The Ruby Princess, a cruise ship that hit a dock at San Francisco’s Pier 27 Thursday morning, departed from the city at around 3:40 p.m. Sunday. Passengers waved and cheered as the ship departed from the pier.
This comes after the ship was cleared to set sail by the U.S. Coast Guard early Sunday morning.
Chief Petty Officer Levi Read, a public affairs specialist with the Coast Guard, told NBC Bay Area the ship was given a go-ahead around 1 a.m. after a final inspection of repairs.
Crews have been working to repair the hull since the ship “made unexpected contact” with a dock Thursday while docking. No one was hurt, according to the Princess Cruises company.
Ruby Princess was originally supposed to depart for Alaska on Thursday afternoon.
In a statement released on Friday, the company announced the ship, once underway, would sail a modified route of a 7-day Pacific Northwest/Alaska voyage before heading back to San Francisco on July 16, as originally scheduled.
The company also offered the roughly 3,300 passengers a full fare refund if they decided not to continue with the cruise, or a 75% fare refund if they continue on the shortened trip. According to Princess Cruises' statements Sunday, 2,677 guests opted to go on the cruise despite the schedule change.
Some loved ones of passengers showed up Sunday to watch the ship depart.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
One mother of a passenger, who didn't want to be named explained, “I wanna make sure that I saw the ship, that it's really fixed.”
She said she was satisfied to see the hole repaired with only a dent to the hull visible.
Jonathan Canio of New York said he and his family opted to go on the cruise because they all wanted quality time together.
Canio said his family is, “still gonna make the most of it, it will be fun going out there and enjoying a cruise.”
Other passengers decided they didn't want to travel on this modified voyage.
"I am really frustrated right now because I have to go home, it's not worth it staying in Alaska for a day," explained one passenger who opted not to go on the cruise.
Alicia O'Donnell, a Pennsylvania resident, explained that her family booked this trip two years ago as a chance to bring everyone together. However, her family decided not to go on the cruise after seeing the damage to the ship.
"When we arrived at the Pier during our scheduled boarding time, the damage was visibly significant," O'Donnell said. "With no additional information or any reassurance from Princess, we decided we were not willing to take that risk and did not board the ship. Princess at that time did not communicate that they still needed inspection and approval from the U.S. Coast Guard."
O'Donnell said that while Princess promised her family a full refund, they haven't received any details about when that will happen.
The company released the following statement Sunday:
"Princess Cruises can confirm that repairs on Ruby Princess have been completed, and following inspection and certification by the United States Coast Guard, the ship is safe and fit to sail. With the certification, Ruby Princess is expected to depart the Port of San Francisco on Sunday at 2:30pm PT for a 7-day Pacific Northwest/Alaska voyage, and will visit Ketchikan on July 12 and Prince Rupert on July 13, returning to San Francisco on July 16 for disembarkation as originally scheduled. Ruby Princess now has 2677 guests and 1161 crew onboard."
