Azamara Onward accidents and incidents

January 2021Other Incidents

(Pacific Princess) On January 21, 2021, Princess Cruises announced the vessel's sale (to an undisclosed buyer). For 2021-2022, Pacific Princess had scheduled a total of 33 itineraries (departures June 28, 2021, through and including March 28, 2022) in the regions of the Mediterranean, Caribbean, South Pacific (roundtrips from Papeete, Tahiti French Polynesia), Transpacific repositioning (Australia to Asia).

On January 25 was revealed the new shipowner - Sycamore Partners, and that the 22-years-old ship joins the Azamara fleet. The renamed ship was scheduled for an inaugural 2022 European season.

March 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Pacific Princess/Coronavirus issues) Due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, the planned 112-day Pacific Princess World Cruise 2020 (itinerary January 5 through April 26, roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale FL USA) was first altered then officially canceled on March 21, 2020, being terminated in Port Freemantle (Perth City, Western Australia). On March 28, the vessel was last allowed to dock for refueling and provisioning in Port Melbourne (Victoria Australia), but passenger-crew debarkation was denied.

After the liner was denied entry in 4 Asian cruise ports (Bali Indonesia, Singapore, Phuket Thailand, Colombo Sri Lanka), then in Australia (Fremantle-Perth), it headed towards Hawaii. On April 13, in Port Honolulu were disembarked 4 passengers (2 couples, Oahu residents), but the remaining 111 pax plus the crew remained onboard.

Pacific Princess was among the very last cruise liners still navigating the oceans and carrying passengers. The other two "world cruise ships" still carrying all their passengers were MSC Magnifica and Costa Deliziosa. On April 20, the ship docked in Port Los Angeles and disembarked its 111 passengers. Unlike many other passenger ships, Pacific Princess had no COVID-19 (Coronavirus) cases. For the World Voyage's originally planned ports of call and port times, you can see at the ship's review page (wiki section).

04 May 2019Propulsion / Power Loss

(Pacific Princess/CruiseMapper emailed accident report by Harry Weyandt) A major power outage occurred on Saturday (May 4, 2019) at approx 7:40 pm, which was about 40 minutes after departing Puerto Quepos (Costa Rica). All power for the whole ship failed. All lights and power went out for several minutes until an emergency backup generator was able to restore some power. After about 20 minutes we were told that full power had been restored but it was unknown what caused the outage. The next day (May 5) the Captain announced that they still didn't know what caused the outage. No port stops were affected or delayed.

The accident occurred at the end of "Pacific Princess World Cruise 2019" (112-day itinerary roundtrip from homeport Long Beach/Los Angeles, California) operated between January 20 and May 12.

26 August 2018Boat Rescue

(Pacific Princess) On August 26, 2018, the cruise liner responded to a distress call for rescuing sailors whose fishing boat sank in the North Sea, approx 25 ml (40 km) off Norfolk England's coast. Of all the 5 men, 3 were rescued from a liferaft by the Pacific Princess ship, while the other 2 died. Their bodies were found (near the sunken fishing ship wreckage) by a UK coastguard helicopter deployed to the accident area from Humberside.

The cruise ship lowered a ladder to the surviving fishermen. After 2 hours of searching the area, the liner continued toward Dover. In the search and rescue operation were involved a helicopter, RNLI lifeboats (dispatched from Gorleston), an independent lifeboat (from Caister) and other vessels.

The incident occurred at the end of 8-days Around Britain cruise to Ireland, Scotland and Wales (itinerary Aug 18-26) roundtrip from homeport Dover (England) to Jersey (Channel Islands), Milford Haven, Dublin, and Edinburgh.

12 August 2017Propulsion / Power Loss

(Pacific Princess) On August 12, 2017, the ship suffered a power failure, so its departure from homeport Dover UK was delayed by ~4 hours. The incident resulted in itinerary changes. The first call port (Jersey, St Helier, Channel Islands) was cancelled. The next call port (Waterford Ireland) was rescheduled (early arrival on Aug 14). The ship was on 8-day Ireland and Scotland cruise (itinerary August 12-20 roundtrip from Dover, also visiting Dublin (Ireland) and Leith-Edinburgh (Scotland).

14 October 2016Ship Collision / Allision

(Pacific Princess/pier collision) On October 14, 2016, while navigating in the Mediterranean Sea (Europe), the vessel struck a breakwater at Villefranche-sur-Mer (port to Nice, France) in the morning (at ~6 am). According to local news media, firefighters and divers responded after a leak was found in the ship’s mechanical compartment 2.

The accident occurred in rough seas, with strong winds of over 50 mph (80 kph), causing the ship’s portside hull to hit rocks at the harbor’s entrance. Just as the vessel passed the harbor’s opening in the breakwater, a sudden gust of wind hit and skidded it into the breakwater’s wall. The ship was moving under its own power, but docking was assisted by a tug boat. Damage assessment revealed a significant below-waterline hull breach that required drydock for repairs.

The cruise was officially canceled. All passengers were disembarked and accommodated in Nice hotels overnight. On October 15, they were transported via chartered buses to Barcelona (Spain) for their home flights on October 16. The ship was drydock repaired in Genoa Italy.

When the accident occurred, the ship was carrying a total of 669 passengers and 382 crew, on a 12-day itinerary (October 4-16), from Venice to Barcelona, with call ports Dubrovnik, Kotor, Cephalonia Island, Valletta Malta, Livorno, Portofino, Nice (Villefranche-sur-Mer).

Note: Actually, this type of marine accident is called “allision” (striking a fixed object) as opposed to “collision” (striking another vessel).

14 March 2016Crew / Passenger Injuries and Overboards

(Pacific Princess) On March 14, 2016, a male crew suffered serious injuries after falling down an elevator shaft. The man was found unconscious. On March 16, he was medevaced on a boat and transported via helicopter to a hospital in Mumbai India (the nearest port along the itinerary). The ship was on 17-day "World Cruise 2016” segment from Hong Kong to Dubai (itinerary March 1-18) visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Colombo, Mangalore, Muscat.

2009Sea Pollution

(Pacific Princess) In 2009, the vessel was reported and fined twice for pollution, violating the Alaskan wastewater quality standard for copper. Wastewater tests (conducted on Sept 1 and Oct 23) showed copper concentration levels higher than the allowed norms.

January 2008Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Pacific Princess) In January 2008, CDC reported on the voyage Dec 15 to Jan 10, a Norovirus outbreak affected 50 passengers (out of 642, or 7,8%) and 6 crew (out of 369, or 1,6%).

June 2007Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Pacific Princess) In June 2007, the ship reported on the 10-day Hawaiian cruise (itinerary May 27 - June 6), a total of 20 passengers (or 3% of all) and 5 crew (or 1,3% of all) suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea) and were quarantined to their cabins for 48 hours.

June 2006Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Pacific Princess) June 2006/Southeast Asia, unofficially was reported a Norovirus outbreak on the ship with infected 40 passengers (or 5,9% of all – no data for infected drew). Note: When the itinerary doesn’t include US cruise ports, the ship is not required to report to CDC, thus no official illness report would be issued.

July 2004Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Pacific Princess) In August 2004, CDC reported on the voyage July 25 to Aug 17, a Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 57 passengers (out of 618, or 9,2%) and 10 crew (out of 384, or 2,6%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, but predominantly diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins for 48 hours.