Five Essential Things To Know About Ocean Princess

 This week I am writing about Ocean Princess. I recently did a cruise on her around the British Isles that was just outstanding. Service, food, shore excursions - - all were handled very well. In addition, the staff was genuinely friendly and interested in making sure the guests enjoyed themselves.

Of the 18 ships now in the Princess Cruises fleet, Ocean Princess may be the least well known. So I was thinking are the five essential things to know about this ship?

1. Ocean Princess is one of two small ships in the Princess fleet - - 30,277 gross tons carrying about 670 passengers. Together with her near identical sister, Pacific Princess, they are the line's Explorer class.

2. Although she is much smaller than the rest of the Princess fleet, she offers a decidedly Princess Cruises experience. She has a Sabatini's, she has a steakhouse specialty restaurant, there is a captain's reception with a champagne waterfall - - in short all of the hallmarks of a Princess cruise.

3. Of course, due to her size, she does not have as many attractions and venues as the larger ships. As a result, she tends to attract more mature, experienced cruisers who are interested in the sophisticated and elegant environment that she offers.

4. Ocean Princess is one of eight ships originally built for Renaissance Cruises. When Renaissance went bankrupt the eight ships became dispersed over several cruise lines. None of these cruise lines has changed them very much. Although Princess does not do so, some of the lines market these ships as luxury cruise ships.

5. As implied in the name Explorer class, Ocean Princess goes all over the world, visiting small ports that are not on the itineraries of bigger ships as well as the more popular ports. Her cruises tend to be long, often several weeks. Indeed, the officers and crew kept referred to the 8 day cruise that I was on as a “short cruise.”

We have lots more about Ocean Princess in the Ocean Princess section of Beyondships. http://beyondships.com/Princess-OP-Profile.html This includes:

An updated photo tour of the ship. http://beyondships.com/Princess-OP-Tour-1.html

An interview with Captain Carlo Servillo and Hotel General Manager Arturo Calise http://www.beyondships2.com/ocean-princess-captain.html

An insider dining guide to Ocean Princess with comments from Executive Chef Guido Jendryztko and Maitre D'Hotel Lugi Pascale http://www.beyondships2.com/ocean-princess-dining-guide.html

A new menus page with menus from the main dining room and the ship's two specialty restaurants. http://www.beyondships2.com/ocean-princess-menus.html

A new daily programs page with copies of the Princess Patter and other informational leaflets distributed aboard. http://www.beyondships2.com/ocean-princess-daily-programs.html

A new photo essay showing exterior shots of Ocean Princess in various European ports. http://www.beyondships2.com/ocean-princess-photos.html