Crown Princess accidents and incidents

05 October 2024Coast Guard Medevacs

On October 5, 2024, the US Coast Guard conducted two consecutive medevacs from the ship located approx 50 mi/80 km off Cape Kumukahi (Big Island's easternmost point).

On October 4th (at 6 pm Hawaii time/4 am UTC), the JRCC/Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu (Hawaii) received a call from Crown Princess requesting medical evacuations for two elderly passengers. A 70-year-old man was experiencing symptoms consistent with a heart attack, while an 86-year-old man was suffering from internal bleeding.

Following consultation with the duty flight surgeon, it was determined that both patients required immediate evacuation. On October 5th (at 9 am/7 pm UTC), a Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin (rescue helicopter) from USCG Air Station Barbers Point (Kalaeloa Airport near Honolulu, Oahu Island) arrived and hoisted from the ship the 70-year-old man. He was flown to Hilo Medical Center (Hawaii Island) arriving in stable condition. The second patient (the 86-year-old man) was also flown to Hilo in stable condition.

The incident occurred during the 24-day Transpacific relocation cruise from the USA to NZ (San Francisco to Auckland, itinerary Sep 24-Oct 18) visiting Los Angeles (Sep 26), Honolulu (Oct 2), Kahului (Oct 3), French Polynesia's Moorea Island (Oct 9) and Tahiti (Papeete/Oct 9-10/overnight) and New Zealand's Bay of Islands (Russell/Oct 17).

August 2024Structural and Technical Issues

In August 2024, Princess Cruises announced deployment changes for Crown Princess, which was scheduled for drydock maintenance, resulting in several itineraries being changed and a cruise cancellation.

The ship was planned to operate in Australia and Asia between September 26, 2025, and January 12, 2026. However, the program was revised for the drydocking scheduled for the period November 29th through December 18th, 2025.

One voyage was canceled and seven were curtailed or altered.

The company issued a statement explaining that the drydock had been planned but would take place later than initially scheduled. Despite the changes, Princess Cruises assured that Crown Princess will resume the Brisbane homeporting following the drydock.

Some of the affected passengers were moved to replacement voyages with similar itineraries and lengths. These bookings were automatically rebooked (in the replacement cruises), and additionally received up to AU$300 (for flight changes) and up to AU$200 per person in OBC/onboard credit (for the first two passengers on the booking). Bookings on canceled voyages with not available replacement voyages were automatically canceled with a 100% refund. All shore excursions and onboard reservations (dining and wellness) were canceled and fully refunded.

May 2022Propulsion / Power Loss

Due to engine issues, the itineraries of several Alaskan voyages in May-June-July were revised, some by changing port stay times and canceling call ports. The vessel experienced mechanical problems since its restart of operations (on May 7, 2022) following the 2-year hiatus due to the COVID crisis.

Reportedly, Princess Cruises knew about the "technical restrictions affecting the ship’s maximum speed" for several months but continued to operate the boat without making general repairs and doing constant itinerary/route changes.

01 January 2021Coast Guard Medevacs

On January 1, 2021, an RSAF (Singapore Air Force) helicopter team medevaced a male crew from the cruise ship, at the time at anchorage off aaa. According to RSAF, a Rescue 10 team (Airbus H215/Super Puma helicopter) was dispatched to retrieve the man suffering from a life-threatening (unspecified) medical condition.

The medical evacuation was conducted in bad weather conditions. The man was flown to Outram Community Hospital, from where ambulanced to Singapore General Hospital. Reportedly, his condition was stabilized on the way.

April 2020Other Incidents

(crew repatriation) In mid-April 2020, Carnival Corporation developed a repatriation plan using 8 cruise liners from 3 of its brands - Princess Cruises (ships Crown, Caribbean, Island, Regal), HAL-Holland America Line (ships Nieuw Amsterdam, Veendam, Volendam) and Seabourn Cruises (ship Quest) to bring crew back home. The planned relocations (announced on April 18) included:

Caribbean Princess repositioning from The Bahamas to repatriate staff-crew to countries in the Caribbean and South America.

(two Transatlantic crossings) Regal Princess repositioning from Bimini Islands (Bahamas) to Europe (Southampton UK and Rotterdam Holland) to repatriate all European staff-crew. Crown Princess repositioning from Fort Lauderdale (Florida USA) to Asia and South Africa to repatriate all Filipino, Indonesian, Indian and South African staff-crew.

(Panama Canal transit) Island Princess repositioning from Fort Lauderdale to Asia to repatriate Filipino, Indonesian, Indian and South African staff-crew.

(three Panama Canal transitions) The 3 HAL ships (anchored near Great Harbour Cay Bahamas) - Nieuw Amsterdam, Veendam and Volendam - reposition to Asia to repatriate all HAL's Filipino, Indonesian, Indian and South African staff-crew.

(Transatlantic crossing) Seabourn Quest repositioning from Speightstown (aka Little Bristol, Barbados) to Europe, also carrying staff-crew from Seabourn Odyssey (also being anchored near Speightstown).

November 2017Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

October-November 2017, CDC reported on itinerary Oct 25 to Nov 8, a Norovirus outbreak affected 184 passengers (out of 2957, or 6,2%) and 12 crew (out of 1172, or 1%). The ship was boarded in Norfolk VA by CDC personnel to conduct health investigation. The incident happened during 14-day US East Coast repositioning cruises from Canada to Florida (Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale).

January 2016Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

January 2016, CDC reported on voyage Jan 8 to 18, a Norovirus outbreak affected 180 passengers (out of 3060, or 5,9%) and 24 crew (out of 1168, or 2,1%). The incident occurred during 10-day Mexican Riviera cruise from homeport Los Angeles After the ship’s arrival in LA, health assessment, outbreak evaluation and sanitation were conducted.

10 October 2015Propulsion / Power Loss

On October 10, 2015, the ship suffered power loss for ~25 min. The power outage occurred while the vessel was berthed in homeport Long Beach CA and during an onboard celebrity performance. The incident affected the musical show of Stephen Schwartz (celebrity composer performing line on the ship). In the evening, the ship left LA on 7-day California cruise itinerary with call ports San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Ensenada (Mexico).

28 May 2015Fire Accident

On May 28, 2015, a fire broke out in the backstage of the ship’s Theater during an evening performance. It was quickly extinguished and no injuries were reported. The fire started in a storeroom behind the theatre. All the spectators were evacuated. During the accident, the Captain made several announcements to keep passengers informed of the situation. All of them were asked to return to their cabins. The reason for the fire turned out a smoke-generating machine, which had been left on.

November 2014Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

October-November 2014, CDC reported on voyage Oct 18 to Nov 16, a Norovirus outbreak affected 158 passengers (out of 3009, or 5,3%) and 14 crew (out of 1160, or 1,2%). The ship arrived in homeport San Pedro CA on Nov 16 (extensive sanitation was conducted).

April 2014Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

April 2014, CDC reported on voyage April 5 to 12, a Norovirus outbreak affected 122 passengers (out of 3161, or 3,9%) and 30 crew (out of 1176, or 2,6%). The ship arrived in homeport Los Angeles on Apr 12, and extensive sanitation procedures were conducted. All passengers were allowed to disembark the ship at any of the call ports along the itinerary.

18 September 2013Boat Rescue

On September 18, 2013, while in the Mediterranean Sea, the ship responded to a distress call made from an unseaworthy vessel loaded with 158 Syrian refugees. Among those were 44 children and 20 women. They were spotted approx 100 ml / 160 km off Sicily's coast (Italy). The operation was later assisted by Italian Coast Guard assets (helicopter and boats).

17 July 2013Fire Accident

On July 17, 2013, during 11-night Eastern Mediterranean voyage, a small fire broke out in a passenger cabin on Deck 8. Several neighbouring staterooms were filled with smoke, some were waterlogged by the fire sprinkler system. No injuries were reported.

11 April 2013Structural and Technical Issues

On April 11, 2013, while on the second leg of 6-day Mexico cruise from homeport Galveston TX, the ship experienced toilet outage incident. It was caused by a blockage in the vacuum toilet system. The malfunction affected a total of 410 passenger staterooms with aft location. Many passengers had to use public restrooms for a period of over 24 hours.

When investigating the issue, the maintenance crew found a towel, a beer bottle and a banana stuck in the system. As compensation, all affected passengers received US$50 in onboard credit.

21 December 2012Coast Guard Medevacs

On December 21, 2012, a 68-year-old female passenger suffered from internal bleeding. She was medevaced by a USCG helicopter dispatched from New Orleans (approx 200 ml / 320 km away from the ship). Before the medical evacuation, the woman received blood transfusion on board.

December 2012Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On December 20, 2012, an online news media reported Norovirus outbreak affecting a total of 102 (passengers and crew) on a Western Caribbean cruise from homeport Galveston TX.

February 2012Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

January-February 2012, CDC reported on voyage Jan 28 to Feb 4, a major Norovirus outbreak (gastrointestinal illness) infected 364 passengers (out of 3103, or 11,7%) and 32 crew (out of 1168, or 2,7%). The ship arrived in homeport Fort Lauderdale on Feb 4 and was sanitized before next embarkation.

On the next scheduled itinerary (Feb 4-9), another Norovirus outbreak affected 288 passengers (out of 3078, or 9,4%) and 75 crew (out of 1178, or 6,4%). All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins for 48 hours. On the second cruise, the itinerary was shortened by 2 days, and the ship returned to Fort Lauderdale earlier for sanitizing.

It should be noted, that the first Norovirus passengers were reported on voyages following the ship’s Transatlantic repositioning crossing from Europe to Caribbean (Venice to Galveston TX) in December 2011.

09 May 2011Coast Guard Medevacs

On May 9, 2011, during Transatlantic repositioning cruise from Florida to the UK, due to a medical emergency, the ship altered its course, diverting to Bermuda. A 57-year-old male passenger suffered breathing difficulties. A pilot cutter met the cruise ship and the passenger was offloaded and transferred to KEMH (King Edward VII Memorial Hospital).

On the next day (May 10), the fleet mate Grand Princess did the same unplanned calling on Bermuda for a medevac (sick passenger evacuation).

17 May 2007Boat Rescue

On May 17, 2007, a 32-year-old sailor lost his yacht’s sails in a storm and issued a distress signal. He was in the open sea, drifting for 2 days and without any food when was found and rescued by the cruise ship off Puerto Rico's coast. Curiously enough, the Captain and the rescued sailor happened to be neighbours, both living in Warsash (Hampshire, England).

18 July 2006Ship Listing

On July 18, 2006, at the end of a 9-day Western Caribbean cruise and while en-route back to homeport NYC New York, the ship reported difficulties with its steering system ~1 hour after leaving the last call port Port Canaveral Florida. The just 1-month old vessel experienced severe listing, which caused many injuries and material damages. USCG was notified, and the Captain decided to return the vessel in Port Canaveral, where the cruise was cancelled.

The USCG and NTSB investigation (National Transportation Safety Board) revealed that the second bridge officer intentionally turned the vessel’s autopilot off and tried to steer it manually. He made a number of manoeuvres to port and starboard, which made the listing worse, reaching a max angle of 24-degrees to starboard.

Quite many passengers and crew fell down, many suffering injuries, especially passengers on open decks 15 and 16 and on their cabin balconies. Many people sustained injuries caused by falling and flying objects. All public areas looked like hit by a hurricane. The ship reported a total of 284 injured treated in the onboard infirmary. Of the injured passengers, 94 were sent to local hospitals. Another 14 suffered from serious wounds, among which fractures and breathing difficulties. Among the interior damages were broken furniture, smashed glassware and dishes. All 4 swimming pools emptied, causing flooding of staircases, hallways and elevator shafts.

One the worst cruise ship incidents, the 2006 listing was caused by human error. As compensation, all passengers received a full refund. Those booked on the next scheduled itinerary ((July 20) received 50% refund as the embarkation was delayed by 2 days due to investigation procedures. The ship returned to service on July 22, leaving roundtrip from homeport NYC (Brooklyn) New York.

A severe (19-degree) listing was experienced by the Grand Princess ship in February 2006.

02 July 2006Structural and Technical Issues

On July 2, 2006, the homeport NYC New York departure was delayed by ~8,5 hours due to the fuel issue. The Captain announced that the delivered fuel (HFO / heavy fuel oil) was of lower quality, so the ship had to refuse the shipment. The incident caused itinerary change - call port Grand Turk was dropped.