The US Department of Justice announced that Princess Cruise Lines has plead guilty to seven charges for intentional pollution of the seas and cover up. The cruise line will have to pay maximum penalty of $40 million fine, which is largest-ever for deliberate pollution of the seas. As reported by the Division of Environment and Natural Resources, the cruise ship Caribbean Princess was dumping oil contaminated waste illegally since 2005 using a so-called "magic pipe".

Four finalists have been selected for this year sixth annual Princess Cruises Entertainer of the Year award. All four artists will perform on board Ruby Princess on the February 25, 2017 voyage to the Mexican Riviera. Each year Princess Cruises’ entertainment department selects four finalists based on guest surveys and the audience response.  The winner will receive the title, along with $5,000 on the final evening of the cruise during a gala event in the piazza. Here are the four finalists for ‘Entertainer of the Year’ award:

Pacific Princess Compartment Number 2 experienced flooding this morning as the cruise ship tried to dock in the port of Nice, France. The vessel encountered strong winds of 45 knots, which caused Pacific Princess to hit the breakwaters at the dock. Port side of the ship was slightly damaged by the impact. Firefighters and divers responded to the scene and will remain if further assistance is needed.

Princess cruise ship Regal Princess scored perfect 100 points on a recent unannounced USPH public health inspection. The latest Princess cruise ship is considered one of the cleanest vessels in the cruise industry. The ship has scored perfect 100 pints on all US Public Health inspections since she set sail in 2014. 

Royal Princess emerged from the dry dock in Palermo with a giant hull logo. The cruise ship is the first in Princess Fleet to receive this distinctive logo, one of the largest in the cruise line industry.

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a 47-year-old crew member from a Princess cruise ship this morning.

Fire broke out aboard the cruise ship Emerald Princess, on September 17 while the ship was sailing from Southampton to Las Palmas. The news was headlined by the popular maritime blog Cruise Law News. A passenger sailing on the current voyage send a message to Jim Walker, saying that the fire started in the engine room.

Melina Roberge , 22, and Isabelle Lagace , 28, form Canada took a dream cruise around the world from London to Sydney on a luxury Princess cruise ship, Sea Princess. With stops in Canada, United States, cross the Panama Canal, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, the islands of Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia, the cruise lasted almost two months. 

The cruise ship Caribbean Princess lost propulsion and was adrift for nine hours on the Irish Sea with 4,000 passengers onboard. The news was first published by Cruise Law News web site and several passengers commented on social networks about the ships current status. Princess Cruises released several tweets regarding the propulsion problems saying that the ship lost propulsion 25 nautical miles southeast of Dublin in the Irish Sea.

Princess Cruises will be the first, and so far the only, cruise company to cross the new Panama Canal. The company has already included this in their new transit routes through the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean. The Caribbean Princess with capacity of 3,080 passengers will operate using the new Atlantic locks in its premiere from the end of 2017. This experience will be part of a 10-day cruise through the Panama Canal from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The new routes will make their debut in the 2017-18 winter season.