Diamond and Sapphire Princess to be reflagged...

[RickEk]

Interesting tidbit from my friend at Princess. The Diamond and Sapphire Princesses will be reflagged from Bermuda to Great Britain. The Diamond will be reflagged once she comes out of drydock and the Sapphire will be reflagged in Hawaii on her repositioning cruise. Something about it making "business sense" since the ships will be homeported in Asia. On the downside, those ships will no longer be able to have weddings on board.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Sad. Just another change to these great ships. I totally understand though - it's all about what makes the best business sense. Thanks for the info.

[RickEk]

Sad. Just another change to these great ships. I totally understand though - it's all about what makes the best business sense. Thanks for the info.

 

I don't know about it being sad... just different. :)

 

Does it really make a difference?

 

I know Cunard reflagged their three ships from Great Britain to Bermuda to allow weddings on board, but that apparently was the only reason why they did so...

[fishywood]

I know Cunard reflagged their three ships from Great Britain to Bermuda to allow weddings on board, but that apparently was the only reason why they did so...

 

Cunard reflagged its ships not only to allow weddings but to escape new taxation and employment regulations that the European Union began to impose on ships registered there. As Cunard hires a large percentage of its crew from the emerging new EU members such as Croatia they had no choice but to move to a flag of convenience. But a line like HAL did not need to make the change as (1) a relatively low percentage of their operating days are spent in EU waters; and (2) virtually all of their non-officer crew is from SE Asia.

 

So Princess changing from a flag of convenience to that of an EU nation is somewhat exceptional. There has to be some financial incentive provided by the Pacific Rim nations she will be now using as turnaround ports to make this switch.

[Colo Cruiser]

We also heard this from the Staff Captain on the Sapphire.

I agree its not like they are being scrapped or anything.

[Cruise Wonderland]

The word "London" is already shown on the lifeboats, as observed in Hong Kong today when Diamond Princess made her call at our city.

 

Henry

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the photo.

[Loonbeam]

I wonder if it has anything to do with the ports they will be servicing. There are some very favorable trade agreements between some of them and the EU which may greatly reduce hassle/cost.

 

Also, given the market they are entering into, I don't think weddings will be an issue. It would be more likely a wedding party would bring their own officiant and the ship could still provide a venue (although I thought the chapels were going away in those refits). Culturally, a captain-officiated wedding would be less acceptable.

[Cruise Wonderland]

On Diamond Princess, the wedding chapel is still there. I just had a tour on Diamond in Hong Kong today.

After the drydock in Singapore, the chapel is now relocated to Deck 6 port side forward, the place originally for the Video Arcade.

On the other hand, the location for the original chapel now becomes the Calypso Cove retail store.

 

[karatemom2]

We noticed on the Sapphire that the Wedding Chapel that was located across from the Wheelhouse had been removed and replaced with the sundries shop. We wondered why they wouldn't need the chapel but now it makes sense.

[bdjam]

Princess ships were flagged in the UK years ago. I believe when they started doing weddings on board they changed the flagging to Bermuda. But there wasn't anything different for the passengers.

 

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for posting. Very interesting. I miss the Sapphire already.:(