographed at Canada Place on our May 10 disembarkation day.
On May 11, we photographed Radiance of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas in Vancouver.
The May 12 Crown Princess photographs continued that sequence of passenger ships documented while we remained in Vancouver after the cruise.
These Vancouver galleries therefore provide additional context surrounding the conclusion of the larger 2023 Fire & Ice journey without being individual voyage days themselves.
An Evolving Princess Design:
Crown Princess belongs to a generation that helped establish many features still associated with the Princess Cruises experience.
The Piazza created a more active central gathering space than the traditional atriums aboard earlier ships.
Movies Under the Stars brought large-scale outdoor entertainment to the pool deck.
The Sanctuary provided a quieter adults-only alternative to the ship’s busier outdoor areas.
These concepts continued to appear aboard later Princess ships even as the fleet moved toward larger and substantially different designs.
Continued Service:
Princess Cruises has continued to update Crown Princess throughout her career.
Refurbishments have refreshed accommodations, dining venues and public spaces while retaining the ship’s original overall design.
At 952 feet long and more than 113,000 gross tons, she remains a substantial passenger ship even as newer Princess vessels have grown considerably larger.
Her size allows Princess to deploy the ship across a broad range of destinations and voyage lengths.
Legacy:
Crown Princess represents an important stage in the evolution of Princess Cruises’ large-ship fleet.
Her design developed the successful Grand-class platform while incorporating passenger spaces and features that became closely associated with Princess during the 2000s.
Nearly two decades after entering service, she remains recognizable by the proportions and design elements of that generation of Princess ships.
The May 12, 2023 Vancouver gallery documents Crown Princess during an Alaska deployment while also completing a three-day sequence of ship photography surrounding the end of our Norwegian Spirit Fire & Ice journey.
OLP Social: Two days after our Fire & Ice voyage ended, we encountered this Crown-class ship during the opening weeks of Alaska cruising, continuing our series of ship galleries around Canada Place.
