Pacific Sun (ship)
Encyclopedia
MS
Ship prefix
A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...
Pacific Sun is a Holiday class
Holiday Class
The Holiday class was the first class of newbuilds for Carnival Cruise Lines after their first newbuild, the Tropicale. The first ship in the class, the 46,052 gross ton vessel Holiday, was completed in 1985. A second and slightly larger sister ship, the Jubilee, was built in 1986 at 47,262 gross...
cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
operated by P&O Cruises Australia
P&O Cruises Australia
P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with corporate headquarters at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operational headquarters in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. At 47,000 tons, Pacific Sun is a medium-sized ship, accommodating up to 1,900 passengers. She was built in 1986 by Kockums Varv
Kockums
Kockums AB is a shipyard in Malmö, Sweden owned by the German shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel. HDW itself is a subsidiary of the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems....
, Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, for Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines
Carnival Cruise Lines is a British-American owned cruise line, based in Doral, Florida, a suburb of Miami in the United States. Originally an independent company founded in 1972 by Ted Arison, the company is now one of eleven cruise ship brands owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc...
as MS Jubilee, along with near-sister ship Celebration
Celebration (ship)
Grand Celebration is a Holiday class cruise ship that is operated by Iberocruceros. She was built in 1986 by Kockums Varv in Malmö, Sweden for Carnival Cruise Lines as Celebration. The Grand Celebration has 2 sister ships...
. The other near-sister ship of the class, Holiday
Holiday (ship)
MS Grand Holiday is a Holiday class cruise ship, formerly owned by Carnival Cruise Lines. In April, 2010, she underwent dry dock refurbishment and was then transferred to the Ibero Cruises fleet...
, was built earlier by Aalborg Værft in Ålborg, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
In 2004, the vessel was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia
P&O Cruises Australia
P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with corporate headquarters at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operational headquarters in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and renamed Pacific Sun. Pacific Sun arrived in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in November 2004, and began year-round cruises from Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
to the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
and tropical north Queensland. She is based out of Brisbane, the largest year-round liner to be based in Queensland. After receiving a multi-million dollar makeover, she is currently sailing in all white colours, like P&O's other ships, along with new amenities. Unlike her sisters Grand Celebration and Grand Holiday, Pacific Sun was the only ship whose funnel was changed upon leaving the Carnival Cruise Line fleet; her sister's funnels were simply painted over, while Sun had Carnival's iconic wings removed.
In late July, 2008, 42 passengers were injured in a storm. The event became widely known when video footage was reposted on the internet two years later.