Sun Princess' First Cruise Following Drydock Is Canceled

Did you follow along as Princess Cruises chronicled the Sun Princess drydock transformation this month? For $30 million, the line added some Asian-inspired elements to appeal to their passengers from Asia, as well as signature Princess features, including a redesigned atrium with the line's popular International Café, a new sushi and seafood venue, an updated Horizon Court restaurant with "action" stations instead of buffet lines, and a refreshed Lotus Spa.

Unfortunately, even as passengers were arriving at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore on Tuesday ready to sail to Fremantle, Australia, Princess realized they had a problem. Due to a main switchboard malfunction, Sun Princess had limited power and could not operate all hotel services. Without full resources to provide necessities like cabin lighting, air conditioning, vacuum toilet systems, and galley functions, Princess had no alternative other than to cancel the cruise.

Most of the 954 passengers set to embark were Australians who had flown in for the 14-day cruise back to their homeland. In addition to the cost of return flights to their point of origin and other miscellaneous incidentals, all passengers will receive a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit.

Sun Princess is now scheduled to depart Sept. 3rd a 12-day cruise from Fremantle to Singapore, to be followed by a season of Asia and Australia cruises before returning to Japan next April for a second season of cruises based there.