Cost GB£150 million Weight 15,100 tons | Length 180 m Beam 25 m | |
 | ||
Name R Eight (2001–03)
Minerva II (2003–07)
Royal Princess (2007–11)
Adonia (2011–present) Owner Renaissance Cruises (2001)
Cruiseinvest Eight SA (2001–03)
Octavian Shipping Ltd (2003–06)
Carnival Corporation & plc (2006–present) Operator Renaissance Cruises (2001)
(laid up 2001–03)
Swan Hellenic (2003–07)
Princess Cruises (2007–11)
P&O Cruises (2011–16)
Fathom (2016–present) Port of registry 2001 Monrovia, Liberia
2001–2007 Majuro, Marshall Islands
2007 onwards Hamilton, Bermuda Route Miami-Dominican Republic and Cuba Builders Chantiers de l'Atlantique, STX France | ||
MV Adonia (previously R Eight, Minerva II and Royal Princess) is a cruise ship. The ship was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at their shipyard in St. Nazaire, France.
Adonia is a twin sister ship of the Pacific Princess (which is the smallest ship of Princess Cruises), the four sisters operated by Oceania Cruises and the two ships in operated by Azamara Cruises. After service with P&O, she entered service for Fathom in 2016.
Service history
Originally built as the last of eight 'R' class ships for Renaissance Cruises, Adonia was first known as R Eight, and entered service in 2001. After Renaissance ceased operations and filed for bankruptcy in late 2001, the vessel was seized by creditors and laid up in Marseille, France.
In 2003, the vessel re-entered operation, this time as the sole cruise ship in Swan Hellenic's fleet. The vessel was named Minerva II, after both the Roman goddess and the company's previous vessel, Minerva.
On 7 April 2007, Minerva II completed her final voyage with Swan Hellenic and was transferred by the parent company, Carnival Corporation & plc, to Princess Cruises. She was renamed Royal Princess and entered into service for Princess in 2007. The first voyage as a Princess Cruises liner was on 19 April 2007.
On 18 June 2009, fire broke out in her engine room. Royal Princess was on a 12-day Holy Land voyage and just left Port Said, Egypt. A little while later a serious fire broke out in her engine room, disabling the ship. She waited to dock in Port Said for an assessment of the damage.
Royal Princess was to transfer to the P&O Cruises fleet. The ship entered service with the company on 21 May 2011, and was renamed Adonia.
On 18 March 2013, two of the ship's passengers were shot in Bridgetown, Barbados, on her 2013 world cruise. P&O Cruises confirmed two of its passengers from the Adonia, which left Southampton on 8 January, believed to be a man in his 70s and a woman in her 50s, were taken to hospital after the incident. The ship's staff and medical team also provided support.
After completing a major refit in 2016, Adonia was reassigned within the Carnival Corporation, and became the first ship for a new brand called "fathom", focusing on the growing number of people who wanted to work alongside local communities as part of their travel experience in areas such as education, the environment and economic development. She sailed out of Miami to the Dominican Republic and Cuba on an alternating weekly basis. While in the Dominican Republic and Cuba, passengers had the opportunity to work on programs designed to make a positive social impact on the communities they visited.
On 2 May 2016, Adonia docked in the port of Havana, the first port of her Cuban itinerary for Fathom. It marked the first time in over 50 years that a U.S. cruise line has sailed from the U.S. to Cuba. It was also the first time in decades that Cuban-born individuals were able to travel by sea to or from Cuba. An outbreak of gastro-intestinal illnesses occurred on the initial voyage striking 14 passengers.
In November 2016, Carnival announced that Fathom would discontinue operations in June 2017. The MV Adonia, is to return to Carnival’s P&O Cruises at that time.