Ruby Princess

Ruby Princess is a Grand-class cruise ship built for Princess Cruises and generally regarded as the ninth and final Grand-class vessel to enter the fleet, as well as the third and last of the enlarged Crown sub-series that also comprises Crown Princess and her near-sister Emerald Princess. Constructed by Fincantieri in Italy, with work carried out at the Monfalcone yard (yard number 6150), her keel was laid in June 2007 and she was floated out on 1 February 2008, with delivery on 23 October 2008 at a reported cost of about US$400 million.

Measuring 113,561 gross tons, she is 289.9 metres long with a 36-metre beam and an 8.5-metre draught, and is arranged over 17 decks with 15 accessible to guests. She carries approximately 3,080 passengers at double occupancy across 1,541 staterooms — up to roughly 3,660 at full capacity — attended by a crew of around 1,200. Flagged in Bermuda and registered at Hamilton, she bears the IMO number 9378462 and the call sign ZCDY2.

Like her sisters, Ruby Princess is built around the multi-deck Piazza atrium, the ship's central gathering place surrounded by cafes, boutiques and entertainment. Her amenities include Movies Under the Stars on a large poolside screen, the tranquil adults-only Sanctuary retreat, and the aft Skywalkers Nightclub perched in the ship's signature elevated structure, along with specialty restaurants such as the Crown Grill steakhouse and Sabatini's Italian dining venue.

The ship was christened on 6 November 2008 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, by Trista and Ryan Sutter, a couple who had risen to fame through American reality television; her maiden voyage followed on 8 November 2008. Her early deployments centred on Western Caribbean sailings from Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, followed by Mediterranean seasons, and over time she has also operated Alaska, Mexican Riviera and U.S. West Coast itineraries.

Ruby Princess became the focus of intense international attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having departed Sydney, Australia, on 8 March 2020 for a New Zealand cruise, she returned on 19 March 2020 and around 2,700 passengers were allowed to disembark; the ship was subsequently linked to a very large share of Australia's early coronavirus cases, with figures reported by August 2020 of roughly 900 infections and about 28 deaths connected to the voyage. The episode prompted a New South Wales police criminal investigation and a Special Commission of Inquiry led by barrister Bret Walker, whose report was released on 14 August 2020, followed by findings from the Inspector-General of Biosecurity in 2021. In later incidents she recorded a significant COVID-19 outbreak on a Hawaii sailing in April 2022 and sustained hull damage in a low-speed contact with a pier at San Francisco on 6 July 2023, which delayed and shortened a subsequent Alaska voyage. Ruby Princess remains in service with Princess Cruises.