|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Stage Technologies - Grand Engineering for Princess
|
| |
Dragon dancers, drums, bursts of firecrackers and a blessing by a Shinto priest, were all part of a lively ceremony which took place in Nagasaki last week where Princess Cruises named its newest and largest passenger vessel to date - Diamond Princess. The company’s newest “gem” is the first Princess ship to be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and certainly the first ship of this size to be built and christened in Japan. A complete success Princess Cruises CEO Peter Ratcliffe referred to the quality of work on the 116,000gt cruise liner as “absolutely amazing”.
Princess certainly hasn’t cut any corners in ensuring this newest edition is the ultimate in cruise ship ? experiences. State-of-the-art, the cruise liner has the ultimate in stage engineering equipment onboard with facilities many land-based theatres would envious of.
Engineering specialists Stage Technologies, perhaps most widely known for their work on land with Cirque du Soleli, at the Royal Opera House and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, have been working closely with P&O Princess for some time now and were appointed by MHI to design, manufacture and commission the complete engineering package for both of the Japanese builds, Diamond and Sapphire Princess. The contract included all the machinery, stage structure, flooring and control systems required to deliver a complete working automated theatre.
Stage Technologies have a long history with Princess and to date have worked on six of their ‘Grand Class’ cruise liners. Princess Grand was the first to feature Stage Technologies engineering solutions with perhaps the highest level of automation seen on a cruise ship at that time.
As well as utilising Stage Technologies’ standard equipment, such as the award winning control consoles Acrobat and Solo and the famous BigTow winch, Stage Technologies has also produced cruise line specific solutions to combat some of the unique engineering constraints experienced by being at sea. Such innovations include the Tanjent, which prevents scenery from moving around with the pitch and roll of the boat by guiding the scenery flybars throughout the full travel of the bar. Diamond will also be the first Princess ship to feature Stage Technologies performer flying system that runs on a curved track over the auditorium without tracking wires.
Diamond Princess is due to leave Los Angeles on the 13th March for its Maiden Cruise. The ship will then operate seven-day Mexican Riviera cruises before redeploying to Seattle for the Alaska season. The second of Stage Technologies’ installs for MHI, Sapphire Princess, is due to deliver in late May. |
|
|
|
