Took some photos of the visiting US Superliner Sapphire Princess in Sydney today after arriving from Singapore early in the morning.

It's currently doing a cruise around the world.

A few stats

*290 metres long
*37 metres wide
*Weighs 116 000 tonns
*Carries 2670 Passengers and 1100 Crew
*23 Storeys Tall!!!

Cannot wait to get shots of Queen Mary II when it visits next month

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v28/Fabian/P1110897.jpg

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great shots. i love this ship. the bridge is so wide.the capt must love moving this beast around the world.these ships must look enormous out in the high seas. 23storeys floating in middle of now where. awesome.

Beautiful shots! I've always had a thing for cruise ships... but I don't think I'd want to actually go cruising myself! :D QM2 is apparently going to be docked at Garden Island because it won't fit at Circular Quay. It'll be good to get some shots from there though! Hardly any interference. :D

We need a commercial passanger connection in Perth but it's all cargo in Perth. Top end small cruisers are popular along the north west coast.

This is a truly beautiful ship and it will be berthing in Melbourne 8 times up to
April 15th starting from next sat.So plenty of chances to take some snaps at Station Pier.

BTW the Sapphire Princess has a few webcams, so maybe take look at the Princess site.

The Chapel cam can be rather amusing.

http://www.princess.com/ships/sa/index.html

This is a truly beautiful ship and it will be berthing in Melbourne 8 times up to
April 15th starting from next sat.So plenty of chances to take some snaps at Station Pier.

Does every one of your post have to refer to Melbourne??????????

Does every one of your post have to refer to Melbourne??????????

pot kettle black?

nice ship though.

I cant stop admiring the pics, thanks Fabian, those pics are truely awesome.

My very fav ship and your pics are the best I have seen of the ship here in Sydney. Awesome stuff! I have some pics of it when it was here a couple of years ago but it was overcast and mine didn't do it justice.

Bloody awsome!! Remember the days of the Oriana and Sea Princess anyone?

is QM2 coming to sydney soon?
currently longest pasenger liner but not not largest
take off 10m draft to give height above water.
longest=QM2, largest=freedom of seas
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/5260/qm2vagoerseaskd3.jpg

Yeah it will be here...

http://www.sydneyports.com.au/Cruising/CruiseSchedule.asp

Orion 02-Jan-2007 07:00 (Mon) 06-Jan-2007 07:00 (Sat) 4 Athol Buoy ORION Orion Expedition Cruises
Orion 06-Jan-2007 08:00 (Sat) 06-Jan-2007 21:00 (Sat) Overseas Passenger Terminal ORION Orion Expedition Cruises
Silver Cloud 07-Jan-2007 07:00 (Sun) 07-Jan-2007 18:30 (Sun) Overseas Passenger Terminal BWL Silversea Cruises
Pacific Sun 08-Jan-2007 07:00 (Mon) 08-Jan-2007 17:00 (Mon) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Sapphire Princess 11-Jan-2007 06:00 (Thu) 11-Jan-2007 21:00 (Thu) Overseas Passenger Terminal OMS Princess Cruises
Pacific Princess 13-Jan-2007 07:00 (Sat) 13-Jan-2007 16:00 (Sat) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Pacific Sun 18-Jan-2007 07:00 (Thu) 18-Jan-2007 17:00 (Thu) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Silver Cloud 21-Jan-2007 09:30 (Sun) 22-Jan-2007 18:30 (Mon) Overseas Passenger Terminal BWL Silversea Cruises
Pacific Princess 21-Jan-2007 07:00 (Sun) 21-Jan-2007 16:00 (Sun) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Pacific Sun 28-Jan-2007 07:00 (Sun) 28-Jan-2007 17:00 (Sun) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Statendam 02-Feb-2007 07:00 (Fri) 02-Feb-2007 18:30 (Fri) Overseas Passenger Terminal BWL Holland America Line
Asuka 11 02-Feb-2007 07:00 (Fri) 02-Feb-2007 20:00 (Fri) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour NYK NYK Line
Asuka 11 02-Feb-2007 21:00 (Fri) 03-Feb-2007 17:00 (Sat) Overseas Passenger Terminal NYK NYK Line
Pacific Princess 03-Feb-2007 07:00 (Sat) 03-Feb-2007 16:00 (Sat) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
C.Columbus 03-Feb-2007 22:00 (Sat) 04-Feb-2007 23:59 (Sun) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour HLL Hapag Lloyd
Sapphire Princess 04-Feb-2007 06:00 (Sun) 04-Feb-2007 21:00 (Sun) Overseas Passenger Terminal OMS Princess Cruises
Pacific Sun 06-Feb-2007 07:00 (Tue) 06-Feb-2007 17:00 (Tue) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Pacific Venus 07-Feb-2007 16:00 (Wed) 08-Feb-2007 18:30 (Thu) Overseas Passenger Terminal BWL Japan Cruise Line
Nippon Maru 12-Feb-2007 06:00 (Mon) 14-Feb-2007 21:00 (Wed) Overseas Passenger Terminal MOL Mitsui
Amsterdam 15-Feb-2007 07:00 (Thu) 16-Feb-2007 18:30 (Fri) Overseas Passenger Terminal BWL Holland America Line
Astor 16-Feb-2007 08:00 (Fri) 16-Feb-2007 23:00 (Fri) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour BWL Transocean
Oriana 17-Feb-2007 07:00 (Sat) 17-Feb-2007 23:59 (Sat) Overseas Passenger Terminal OMS P+O Cruises
Pacific Princess 17-Feb-2007 07:00 (Sat) 17-Feb-2007 16:00 (Sat) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Pacific Sun 19-Feb-2007 07:00 (Mon) 19-Feb-2007 17:00 (Mon) Wharf 8 - Darling Harbour OMS P&O Cruises Australia
Silver Cloud 20-Feb-2007 07:00 (Tue) 21-Feb-2007 18:00 (Wed) 3 Darling Harbour BWL Silversea Cruises
Queen Mary 2 20-Feb-2007 07:00 (Tue) 20-Feb-2007 23:00 (Tue) Fleet Base BWL Cunard

the qm2 is here on feb 20 for a day.

Does every one of your post have to refer to Melbourne??????????

Thats where I live and are just like yours that mostly refer to Sydney mate! Some people who would like to go and see this magnificent vessel in Melbourne might just appreciate the info as well.

The Sapphire Princess will be docked at Circular Quay today for those interested.

As for upcoming visits by the QM2 and QEII on Feburary 20th, The QMII arrives in Sydney at 6:30am and QEII at 7:15pm. There will be a fireworks display at 8:40pm on the Harbour.

And a shot of the liner in Sydney yesterday. Taken by Brendan

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2083/pict0288am0.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pict0288am0.jpg)

It being my fav ship, I took about 500 pictures of it while it was in this time. Got up early and went down to Bradleys Head, was there before sunrise to see it come in, lucky i had a torch. I also got some awesome shots from mosman of the sunrise over the skyline, both the city and north sydney. It was a bit dark for shots of the ship coming into the harbour at that early time.

I also took pics of it during the day from the cahill, terminal, bridge and ground. I guess you could say i went overboard.

I also saw it leave that night, I walked down to the cremorne point and watching it power out of the harbour, 25 mins and it was basically gone. It certainly wastes no time.

Are you going to post a few of them Av? I'd be nice to see it sailing in the harbour.

the qm2 is here on feb 20 for a day.

thats the one im waiting for.

Are you going to post a few of them Av? I'd be nice to see it sailing in the harbour.

LOL it was too dark to see it sailing in the harbour that morning. Yes it had the lights on, but i didn't have my tripod. I will post some pics but unfortunately there is not even one if it sailing. It came in around 5am and while i could see it fine it was far too dark at this stage to take any pics. By the time it was light the ship was fully docked the only sign it had just arrived was the smoke from its exhausts/funnel. When it left that night it was also dark and i didn't have the camera with me at that time. Was nice to watch it cruising through the harbour.

Super shots , impressive - Sapphire will be warmly welcomed !

heres a real ship>>>
http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=11667856#post11667856

The Sapphire Princess was in today and is bigger than both the Queen Victoria and QE2. In fact it is the largest ship to dock at the international terminal and has only been beaten by the Queen Mary as the biggest ship to visit Australia!

Well the Star Princess has been here too I also think the Diamond Princess is slated to come here soon, all are of the grand class and roughly the same size, although some have superstructural differences such as placement of the over-hanging nightclub. I am not sure if the Sapphire weighs more than the Star but all in all much of the same hotness.

Sapphire Princess has a height of 54.0 meters above water surface and Sydney Harbour Bridge has clearance below of 49 metres at mid-span. What a huge ship!

edit: I wrote "what a huge bridge" before :crazy:

Well the Star Princess has been here too I also think the Diamond Princess is slated to come here soon, all are of the grand class and roughly the same size, although some have superstructural differences such as placement of the over-hanging nightclub. I am not sure if the Sapphire weighs more than the Star but all in all much of the same hotness.

All passenger ships are measured by volume not weight as they would seem a lot smaller to the average person - not a good look if your promoting your ship as the "biggest"

Measures of size

From Wikipedia

By convention and long usage, the size of civilian passenger ships is measured by gross tonnage, which is a measure of enclosed volume. Gross tonnage is not a measure of weight, although the two concepts are often confused.

Weight is measured by displacement, which is the conventional means of measuring naval vessels. Often a passenger ship is stated to "weigh" or "displace" a certain "tonnage", but the figure given nearly always refers to gross tons.

While a high displacement can indicate better sea keeping abilities,[3] gross tonnage is promoted as the most important measure of size for passengers, as the ratio of gross tonnage per passenger – the Passenger/Space Ratio – gives a sense of the spaciousness of a ship, an important consideration in cruise liners where the onboard amenities are of high importance.[4][5]

Gross tonnage normally is a much higher value than displacement. This was not always the case; as the functions, engineering and architecture of ships have changed, the gross tonnage figures of the largest passenger ships have risen substantially, while the displacements of such ships have not. RMS Titanic, with a gross tonnage of 46,329, but a displacement reported at over 52,000 tons,[6] was heavier than contemporary 100,000 – 110,000 gross ton cruise ships which displace only around 50,000 tons. Similarly, the Cunard Line's RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth, of approximately 81,000 – 83,000 gross tons, but displacements of over 80,000 tons,[7] do not differ significantly in displacement from their new 148,528 gross ton successor, RMS Queen Mary 2, which has been estimated to displace approximately 76,000 tons, [8] or from the even newer 154,407 gross ton MS Freedom of the Seas,[9] which is also estimated to displace in the range of 75 – 80,000 tons.[10] Indeed, not until the 2009 launch of the first of the Genesis class ships, which is projected to displace about 100,000 tons,[11] will there be a passenger ship which clearly surpasses the Cunard Queens of the 1930s in displacement.

However, by the conventional and historical measure of gross tonnage, there has been a recent dramatic increase in the size of the largest new ships. The Genesis ships will measure 220,000 gross tons, over four times larger than Titanic and twice as large as the largest cruise ships of the late 1990s.

You know what? i would love Sydney to have a 'shipyard' museum (akin to the one in NYC); yes i know it does but i want more ships and subs. Have these retired ships docked near Pyrmont, off Balmain. Throw in an exact replica of the Battleship Bismark and you'll make my day.

Three of the Princess Cruises big ships will vist Australia next summer season The Dawn Princess,Sun Princess and Diamond Princess.

The QE2 in Melbourne for the final time today.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2080/2300169896_798718d9d9_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3037/2299296213_dbb2f3ed93_o.jpg

I have been on the Sapphire and really love it. I have to say it was one of the best holidays ever!

The Diamond and Sapphire Princess are identical and were built together, the current Sapphire was originally the Diamond Princess. A fire when constructing the ship caused it to be delayed and as a result the original Sapphire became the Diamond (as it was released first) and the damaged Diamond after repairs became the current Sapphire!

More info on the Sapphire & Diamond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire_Princess

Well worth the read, the Star is slightly smaller though still huge and bigger than the Queen Victoria (they are by the way owned by the same company)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Cruises#Grand_Class

i think the ships in the harbor posts are the most boring! Anyone else agree?
i guess the ones that do wouldnt be looking here.

hmmmm