Princess, Costa Asia and P&O Australia getting new ships

Posted on 2 January, 2016 by Spacejunkie2

Princess Cruises is getting a fourth Royal-class ship.

Carnival Corp. signed a memo of agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for another Royal-class vessel for its Princess Cruises brand and two Costa Asia ships to operate in China.

A fourth ship was ordered to sail for P&O Cruises Australia. Deliveries of the ships are expected in 2019 and 2020.

“Each of the four new ships will be specifically designed and developed for the brand and guests it will serve,” Carnival Corp. said.

The Royal-class ship will be 143,700 gross tons and carry 3,560 passengers. It will be the fourth in the series; the third, the Majestic Princess, is to be delivered in 2017. Carnival Corp. said that in addition to brand hallmarks like a “soaring” atrium and multiple dining and entertainment venues, the new ship would include “brand-new innovations to enhance the guest experience even further.”

The Costa Asia ships will be 135,500 gross tons and carry 4,200 passengers.

The P&O Cruises Australia ship will also be 135,500 gross tons with 4,200 berths, and it will be that line’s largest vessel. “Australia is one of the top performing cruise markets in the world, with an average annual passenger growth rate of 20% over the past decade,” Carnival Corp. said.

The orders are part of an agreement Carnival Corp. announced in March to build nine ships, five at Fincantieri and four at Meyer Werft, for delivery between 2019 and 2022.

In June, Carnival Corp. said the vessels developed at the Meyer Werft yard in Germany would be powered by liquefied natural gas; two will sail for Aida Cruises, but Carnival Corp. has not assigned the other two.

New Princess ship to debut in Europe before China deployment

Posted on 24 November, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Majestic Princess.

Princess Cruises’ new ship Majestic Princess is to make its debut in Europe before being deployed to its year-round base in China.

The 3,560-passenger vessel enters service in April 2017 with a short maiden season of five to 28-day Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona, Athens and Rome before moving to China in July.

Sister ships Royal Princess and Regal Princess will be among a further six ships to be based in Europe in 2017.

Royal Princess will run new 11-day Grand Mediterranean and 10-day Western Mediterranean itineraries which can be combined into a 21-day sailing. Seven, 14, 21 and 28-day sailings throughout the Mediterranean will also be available.

Regal Princess, launched last year, returns to northern Europe for cruises to Scandinavia and Russia including an overnight stay in St Petersburg.

The 3,080-passenger Crown Princess will be based in Southampton from April to September to run seven and 14-night cruises to the Mediterranean and Scandinavia.

The 3,140-passenger Caribbean Princess will operate the line’s largest British Isles season with 12 departures from Southampton including a new late evening stay in Belfast and overnights in Dublin on selected cruises.

Smaller Pacific Princess, carrying 680 passengers, will sail from Dover from June to September on northern Europe itineraries.

Both Crown Princess and Pacific Princess will offer North Cape voyages to the Arctic Circle during the peak midnight sun period around the summer solstice.

The 2017 sailings, covering 153 departures to 119 destinations across 27 countries, are open for booking on December 3 from 4pm.

Princess Cruises’ president, Jan Swartz, said: “Our 2017 Europe season is sure to inspire our guests with our newest and largest ships in the Mediterranean and northern Europe.

“We’re especially excited to debut Majestic Princess in the Mediterranean before she officially sails to Asia for her maiden China cruise season.”

Majestic Princess: Princess Cruises names new €600 million ship designed for Chinese

Posted on 10 October, 2015 by Spacejunkie2

Majestic Princess will begin sailing to Japan and South Korea from its homeport of Shanghai in summer 2017

Princess Cruises’ newest ship, launching in summer 2017, will be called Majestic Princess. The 3,560-passenger vessel is the third “Royal Class” ship for the cruise line and has been designed with Chinese passengers in mind.

The ship will carry a Chinese name on the hull, 盛世公主号 (Shèng Shì Gōng Zhǔ Haò) – chosen by Carnival plc’s China employees and interpreted as “Grand World” or “Grand Spirit.”

“We’re excited to be the first line to offer a genuine premium cruise option to Chinese vacationers,” said Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises.

“[Majestic Princess] represents our brand’s long-term commitment to the continuing growth of the China market.”

T’ai chi at sea, ballroom dancing, subtitled Hollywood movies, Chinese satellite TV channels and a souped-up designer shopping experience are among the “Princess Class” experiences being rolled out to the Chinese market. Priority will be placed on food, amenities and shopping. In addition to the 24-hour buffet at sea, a wide variety of traditional Chinese dishes will also be offered for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The rapidly expanding Chinese cruise market has seen a parade of international ships moving to China. MSC Cruises announced last month that it will deploy its 1,976-passenger MSC Lirica to Shanghai, while Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas sails from Shanghai. Following its launch in China next April Ovation of the Seas will sail from Tianjin.

China has the potential to deliver 83 million cruise passengers a year according to a recent study by the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

• China plots domination of the global cruise market

Princess ships began homeport cruising in China in 2014 with an inaugural season of Shanghai-based cruises aboard Sapphire Princess, which visited cities including Seoul (Incheon), Busan and Jeju Island in South Korea and Fukuoka (Hakata), Kagoshima, Okinawa and Nagasaki in Japan. Majestic Princess will be based in China year round and will begin sailing to Japan and South Korea (ports not yet confirmed) from Shanghai in summer 2017.

Weighing in at 143,000 grt and with a build cost of €600 million Majestic Princess is being built at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri, where P&O Cruises’ Britannia, Princess’s Royal and Regal Princess and Carnival Magic were built.