Princess' Deal with San Francisco

[bdjam]

Interesting given the dearth of Princess ships home-porting in San Francisco in the next year or so, but Cruise News Daily (www.cruisenewsdaily.com) reports today that Princess has come to an agreement with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to equip the piers in San Francisco with the same electric hook up they have initiated in Alaska and Los Angeles. This allows Princess to shut down the ship's engines (reducing air pollutants) and use electric power transmitted from shore. There has been no date set for the new system to be up and running, according to the article.

[mii]

Thanks Bdjam for this post. i wonder now if they will let Princess come back in to port for 2009? I think it is too late for 2008 since they are working on the schedules now or at least Alaska as they should be coming out soon. But now the Mex. rivera schedule comes out in the fall so I think hopefully they will return in 2009.

 

Marilyn

[Colo Cruiser]

News

 

4/12/2007

Princess Partners with Port of San Francisco to Develop Shore Power System for City's Cruise Terminal

 

 

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (April 12, 2007) - Furthering Princess' dedication to improving air quality in the port cities from which its ships sail, the cruise line has partnered with the Port of San Francisco to develop a shore power system that will enable its ships to turn off their engines when they dock at Pier 35 and "plug in" to clean electrical power.

 

The Port of San Francisco and Princess Cruises have received a $1.9 million clean air grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to develop the system, which will be based on similar shore power programs Princess debuted in Juneau in 2001 and in Seattle in 2005. Next year, Princess will also begin a shore power program at the Port of Los Angeles.

Shore power, also known as "cold ironing," enables ships to turn off their diesel engines and connect to local electric power that travels to the ship from a specially designed transformer at the dock. As a result, shore-based electricity runs all onboard services during the day-long calls.

"We've been committed to shore power for many years, and we're pleased to bring our expertise to the Bay Area to help introduce this important capability to the San Francisco cruise terminal," said Dean Brown, executive vice president for Princess Cruises. "We know that local communities care about air emissions, and this is an innovative way to benefit the local air quality."

Princess' shore power program made history when it first began operations in Juneau in the summer of 2001. The innovative program, initiated by the City of Juneau, involved the expertise of worldwide and local contractors, including Alaska Electric Light and Power. The technology was expanded to Seattle in summer 2005, and shore power connections are now featured on eight ships which are equipped to use local hydroelectric power. All Princess ships sailing from the Port of San Francisco are fully equipped and ready to plug into shore power when it debuts there.

To create this unusual power system, Princess has outfitted its ships with a custom-built, state-of-the-art electrical connection cabinet that automatically connects the ship's electrical network to the local electrical network ashore. The electrical power is transmitted from the landside transformer to the vessel via four 3 1/2-inch diameter flexible electrical cables. The actual cable connection on the vessel is a traditional, though quite large, male/female plug and socket.

"When we first developed shore power, it was a challenging project because it was the first of its kind and there was no existing blueprint we could use. Now with Juneau and Seattle operating successfully for several years and Los Angeles also working on a program, we can share our expertise with the Port of San Francisco to help expand this successful environmental initiative in California," added Brown.

[LARGIN]

According to the 2008 SF Port Schedule it looks like the Sun Princess will be doing the 10 day round trip to Alaska http://www.sfport.com/site/port_page.asp?id=55713

[Tahoestarr]

I sure hope they start doing the 10 and 11 day Mexican riviera again...I love this itinerary!

[spongerob]

Thanks, now if they could just get to work on the docks and terminal facilities themselves, we'd have something good. San Francisco is a truly memorable place to sail from. I'd like to see the city stay in the rotation.

[MaryPoppinz]

That's very good news. I love San Francisco, it's my favorite US city, and I, too, would love for the next step to be some improvement in the dock facilities there.

[bdjam]

Thanks, now if they could just get to work on the docks and terminal facilities themselves, we'd have something good. San Francisco is a truly memorable place to sail from. I'd like to see the city stay in the rotation.

The Princess release does mention Pier 35 - that's the same old one you visited last September...maybe when they install the electrical outlet, they'll also upgrade the pier?

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks, now if they could just get to work on the docks and terminal facilities themselves, we'd have something good. San Francisco is a truly memorable place to sail from. I'd like to see the city stay in the rotation.

 

 

That is what I thought, kinda doing it backwards. :rolleyes:

[vitaminz1990]

Thanks, now if they could just get to work on the docks and terminal facilities themselves, we'd have something good. San Francisco is a truly memorable place to sail from. I'd like to see the city stay in the rotation.

 

Yes SF is a great city to sail from. I've done it twice. You don't know how great it is to literally walk down the street from your house and hop on a cruise. I sure hope many ships come to the city.

 

As for the cruise terminal, I'm pretty sure that the city is planning on building a new terminal; and from the drawings, it looks pretty nice. But I have heard that the plan for the new terminal fallen through, though im not sure. Heres the link to the plan http://www.sfmerchants.com/cruise_terminal/cruise_terminal_1.htm

[TorontoTL]

I would really love to see Princess continue their Mexico cruises from SF. I love SF and love the longer itineraries.

[alolewis]

Amazing that in the Press Release that Princess said that they are inventing shore power. Many ports already have shore power as most navy ships use shore power in port and have been doing it for many many years. in fact after a hurricane hit Kauai several years back, they used a submarine connected to shore power in reverse, used the nuclear submarine generated power to power the town.

[CL-JW]

I would really love to see Princess continue their Mexico cruises from SF. I love SF and love the longer itineraries.

 

 

Agreed. Living in this area, it is so nice to sail from here (and we love Mexico). We sailed the Dawn from SF and will sail Golden from SF next Sunday. We were even commenting when in SF on Thursday that it would be nice if the city had the ability for Princess to plug into shore power.

[pmcrusta]

This is really great news...thanks for the info.

[Casshew]

I'd like to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge one day :)

[CL-JW]

I'd like to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge one day :)

 

We highly recommend it. We've done it once, and will do so again next Sunday!:)

 

[Druke I]

Sailing out of San Francisco Bay and under the Golden Gate Bridge is a true thrill.

 

After three blasts of the whistle before backing into the channel, the ship proceeds towards the Gate, with the Marina and the Presidio on portside, and Alcatraz Island and then the Marin Headlands on starboard.

 

On a clear day, there are often pedestrians on the Golden Gate Bridge waving bon voyage, and cooperative Captains will give another blast of the whistle in salute.

 

On rare occasions, the Bridge will also blow its foghorn in salute (they sure blew it loud and often for QM2's maiden entry into the port).

 

San Francisco ranks right up there with Sydney, Hong Kong, and Vancouver for having pretty ports!

[bdjam]

Amazing that in the Press Release that Princess said that they are inventing shore power. Many ports already have shore power as most navy ships use shore power in port and have been doing it for many many years. in fact after a hurricane hit Kauai several years back, they used a submarine connected to shore power in reverse, used the nuclear submarine generated power to power the town.

The press release says they are working to develop it for San Francisco, not that they are inventing it. I believe, however, that Princess was the first cruise line to develop the means of powering their ships and initially it took some retro-fitting of ships to achieve the result. So it was new for the cruise industry.

[mii]

I'd like to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge one day :)

 

I hope you do someday. I have been on a few cruises sailing out of S.F. and the views you get when you go under the GG Bridge is awesome.

 

Marilyn

[Casshew]

It really does sound like a thrill :) maybe, one of these days...

[Ula]

I do not think this is just a plug in, but I was amazed that Los Angeles has this before San Francisco. Normally SF is more cutting edge with enviornmental stuff than LA.

I am speaking as a fourth generation native Southern Californian. And in my youth, the grandparents used to travel to SF to take a cruise to places like Hawaii. We have the home movies.

[Colo Cruiser]

I do not think this is just a plug in, but I was amazed that Los Angeles has this before San Francisco. Normally SF is more cutting edge with enviornmental stuff than LA.

I am speaking as a fourth generation native Southern Californian. And in my youth, the grandparents used to travel to SF to take a cruise to places like Hawaii. We have the home movies.

 

 

 

Nothing cutting edge about piers 27 and 35. :rolleyes:

 

It was probably state of the art when your Grandparents sailed but far from that now. Wish they would update them. ;)

[bdjam]

Those of you who want updated piers in San Francisco might write your favorite cruise line and ask them to get the Passenger Services Act overturned so that sailing from San Francisco is more lucrative for them...it is that antiquated law that makes it difficult for cruise business to develop here. Then you might ask them to put more ships in San Francisco so that building a new cruise terminal is cost effective and cost responsible. I'm in agreement with the City - one cruise ship in town every 10 days is hardly incentive to create a whole new terminal, especially when San Francisco has other issues to financially deal with. According to articles in the San Francisco papers, it's the law that makes it difficult for the cruise lines to home port here, not the terminal facilities.

 

In the meantime kudos to Princess and San Francisco for taking this step. As the Bay Area population is rightly environmentally conscious, pollution from ships entering the bay is a hot issue - this should help make the industry more palatable.

[PoohBearSF]

I'd like to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge one day :)

 

Even if you aren't on a cruise departing San Francisco and are just visiting the City by the Bay, you can still catch one of the SF Bay cruises that go under the bridge. Even as a resident of the City and someone who sees the Golden Gate Bridge on a daily basis, it's still a thrill to sail under such an icon.

[chasetf]

I do not think this is just a plug in, but I was amazed that Los Angeles has this before San Francisco. Normally SF is more cutting edge with enviornmental stuff than LA.

I am speaking as a fourth generation native Southern Californian. And in my youth, the grandparents used to travel to SF to take a cruise to places like Hawaii. We have the home movies.

Problem is SF has to argue about it for years whereas LA just does it. Given the earthquake damage (Northridge in LA area and Loma Prieta in SF area) the LA area got there infastructure fixed before SF even though Loma Prieta happened before Northridge.

 

I sure would welcome seeing Princess back in SF. It is convenient for us and we enjoy the Sun class ships.