Princess Cruises Lines
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Princess Cruises is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Santa Clarita, California in
the United States. Previously a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises PLC, the company is now one
of eleven cruise ship brands operated by Carnival Corporation & PLC. Being based in America,
executive control of Princess Cruises was transferred to Carnival Corporation's American division
following the merger between Carnival and P&O Princess in 2002, however Carnival UK is
responsible for sales and marketing of the company in the United Kingdom. The company was made
famous by The Love Boat TV series, in which two of its ships, the Island Princess and Pacific
Princess were featured.
Princess Cruises began in 1965, when founder Stanley McDonald chartered Canadian Pacific
Limited's Alaska cruise ship Princess Patricia for Mexican Riviera cruises from Los Angeles during
a time when she would have usually been laid up for the winter. However, Princess Pat, as she was
fondly called, had never been designed for tropical cruising, lacking air-conditioning, and
Princess ended her charter in favor of a more purpose-built cruise ship Italia.
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The Italia had originally been ordered in 1963 and was one of the first to implement modern design elements,
such as lifeboats mounted lower on the ship, allowing for uncluttered upperdecks, and engines placed far in the
rear, allowing for spacious public rooms amidships. Gustavo Finali and Romano Boico had designed the ship's
interiors, designers whose résumés included such ships as the Augustus and Raffaello (of Italian Line) and the
Oceanic and Homeric (of Home Lines).
Information from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Cruises
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