Coral Princess Delivery Postponed Again

The delivery of Princess' upcoming ship Coral Princess has been delayed, cancelling its December 24 sailing. The vessel's inaugural Panama Canal cruise will now depart on January 3, 2003. Passengers on the affected December 24 sailing will receive a full refund, as well as credit toward a future cruise. Travel agent commission will be protected on all fully paid bookings. "We deeply regret having to cancel this departure," said Phil Kleweno, president. "The shipbuilder, Chantiers de l'Atlantique is working hard to deliver the ship as quickly as possible, however the ship requires additional work which will preclude the operation of the December 24 sailing. We sincerely regret this disruption to our valued passengers' holiday plans." The 88,000-ton Coral Princess is the first in a new series of ships for Princess, and will be the largest of the line's ships to be able to transit the Panama Canal. The 1,970-passenger vessel will debut with a series of 10-day roundtrip Canal voyages from Ft. Lauderdale, and will be christened by the president of Panama on January 17.