Update: Ruby Princess departure now Sunday after crashing into SF Pier 27
SAN FRANCISCO -- A Princess Cruises ship that was damaged after crashing into the pier while docking in San Francisco Thursday is not expected to leave until Sunday, passengers said.
The Ruby Princess remained docked Friday, more than 24 hours after the collision Thursday at Pier 27, delaying an Alaskan vacation for hundreds of passengers. The ship was originally scheduled to depart Thursday afternoon before the crash left a gash in its hull and prompted the lengthy delay.
UPDATE: Passengers aboard the Ruby Princess remain upbeat as they await departure
Princess Cruises issued an updated statement at 10:45 a.m. Friday, saying the U.S. Coast Guard was performing an inspection and reviewing the repair work that had been completed.
"We expect to receive an estimated departure time from San Francisco for today (July 7) once the inspection is complete," the statement said.
Shortly after 3 p.m., passengers told KPIX that they received word from the cruise line that the ship won't depart until 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 9.
The cruise line later tweeted confirmation of the new departure time.
2/5 Repairs are underway and our technical experts estimate that repairs are likely to take upwards of 24 hours, and the new estimated departure time from San Francisco is 1600 local time on Sunday, July 9.
— Princess Cruises (@PrincessCruises) July 7, 2023
Princess Cruises also noted that the itinerary has also been revised to a 7-day Pacific Northwest / Alaska voyage, with stops in Ketchikan, Alaska and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, before returning to San Francisco on July 16.
The ship crashed into the dock at about 6 a.m. Thursday morning, leaving the ship visibly damaged and as well as damaging the pier. No one was injured in the incident and the cause of the collision was not determined as of Friday morning.
A spokesperson for the San Francisco Bar Pilots spokesperson said in a statement to KPIX 5: "We can confirm a pilot was involved in an incident at Pier 27 this morning. We are cooperating with all necessary agencies in looking into this matter and cannot comment further."
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Passengers disembarked after the collision, and the new group of passengers was allowed to get on the ship for the Alaska cruise beginning at 11:30 a.m. The ship was originally scheduled to set sail at 4 p.m. Thursday. Princess Cruises said embarkation for the current roundtrip to Alaska voyage was completed Thursday with 3,256 guests and 1,161 crew onboard as the ship stayed docked overnight in San Francisco.
Princess said it was working to maintain as much of the planned itinerary as possible, and would be providing passengers "a goodwill gesture of compensation once the full effect of the necessary changes is known."
Passengers who were embarking on the Ruby Princess' next 10-day trip to Alaska got an up-close look at the damaged ship.
"I was certainly thinking about how the Titanic's been in the news lately and so all of a sudden, I didn't know anything about this until she told me, the next person in line, and I'm thinking there's a hole in the boat? it feels a little iffy," said Maryann Will. "I've come all this way and was planning for three years so here we are."
"I guess I'm willing to accept that they wouldn't be getting all these people on a boat if they had concerns is my hope," added Will.
"I just happened to see it on the news from my hotel room, I was waiting to check out," said Ann Portillo from Scottsdale, Arizona. "I'm sure they know what's best, I have been on many cruises and I don't see this as being a huge issue, it didn't look that bad."
"I just hope it's safe because of what happened this morning, I'm sure they wouldn't let everybody get on the boat unless it was safe," said Debbie McIntosh.
"As long as the lifeboats work," Mike McIntosh said as he laughed.