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Sapphire Princess

Princess Cruises · Cruise · In service · built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Sapphire Princess is the sister to Diamond Princess and the hull originally intended to carry that name, rebuilt after a fire at Nagasaki in 2002.

Length overall290.2 m

Beam37.49 m

Gross tonnage115,875 GT

Passengers2,670

Speed22 kn

Delivered2004

Our numbers

Derived metrics

Computed by ships.fyi from the core specification — see how we calculate these.

Passengers per metre#85 of 116

9.2 pax/m passengers (double occupancy) ÷ length overall

Length-to-beam ratio#92 of 142

7.74 length overall ÷ beam

Sense of scale

How big is it, really?

The Sapphire Princess's length overall, against things you already know the size of.

Sapphire Princess290.2 m

Eiffel Tower (height)330 m

Titanic269.06 m

Football pitch105 m

Boeing 747-876.3 m

Blue whale25 m

You (probably)1.75 m

The 747-8 held the longest-airliner record for over a decade, until Boeing's 777-9 took it by about 19 inches (76.72 m) — our sibling site aircraft.fyi measures everything that flies the same way.

One Sapphire Princess = 1.08 Titanics · 2.8 football pitches · 12 blue whales · 3.8 Boeing 747-8s laid end to end.

#113 of 142 by length → #88 by gross tonnage → #90 by passengers → Run the Canal-Fit Checker → Sailing on her? Get cruise-ready →

Plan a sailing on Sapphire Princess

Cruise essentials kitThe gear regulars actually pack

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Specification

The numbers

Length overall	≈290.2 m
Beam	37.49 m
Draught	≈8.53 m
Gross tonnage	115,875 GT
Passengers	≈2,670
Crew	≈1,100
Decks	16
Speed	≈22 kn
Entered service	2004

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Last verified: 2026-07-15 · Spot an error? business@luck.fyi

The story

What makes it different

Sapphire Princess is the other half of the Nagasaki pair, and the hull that was originally to be called Diamond Princess before an October 2002 fire at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries forced a rethink.

The damaged sections were rebuilt, the two ships exchanged names so the intact hull could be delivered on time, and Sapphire Princess entered service in 2004 — a few months behind her sister but otherwise identical.

Like Diamond she carries the 37.5-metre beam that makes the Gem-class pair the widest Grand-class ships, and she has worked Asian, Alaskan and Australian itineraries throughout her career. Both ships were re-flagged from Bermuda to the United Kingdom in 2014.

The class

The Sapphire Princess line

Gem class

Second of the two Mitsubishi-built Grand-class ships, sharing the wider 37.5 m beam with Diamond Princess.

Operators

Who operates the Sapphire Princess

All 1 operator of record, verified 2026-07-15. Figures marked ≈ are approximate.

PCLPrincess CruisesAsia, Alaska and Australia deployments.1✓→

Quick answers

Sapphire Princess, asked and answered

How long is the Sapphire Princess?

290.2 m (952 ft) length overall — the #113 longest of the 142 ships on ships.fyi, and 2.8 football pitches end to end.

How big is the Sapphire Princess compared to the Titanic?

The Sapphire Princess is 1.08× the Titanic's length — 290.2 m against her 269.06 m. By volume the gap is starker still: 115,875 GT against Titanic's 46,328 GRT — roughly 2.5 times the tonnage, measured across two different rule eras.

Who operates the Sapphire Princess?

Princess Cruises. Current status: in service.

Does the Sapphire Princess fit through the Panama Canal?

Not the original locks — but yes through the 2016 Neopanamax locks: at 290.2 m by 37.49 m on a 8.53 m draft she clears the 366 × 51.25 × 15.2 m expanded gauge.

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