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Princess cruises ship carrying more than 3,000 guests makes ‘unexpected contact’ with san francisco dock: ‘spinning pretty quick’.

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A Princess Cruises ship carrying nearly 4,500 people smashed into a San Francisco pier Thursday while the crew was attempting to dock.

The Ruby Princess “made unexpected contact” with Pier 27 just after 6 a.m. while returning from a 10-day roundtrip cruise to Alaska, the cruise line said in a statement.

There were no reported injuries among the 3,328 guests and 1,159 crew members who were on board the ship.

“I noticed we were spinning pretty quick, to be that close to the dock, and I was mid-ship, portside, looked out the window and we smacked into the dock,” Sacramento resident and passenger Paul Zasso told ABC7 News.

Another passenger said the effects of the crash were minimal, but that “you could definitely feel it.

“It wasn’t like things falling off the shelves or anything like that, kind of like when you get the tugboats coming up against us. So yeah … it was different,” Jeremy Jordan said.

“It was so funny, because one of the dock guys, you can hear him yell out like ‘whoa’ and then you can kind of hear it just slowly going in.

“It’s ironic, because I think it was yesterday the captain was talking about how he goes into docks and how unpredictable the currents are. So yeah, it’s a challenge for them to be able to do that.”

A Princess Cruises spokesperson said the 18-deck liner was left with a dent in its port side rear, and photos show that large, black circular smudges were etched along its port side.

The pier appears to have borne the brunt of the crash — some of the metal spokes that help stabilize the orange buoys against the cruise’s side have been ripped from their stations.

The San Francisco Port could not immediately say how severe the damage along the pier was.

The extent of the boat’s damage has yet to be determined and could delay an upcoming Ruby Princess voyage to Alaska.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but at the time of the crash, the liner was under the partial control of a San Francisco Bar Pilot, a spokesperson for the organization confirmed.

The pilots are mariners who help large ships navigate the 11-mile stretch between the San Francisco Bay opening and their final destination at the pier.

A spokesperson for the San Francisco Bar Pilots said the organization is cooperating with the investigation, but could not comment beyond their involvement.

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Princess Cruises ship hits San Francisco pier while docking

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Officials are assessing damage after a cruise ship crashed into Pier 27 in San Francisco while docking Thursday morning.

The ship Ruby Princess “made unexpected contact” with the pier just after 6 a.m., a spokesperson for Princess Cruises said. No injuries were reported, and the cruise line said passengers and crew were not in danger during the incident.

News images showed damage to the side of the ship.

The Ruby Princess had just returned from a 10-day voyage to Alaska with 3,328 guests and 1,159 crew members. The ship departed San Francisco on June 26.

Princess Cruises said the departure time for the next trip to Alaska was uncertain, but passengers began boarding the ship at 11:30 a.m..

Officials said they would provide more details later.

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Vanessa Arredondo was a 2022-23 reporting fellow at the Los Angeles Times. She is a Chicana born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. Arredondo is a proud product of community college and has interned in various digital newsrooms across California, including CalMatters and NBCLA. Before joining The Times, she was a Hearst fellow at the San Francisco Chronicle.

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U.S. Coast Guard investigating San Francisco cruise ship crash

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The Princess Cruises ship that collided with a dock at San Francisco's Pier 27 Thursday morning is under investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard.

“We have members of our investigations and inspections teams at the scene looking at the damage,” Lt. Junior Grade Benjamin Wathen said. “We’re trying to get a road map of what we’re dealing with here.”

The ship’s “port quarter,” which stretches from the front left side toward the back, was damaged in the early morning incident, Wathen said.

Princess Cruises and Port of San Francisco officials were also assessing damage after the 951-foot cruise ship, called the Ruby Princess, tore its hull against a pier.

A Princess Cruises spokesperson said in a statement that the ship made "unexpected contact" with the Pier 27 dock near Lombard Street and the Embarcadero at 6:05 a.m.

No passengers were hurt, and all of the 3,328 passengers and 1,159 crew members have been removed from the ship without incident, the spokesperson said.

The ship was returning to San Francisco after leaving the city on a 10-day round-trip cruise to Alaska. A new round of passengers boarded the ship around 11:30 a.m. for another Alaskan trip scheduled to depart at 4 p.m., but a specific time of departure was “still being determined," the statement said. 

A spokesperson for the San Francisco Bar Pilots said a pilot was involved in the crash. 

“We are cooperating with all necessary agencies in looking into this matter and cannot comment further,” the spokesperson said.

The Port of San Francisco did not respond to an interview request by press time.A National Weather Service forecast for San Francisco coastal waters had called for mixed seas of 2 to 3 feet in deep-water channels and 4 to 5 feet at the bar, with a maximum ebb current of 3.7 knots at 6:37 a.m.

Kimberly and Henry Varela—first-time cruisegoers who were waiting to board the ship for their trip to Alaska—heard the details about the incident through media gathering at the scene.

“I’m not worried about it too much,” Henry said. “It’s a big ship. If it wasn’t safe to go on they wouldn’t be letting us get onboard.”

Richard Varay—who was boarding the Ruby Princess with his wife and son—said the damage troubled him, but he was not “overly concerned.”

“It didn’t look like a big integrity breach. It looked more like a fender bender,” Varay said. “We’ve waited over a year for this. It’s a first for us.”

Joel Umanzor can be reached at [email protected] George Kelly can be reached at [email protected]

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Cruise ship Ruby Princess strikes dock on arrival at San Francisco pier

By Betty Yu

Updated on: July 6, 2023 / 7:34 PM PDT / CBS San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO -- Crews are assessing the damage to a Princess cruise ship in San Francisco after the ship struck the dock upon arrival Thursday morning.

Princess Cruises confirmed in a statement to KPIX that the Ruby Princess cruise ship "made unexpected contact with the dock at Pier 27."

UPDATE:   Ruby Princess set to depart San Francisco after repairing Pier 27 collision damage

The incident happened at 6:05 a.m. There were no injuries and Princess Cruises said no guests or crew were in danger. The ship eventually docked safely and passengers were able to disembark.

UPDATE: Ruby Princess remains docked in San Francisco after collision with pier 

There was no immediate word on what caused the collision.

The damage could be seen from Chopper 5, and on the ground, passengers embarking on the Ruby Princess' next 10-day trip to Alaska got an up-close look.

"I was certainly thinking about how the Titanic's been in the news lately and so all of a sudden, I didn't know anything about this until she told me, the next person in line, and I'm thinking there's a hole in the boat? it feels a little iffy," said Maryann Will.

But Will, a resident of Monterey, still got in line with about 3,300 other passengers to board the Ruby Princess. The process began at 11:30 am.

"I've come all this way and was planning for three years so here we are," she said. "We planned once and then the COVID..."

There were no injuries and Princess Cruises said no guests or crew were in any danger. An assessment of the damage to both the ship and the pier was underway.

"I just happened to see it on the news from my hotel room, I was waiting to check out," said Ann Portillo from Scottsdale, Arizona. "I'm sure they know what's best, I have been on many cruises and I don't see this as being a huge issue, it didn't look that bad."

The collision didn't dull the excitement for some passengers like Rence Dimalanta.

"It's my first cruise so I'm still excited about it," he said.

"I just hope it's safe because of what happened this morning, I'm sure they wouldn't let everybody get on the boat unless it was safe," said Debbie McIntosh.

"As long as the lifeboats work," Mike McIntosh said as he laughed.

The San Francisco Bar Pilots spokesperson said in a statement to KPIX 5:

"We can confirm a pilot was involved in an incident at Pier 27 this morning. We are cooperating with all necessary agencies in looking into this matter and cannot comment further."

"I guess I'm willing to accept that they wouldn't be getting all these people on a boat if they had concerns is my hope," added Will.

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Betty Yu joined KPIX 5 in November 2013 as a general assignment reporter. She spent two years at WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami, as a reporter before moving to San Francisco.

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'Go with the flow': Ruby Princess passengers anxious to leave as ship repairs continue

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The waiting game continues this weekend for passengers on board the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which remains docked in San Francisco.

The ship was supposed to be in Alaska by now but a crash damaged the hull of the vessel while it was docking on Thursday.

SUNDAY UPDATE: Ruby Princess cleared to depart San Francisco for Alaska after damage repaired, coast guard says

A new departure date has been announced for 4 p.m. Sunday if repairs can be done and approved the U.S. Coast Guard by then. In the meantime, those on board are trying to make the best of it.

"It's Hello Kitty day. We stepped off the cruise ship for some Giants game fun," said Anita Lawhon.

RELATED: Damaged, delayed Ruby Princess won't depart San Francisco until Sunday, cruise line says

Lawhon took in a Giants game Saturday with her husband and friends, but it's not what they had planned. The group was supposed to be sailing to Alaska on the Ruby Princess. The ship was scheduled to depart three days ago.

"Now we have decided to make lemonade out of lemons. We're going to the Giants game and playing it by ear," said Lawhon.

"We thought maybe it was cursed. We were a little worried. It's working out well now," said passenger Debbie Lombardi.

Lombardi and Lawhon have chosen to stay on board the ship, which could set sail on Sunday. That's when Coast Guard and Princess officials say repairs should be complete on the vessel. Those repairs are progressing.

MORE: Search suspended for man who fell from Carnival cruise ship

On Friday, our cameras captured a large hole in the ship's hull near the stern.

On Saturday, the hole appeared to be sealed.

"Yes we're going to miss a couple of ports, but we're going to be compensated in a certain way, a good deal. You can't control it. You just have to go with the flow," said passenger Jennifer Ma.

Princess Cruises is offering passengers two options:

MORE: Man allegedly hid secret camera in bathroom of Royal Caribbean cruise ship

Stay on board for a shortened 7-day cruise and get a 75% refund and 75% discount toward a future voyage or leave the ship and get a full refund and 50% off a future cruise.

"So they're not making all the stops. It's not what I signed up to do," said passenger Dan Faltings.

Dan and Debbie Faltings from Livermore say they've had enough stress and disappointment for one trip -- they're going home.

"I feel disappointed. At this point, our mood has changed. I'd rather do it at a different time when we can just get on the boat and have our cruise," said Debbie Faltings.

MORE: Record-setting year for cruising out of San Francisco predicted

"It's all good. Safety is what matters," Lawhon said.

Others on board say they're here for the duration.

"We're all from different areas. We've already planned this. Why not stay?" said Shirley Bartel.

Princess says passengers have until 11 a.m. Sunday to decide if they stay on board or get off the ship. An investigation into Thursday's docking accident is being led by the U.S. Coast Guard.

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Ruby Princess leaves SF for Alaska 4 days after crash at Pier 27

After colliding with the dock and sitting at Pier 27 in San Francisco since Thursday, the Ruby Princess cruise ship is finally embarking on its journey to Alaska after days of repairs.

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Princess Cruises ship that crashed into San Francisco pier cleared for departure

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A TikToker said she was on a cruise that crashed into a pier — hoards of viewers encouraged her to stay aboard anyway

• A woman said she was undecided about whether to stay on a cruise ship after it had a crash.
• She turned to TikTok for viewers' advice, and most encouraged her to stay onboard.
• She's now updating viewers on her travels with her family, saying they're living their best life.

A woman who said she was aboard the damaged Ruby Princess cruise ship said she was offered the option to take a full refund and cancel her trip, or stay on board. So she turned to TikTok to ask viewers to help her decide what to do. 

On July 6, the ship crashed into the pier in San Francisco on its way back from an Alaskan cruise. The ship had more than 4,400 people onboard including passengers and crew. Local station KGO reported that the crash left a hole in the ship's left side and resulted in delays for passengers on the next trip. There were no injuries, operator Princess Cruises previously said in a statement to Insider.

In a TikTok video that appeared to be filmed aboard a ship with the name "Princess Cruise" emblazoned on it, a user who goes by Janna Damigeana told viewers she was one of the new passengers who boarded in San Francisco after the crash. She said she was told on the evening of July 7 that the cruise would not be departing until the following day and that they would be going on an abbreviated journey.

Damigeana said that immediately after breaking the news to passengers, the ship put down the gangplanks and let people get off to "enjoy the city or sightsee or go home." 

She told her 170,000 TikTok followers that the cruise ship was giving passengers two options. The first was to cancel the cruise and get off by 10 a.m. the next morning and get a full refund, in addition to 50% of what they paid in cruise credit for a future cruise. The second option was to stay on the boat and "party on," and get a 75% refund, in addition to 75% of what they paid in credit for a future cruise. Princess Cruises confirmed this information in a statement to Insider. 

No matter which option the passengers chose, they were still able to spend Saturday exploring San Francisco and stay on the boat overnight that evening, she said.

"It's like a free hotel in downtown San Francisco, which let me tell you, is not cheap," Damigeana said in the video. But added she wasn't sure whether to stay on the cruise. 

@jannadamigeana Ruby Princess 2023 damaged cruise ship. Until they made the announcement Friday at 3:30 pm, they kept us on the ship. It was definitely a crazy morning with so many people wondering what would happen. However, friday night people were in good spirits because they had options. ♬ original sound - JannaDamigeana

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The video blew up, receiving over 1.8 million views, and over 4,900 comments as people expressed their opinions about what Damigeana should do. 

One viewer suggested that Damigeana should leave the ship, and said that they would "go nuts" worrying that the ship was unsafe. But most viewers encouraged her to stay. 

The next day, Damigeana posted a follow-up video saying her kids had "voted" for the family to stay on the ship. In the video, she turned the camera to two women who she referred to as "sister" and "mom" and asked what they thought. They both said they wanted to stay on the cruise too.

"Mom is a whole vibe," read one of the comments. Another read, "Never leave home without a drink package! I'm with Mom!" 

@jannadamigeana Ruby princess passenger @Princess Cruises ♬ original sound - JannaDamigeana

Once the family had decided to stay, Damigeana told TikTok that they had also received an upgrade to their room, which became a suite with a balcony.

@jannadamigeana Replying to @Whit.Bett @Princess Cruises ♬ original sound - JannaDamigeana

Later that day, Damigeana shared another update in response to a comment asking how her mother was doing.

"Oh, my mother is living her very best life," said Damigeana. "Let me show you what I found." Then, she panned the camera to a photograph of her mother grinning at the camera, posing with her arms outstretched. 

@jannadamigeana Replying to @maui🌺mare ♬ original sound - JannaDamigeana

One viewer gushed about Damigeana's mother in the comments, and called her "amazing." Another viewer wrote, "Vacay Goals!!!"

Damigeana typically shares lifestyle and travel content on TikTok, where she appears to be documenting parts of the remainder of her trip.

In a statement to Insider, Princess Cruises said the ship is expected to return to San Francisco on July 16 for disembarkation as originally scheduled.

• Main content

Princess Cruises' Star Princess ship delayed, 9 sailings canceled

Travelers will have to wait longer than planned to sail on Princess Cruises’ upcoming ship.

The delivery of Star Princess, which was set to debut next summer, will be pushed back by about two months. The cruise line said the delay was a “mutual” decision with shipbuilder Fincantieri.

“Following a comprehensive review of the remaining construction milestones, both parties have elected to adjust the ship's delivery date from July 29, 2025 to September 26, 2025, which will result in the cancellation of the nine inaugural sailings,” Princess said in a news release .

Guests whose cruises are impacted will be able to rebook on any Princess ship and, depending on which sailing they pick, receive future cruise and onboard credits. They will also be able to opt for a full refund of their fare instead.

“Despite our collective dedication and relentless pursuit to deliver the ship in late July, it has become evident that additional time is required to ensure the Star Princess is delivered to the highest standards expected by our guests,” Princess Cruises President John Padgett said in the release.

Your cruise was canceled: Now what?

The ship’s new inaugural itineraries will include 11 and seven-day Mediterranean cruises on Oct. 4 and 15, 2025, respectively. Those will be followed by a two-week transatlantic voyage to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Oct. 22, 2025.

Those sailings will be available to book on April 30.

Star Princess will be the second in the line’s Sphere Class. Sister ship Sun Princess was also delayed ahead of its launch earlier this year, with Princess citing “additional technical work” needed at the shipyard.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

Cruise passenger dies after shuttle bus crash

One woman has died and 10 others were injured after a shuttle bus crashed into the transportation area outside a Honolulu cruise terminal Friday, according to police.

The ship, Carnival Miracle, was on a 15-day journey, departing Long Beach, California, on April 6, according to Carnival Cruise Line. Nine of the people hit by the vehicle were cruise ship passengers.

"Sadly, one guest has died from her injuries. She was traveling with her husband, who was also injured and is expected to recover. Members of the Carnival Care Team are assisting the guests. Our thoughts are with the guests affected and their loved ones," Carnival Cruise Line said in a statement to ABC News.

A 57-year-old man was dropping off customers at pier 2 when a bystander told him that his vehicle was moving forward. He then jumped into the drivers seat, trying to stop the vehicle, but he accidentally pressed the gas pedal instead of the brakes, colliding with two concrete barriers and eleven pedestrians, according to the Honolulu Police Department.

Five pedestrians were transported to the hospital -- one of whom was later pronounced dead and four others are in good condition. Six other pedestrians refused treatment on the scene, police said.

According to police, speed does not appear to be a contributing factor in the collision and it is unknown if drugs or alcohol were contributing factors.

The investigation is ongoing.

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• Cruise Industry
• Hannah Waddingham christens the new Sun Princess cruise ship in...

Hannah Waddingham christens the new Sun Princess cruise ship in Port Barcelona

In a grand ceremony held on Tuesday, April 24th, at the Port of Barcelona (Spain) , the newest addition to Princess Cruises ' fleet - Sun Princess , was officially named by award-winning actress and performer Hannah Waddingham.

Following maritime tradition, the ceremony took place onboard Sun Princess in the newly constructed Princess Arena, with Waddingham and Captain Craig Street leading the ceremonial proceedings. Waddingham bestowed the ship with the name "Sun Princess" and invoked blessings for her voyages ahead, before christening the vessel with a bottle of Champagne.

Waddingham, renowned for her role as Rebecca Welton in "Ted Lasso," expressed her gratitude for being chosen as the godmother of Sun Princess, joining an esteemed lineage of women who have fulfilled this role for Princess Cruises. Waddingham's personal connection to the sea, rooted in her upbringing and her grandfather's service in the Royal Navy during World War II, added significance to the occasion.

Notable godmothers of Princess ships include members of the British Royal Family (Diana, Princess of Wales, and Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales), along with celebrated figures like Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren.

The naming ceremony, presided over by actor and magician Michael Carbonaro, featured a lineup of celebrities and personalities including Tyra Banks, Romero Britto, and Natasha Bedingfield, who performed her hit song "Pocket Full of Sunshine" among others.

Princess' President John Padgett also shared updates on the brand's future plans, unveiling the exclusive Sanctuary Collection aboard Sun Princess and announcing the forthcoming Star Princess, scheduled to embark on her inaugural Alaskan summer cruise in 2026.