CRUISE SHIP m/s CROWN PRINCESS  RETURNS TO CT SATURDAY

3,000 PASSENGERS TO VISIT AREA

 

(Stonington, CT)  Princess Cruises returns their large cruise ship m/s Crown Princess to Connecticut’s Port of New London on Saturday, October 9th.  The ship will arrive at State Pier at 7 AM.

 

The Thames Tow Boat Company’s tug Patricia Ann will again meet the cruise ship at the mouth of the Thames River at approximately 6:15 AM to provide a traditional nautical welcoming by using her fire monitors to shoot streams of water high into the air while escorting the ship to the Admiral Harold E. Shear State Pier.

 

 On the pier will be members of the Nutmeg Fife and Drum Corps giving passengers and crew alike a rousing traditional New England welcome. Both the Nutmeg Fife & Drum Corps and the tug Patricia Ann are now old hands at welcoming cruise ships to the state.  Both have greeted every cruise ship here since 2002.

 

The ship will call here Saturday after beginning her cruise in New York City on Thursday evening.  m/s Crown Princess will be on 10-day Canada/New England itinerary and will arrive here after making her first port-call in Newport, RI on Friday. The ship has additional scheduled port-calls in Portland, ME, Boston, St. John, New Brunswick, Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia and then a full day at sea before the cruise ends  in Quebec City, Quebec.

 

The 947 foot m/s Crown Princess was christened on June 14, 2006 in New York City by Martha Stewart.  Carrying approximately 3,010 passengers and 1,142 crew, the ship has a 118 ft. beam, draws 26 feet of water and has a gross tonnage of 113,561 GRT tons. Top speed of this ship is 22 knots.

 

Passengers will have the opportunity to explore the City of New London, experience the many regional attractions here and learn more of Connecticut’s history.   Shore excursions provided by the ship include Mystic Seaport, Mystic Aquarium, Olde Mistick Village, the USS Nautilus & Submarine Museum and the Essex Steam Train.

 

The master of m/s Crown Princess is Captain Nick Nash, born in the Cornish seaport of Penzance, in the South West of England where he still lives. He ran away to sea at the age of 17 initially working on cargo ships for 10 years and then with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary which supports the Royal Navy. Captain Nash joined P&O/Princess in 1989 and was promoted to Staff Captain in 1997 and Captain in 2002.

 

 

PRINCESS CRUISES RETURNS TO CONNECTICUT SATURDAY

 

 

Captain Nash is a Fellow of the The Royal Institute of Navigation and a Younger Brother of Trinity House.

 

Saturday will present a great opportunity to photograph and view this beautiful cruise ship in Connecticut’s Port of New London.  The ship is expected to enter the Thames River at approximately 6:30 AM.  m/s Crown Princess will leave State Pier at 2 PM when she heads for her next port-call in Portland, ME.