Sea Princess Stars in National Geographic Channel’s “World’s Toughest Fixes”

Did you follow the action in photos on the Princess Cruises web site when Sea Princess was in drydock last year? If you missed it, the immense job of drydocking Sea Princess will be featured in tonight’s (June 3) episode of National Geographic Channel’s (NGC) top-rated show, World’s Toughest Fixes at 9 p.m. ET/PT. TV viewers can go behind the scenes as host Sean Riley follows the entire process from the time the Princess Cruises ship enters the drydock to the final sea trials. The show was filmed while Sea Princess was in a regularly scheduled drydock at BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair in Sept 2009. The episode focuses on the enormous task of completing a multitude of drydock projects in just 15 days, with emphasis on several technical “fixes” on the bottom of the ship that could only be accessed when the ship is out of the water.

“This is a unique opportunity for audiences to really appreciate the amazing around-the-clock effort needed to keep our ships in top shape to deliver the experience our passengers expect,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises executive vice president. “We’re excited that the National Geographic Channel was interested in featuring this rare behind-the-scenes project.”

One of the network’s most popular shows, World's Toughest Fixes takes viewers inside some of the most daunting repair jobs with Riley, a professional master rigger, as he works with many of the world's top mechanics to show how they tackle these challenging fixes. Riley joins the Sea Princess drydock crew on a number of tasks, adding his own elbow grease and expertise along the way and tries out several drydock jobs. He helps strip and power wash the hull, tries his hand at upholstery work and joins the team working high up on the ship to seal the windows. He even gives viewers an up-close view inside the tail shaft housing as he crawls in to show the audience the work being done. Throughout the episode viewers will get a glimpse of the buzz of activity on a ship in drydock, including a look at installation of carpet and floors, the stripping of wooden decks, and even a glimpse of the ship’s new adults-only Sanctuary which was constructed during the drydock.

More photos of last fall’s Sea Princess drydock are available in the Sea Princess Drydock Journal. Behind-the-scenes photos of the World’s Toughest Fixes crew at work during the shoot are available on the Princess Flickr photostream.