The Sea Princess was designed for Princess Cruises by Fincantieri. Before being idled by the pandemic, the 77,500 gross ton cruise ship sailed for Princess and P&O Cruises and had been sailing mainly in Australia.

Princess Cruises revealed in September that the ship was being sold alongside her sister ship, the Sun Princess. Buyers for the Sea Princess were not announced, while the Sun Princess will be run as the Pacific World for the Japanese NGO Peace Boat beginning in 2021.

V.Ships Leisure announced that they had supported its new Chinese owners, Sanya International Cruise Development Co, Ltd., with the handover of the Sea Princess. The handover was done largely through a remote process.

Sanya has chosen V.Ships Leisure and its sister hospitality business, Oceanic Catering, for the ship and hotel management of the former Sea Princess, which is being renamed Charming.

“Being selected once again to manage the start-up of a cruise line in China highlights our unique capability to manage vessels locally with our highly experienced cruise dedicated team in China. Our integrated ship and hotel management partnership model is proving ever more popular as it enables delivery of a unified ship and shore side approach to safety culture and Covid-19 secure operations," stated Per Bjornsen, CEO V.Ships Leisure.

Maritime Business World