96 passengers became ill with the norovirus on Princess Cruises, Sapphire Princess. She was on the return leg of a 7-Night Inland Passage cruise in Alaska. Port officials decided to dock the ship at Pier 91 in Seattle as it offers easier access to the ship to commence extreme cleaning operations. The passengers disembarked and the vessel went into sanitation mode before starting the embarking process.

She set sail yesterday with 2,000 passengers onboard for another Inside Passage cruise to Alaska.

King5 in Seattle has some quotes from Passengers and officials:

Kym Boisvert, passenger in cabin across from an infected cabin:

You go on vacation, you pay quite a lot of money for this. It’d be nice if they gave you the courtesy, or at least get the sick people off. We didn’t mingle with anyone on the boat because we didn’t want to get sick, so we pretty much stayed to our room.

Cindy Hedum, Passenger:

All the time people were wearing latex gloves. They were being very careful and they made you sanitize your hands before you went into the food area and you weren’t allowed to touch any of the food utensils.

Joyce Jordan, a not so worried passenger:

I took all the precautions, I washed my hands a lot.

Rodney Liverman, longshoreman, props to King5 for getting a quote from them. We usually don’t hear from them:

We’re wearing gloves, latex gloves. You just take precautions. We’re handling money, touching luggage, dealing with people.

Robert Bowen, another Longshoreman:

If people are really, really concerned, they have the masks.

P.S. How weird is this. Right as I go to post this, the story is mentioned on CNN!

Gene Sloan is reporting that:

An Azamara Club Cruises spokeswoman says execs to hold Friday meeting to decide whether coming Israel call still on

(Click for larger)

Is this the new princess newbuild? It could be. This new ship will be the largest Princess ship to date. She made news the other day when Carnival and Princess firmed up the order for her and her sister. Below is the attached press release. Please note the photo is pure speculation and not from Princess or any other official source.

(Thanks Rick)

5/4/2010

CARNIVAL CORPORATION & PLC FINALIZES CONTRACTS FOR TWO NEW CRUISE SHIPS FOR ITS PRINCESS CRUISES BRAND
VESSELS TO ENTER SERVICE IN 2013 AND 2014

MIAMI (May 4, 2010) — Princess Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), today announced that contracts to build two 3,600-passenger ships have been finalized with Italy’s Fincantieri shipyard.

The new ships — which each will have an all-in cost of approximately 155,000 euros per lower berth — are scheduled to enter service in spring 2013 and spring 2014. At an estimated 141,000 tons, the as-yet-unnamed ships will be the largest in the Princess Cruises fleet.

The ships’ design will be evolutionary, in keeping with the themes of the line’s newest vessels, but with some new features and innovations. For example, all outside cabins will feature balconies, bringing the percentage of balconies on the ships to 80 percent of all staterooms.

The company’s signature Piazza — the ship’s central atrium featuring dining, entertainment and retail — will be expanded, as will the popular Sanctuary, spa, and restaurants.

"We’re pleased that in this challenging economic environment, the order for these new ships is a testament to the confidence in the growth potential of the Princess brand," said Alan Buckelew, president and CEO of Princess Cruises. "These new ships will include the features from our newest ships that have been so well received, and take them to the next level," he added.

Giuseppe Bono, chief executive officer of Fincantieri, said, "We are grateful to the Carnival Group for this further vote of confidence in Fincantieri. We are proud to have met the requirements of Princess Cruises, one of Carnival’s most prestigious brands, with an innovative design both from a technical and architectural point of view."

Bono continued, "This is a highly important order for us, especially as it comes in a period of economic crisis. We succeeded in securing these orders with assistance and support of the Italian export credit companies, in particular SACE S.p.A."

Specific amenities and design elements for the new ships will be revealed over the coming months.

One of the best-known names in cruising, Princess Cruises is a global cruise and tour company operating a fleet of 17 modern ships renowned for their innovative design and wide array of choices in dining, entertainment and amenities, all provided in an environment of exceptional customer service. A recognized leader in worldwide cruising, Princess offers its passengers the opportunity to escape completely to the top destinations around the globe, with sailings to all seven continents.

Carnival Corporation & plc is the largest cruise vacation group in the world, with a portfolio of cruise brands in North America, Europe and Australia, comprised of Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, The Yachts of Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, Ibero Cruises, Ocean Village, P&O Cruises and P&O Cruises Australia.

Together, these brands operate 95 ships totaling more than 186,000 lower berths with 12 new ships scheduled to be delivered between May 2010 and spring 2014. Carnival Corporation & plc also operates Holland America Princess Alaska Tours, the leading tour company in Alaska and the Canadian Yukon. Traded on both the New York and London Stock Exchanges, Carnival Corporation & plc is the only group in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and the FTSE 100 indices.

Carnival is in advanced talks with German Meyer Werft for an order of two new cruiseships for its Princess brand, Italian and German shipping sources have said.

The word “advanced” is the key here. The article goes on quoting a Meyer Werft official that didn’t go into specifics, but stated that Meyer Werft ARE in discussions with potential customers. He didn’t go into further detail.

If true I expect these to be slightly larger than the Coral/Island Princess. Meyer Werft are constrained by size due to its location. Based on that fact alone, I don’t see Carnival ordering anymore Grand Class (or whatever you want to call that class) ships. I can see it as pretty much the answer Carnival has for the successful Celebrity Solstice class. Princess designs are a little dated by now and therefore I predict that it will be a slightly trendy ship (think more like Celebrity). That way, those that want a very traditional will have Holland America to go to.

Feel free to express your thoughts or predictions here.

UPDATE 10/21: Another cruiser from that voyage was able to provide us with their take in the incident:

We were with Carlene and yes it was a “Thank you God” moment–He is always there to protect us. The talk on the ship was it list 30 degrees and it seemed like it was for about 45 secs then it started to upright itself. When I heard my room steward say” That scared me” I knew something wasn’t right. I was amazed at how quick everything was returned to normal.

Thank you Carl& Johnny Beth!

____________________________________________________________________

As Carlene Kelley commented on my Caribbean Princess Lists on Oct. 17, Carlene Writes:

I was on board! It was scary and a major happening on our trip. The pools on the 16th floor or deck emptied as witnessed by two of our traveling companions. The entire display of framed oil paintings dropped like dominoes. It was amazing how the crew recouped and had dinner for us that night! I was impressed!! To those of us on board, it was rather harrowing even though I know it could have been a lot worse! It was a “Thank You Lord” moment!

A big thanks goes out for providing us with the scary account.

If Carlene is reading, how many degrees do you estimate the list was?

Make sure to check out the post below.

From Cruise Critic:

Currently onboard, off the coast of New England. We’re in a storm, with gale-force winds up to 70 knots. We listed a bit this morning … several waiters in the Horizon Court fell, carrying trays of food or other dining supplies. A piano in the Explorer’s Lounge slid off the stage, and was totaled. The galley and backstage tours were cancelled. The captain (Marco Fortezze) has slowed down;

(Via Cruise Critic Member John Lauben)

• Princess Cruises Crown Princess skipped Newport yester and is in boston today. It will resume its normal schedule from here.
• Holland America’s Eurodam replaced Prince Edward Island with a call in Gaspe, Quebec. It shouls also resume its normal schedule from here.

This appears to be it from Hurricane Bill as far as im concerned. Thanks for following.

Gene Sloan of Cruise Log, managed to track down a photo of the event.