Princess goes to Germany

Having arrived at the Grand Bahama shipyard in Freeport for temporary repairs to its 150 fire damaged cabins, the ?Star Princess? will set sail later this week for the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany, where permanent repairs will be carried out. The 2,600 passenger cruise ship is scheduled to return to service on 15 May for a European cruise which will depart from Copenhagen.

Princess Cruises, which is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp., has now cancelled trips that were to have left Fort Lauderdale on March 26, and April 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30. Passengers booked on these cruises will receive a full refund and a 25% credit toward a future trip. Carnival estimates that the cost of repairs and refunds would reduce its earnings in the second quarter by $34 million to $42 million.