INSIDE VIEW:
A HIGH PERFORMING SHIP
A conversation with Captain Tim Stringer
Of
REGAL PRINCESS
by Richard H. Wagner
A HIGH PERFORMING SHIP
A conversation with Captain Tim Stringer
Of
REGAL PRINCESS
by Richard H. Wagner
|
Captain Tim Stringer originally planned to join the police. However, before doing so, he thought he would spend a year working at sea. More than 30 years later, Captain Stringer is still at sea. “Now, I would never turn back. When you are aboard, you are focused, it is a big operation that we are running here but I can see you are delivering some great memories to people. I do the weddings and every wedding is different. Engagement with the guests, hear their stories, it is nice for me to do that. I enjoy the life aboard but I also enjoy my time off.”
When he is off, this native of Bedfordshire, England now lives with his family in Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada. “I enjoy the outdoors. The ship is always in the sunshine. I go home now it is the middle of winter. I get the wood burner going, I get the snow cleared. [At sea], it is very intense, you've got a lot of people around. I go home it is completely opposite. I am out in the woods with the dogs. I am out walking or on the bike. It is a nice kind of relaxing contrast.” Except for a handful of years on oil tankers, most of Captain Stringer's career has been with Princess Cruises. He has served in a wide variety of ships. His commands have included Dawn Princess, Island Princess, Ocean Princess and Pacific Princess. “I did the world cruise on the Pacific. The Pacific is nice because you have the intimacy of that ship. You build a big bond on the world cruise. It is really exciting, I enjoy the adventure side of it. Small ships are challenging.” Still, Captain Stringer speaks with the most enthusiasm about his current command, Regal Princess, which along with her sister ships Royal Princess and Majestic Princess, are the largest ships in the Princess fleet. “I was lucky enough to be on the build project for this class of ship. I was two years with the naval architects in Southampton, a year in the shipyard and then I came out with the Royal as Staff Captain.” “This class of ship has come out really well. We maintained the feel of the existing ships because we want to make people feel at home when they are aboard. It is a bigger ship, which just means that we can offer a lot more amenities onboard. I don't think you feel that you are on a big ship when you are on it because of the layout.” “We have a good crew here and we get good comments back. We look very closely at the comment forms. Two things that are very strong: One is the service level of the crew. This ship year-to-date is the highest performing ship in the Princess fleet. The food ratings on this ship are phenomenal.” Regal Princess is versatile, able to handle a variety of cruises. “It works well in the Caribbean - - the Sanctuary is beautiful, we have the Movies Under the Stars but at the same time, it works so well in the Baltic, Canada New England. It is very adaptive as we change our cruising area.” “It is also amazing how the crew can adapt to the changing demographics.” In the Baltic, her passengers can include more than 50 different nationalities with North Americans in the minority. In the Caribbean, the passengers are mostly North Americans. Regal Princess, does some short cruises where the passengers are typically young and long cruises where they are usually mature. “But she just handles it.” |
“The ship is performing really well and I think that is why [Princess has] the confidence to have three more of these on order. We are getting a following. We are seeing a lot of people returning.”
Captain Stringer is also impressed by Regal Princess' nautical qualities. “This ship is probably easier to handle than the Pacific. We have stern thrusters for a start which make a big difference. We are heavier. We have a lot more momentum and we have ramped up the power.” Regal is also better able to handle rough seas than earlier cruise ships. “We have a lot more of a sharper bow line so you don't get that kind of slap that you get with the Grand class' broader bow. We have our duck tail which gives extra stability.” The hydrodynamic design of her hull also enhances her seakeeping abilities. Unlike most cruise ships of her size, Regal does not have a pod propulsion system. Instead, she has propellers and rudders like on a traditional ship. Nonetheless, Regal is very maneuverable. To illustrate, many ports prohibit ships that are beyond a specified length from entering. The problem is that if a ship is too long, it will not be able to maneuver through the channel leading to the port and in the port. Regal, however, was able to obtain exemptions in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wundemonde Germany and Stockholm, Sweden after proving it could safely maneuver through those ports. “It is because she has these big rudders and so much stability. She doesn't heel so we can use the rudders to put her into the [required] turns. [The guests do not] even notice that we are doing these turns when in reality, we have done some big sweeping turns. She is so stable.” Another impressive behind-the-scenes feature of Regal Princess is the design of her bridge. Captain Stringer pointed out that the placement of the consoles and instruments was done with the need to enhance communication between the members of the bridge team. Regal was also designed to meet the Safe Return to Port regulations, which are intended to enable a ship to continue on to a port despite fires and flooding. Regal is divided into 1,000 compartments with duplication of her vital facilities such as the bridge. Captain Stringer concluded with the understatement.. “All in all, she is a good ship.” |
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Cruise ship interview - - Princess Cruises - - Regal Princess - - Captain Tim Stringer