Third Princess Ship Resumes Service as Sky Princess to Sail From Southampton

The Sky Princess is the third Princess Cruises ship to resume revenue service.

Based in the United Kingdom, the vessel is departing Southampton today, starting its “Summer Seacation” program.

The Sky Princess is offering a four-night cruise the first in a series of domestic UK cruises, which will run through late September. Along with the Regal Princess, the Sky Princess is now offering scenic voyages and regular cruises around the country, ranging from three to seven nights.

The itineraries include stops in ports such as Liverpool, in England; Belfast, in Northern Ireland; Greenock, in Scotland; and more.

After the UK program, the vessel is set to return to Port Everglades. Starting in November, the ship is sailing three-, five-, seven- and 14-day cruises to the Eastern and Western Caribbean.

A Royal-class ship, the Sky Princess entered service in 2019 and was said to be an evolution to the platform used for previous Royal-class ships, the Royal, Regal and Majestic Princess.

The new and enhanced features include a digitally enhanced escape room called the Phantom Bridge and the Wakeview pool located on the ship’s aft decks. Other changes are a new café, redesigned lounges, additional Jacuzzis, and the new Sky Suites.

Featuring the largest continuous private balconies at sea ever offered by any cruise line, the two Sky Suites have a sleeping capacity for five guests and are located on one of the ship’s highest decks.

The 143,700 ton, 3,660-guest ship was also the first in the fleet to be built from the ground up with the Ocean Guest Experience Platform, powered by Princess’s MedallionClass technology. 

With the Sky Princess now in service, three Princess Cruises vessels have resumed guest operations. The first ship to welcome passengers back was the Majestic Princess, which launched a series of Alaska cruises on July 25.

A few days later, on July 31, the Regal Princess started to offer domestic sailings in the UK.

Princess is now preparing its return to the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Mexican Riviera, Hawaii the California Coast. By November 28, a total of eight ships will be sailing to those destinations from Port Everglades, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  

New Discovery Princess Floats Out at Fincantieri

The Discovery Princess, the sixth Royal-class ship built Princess Cruises, floated out today at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone.

Interior fittings will now begin, leading the vessel to delivery, scheduled next year for Princess, which is owned by Carnival Corporation.

The 145,000-ton ship is a sister vessel to the Royal Princess, Regal Princess, Majestic Princess, Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess, which were all built and delivered in the same shipyard starting from 2013.

The partnership between the Monfalcone yard and Princess Cruises will continue with two next-generation cruise ships. These will be the largest built so far in Italy with a gross-tonnage of 175,000 tons, will accommodate approximately 4,300 guests and will be the first of the ship owner’s fleet to be dual-fuel powered primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). Deliveries are scheduled for 2023 and 2025.

Enchanted Princess ‘first ship to be completed in the time of Covid’

New-build Enchanted Princess has been delivered to Princess Cruises at a shipyard handover ceremony in Italy.
The 145,000-ton, 3,660-passenger vessel expands the Carnival Corporation-owned line’s global fleet of high-technology MedallionClass vessels.
The finalisation of Enchanted Princess marks the first ship to be completed during the time of Covid.
The ship is due to arrive in North America in December for a season of Caribbean cruises provided US health officials to lift a ban on sailings imposed due to the pandemic.
The new addition to the fleet will sail in the Mediterranean next summer, bringing the number of Royal-class ships based in Europe to three.
Enchanted Princess will spend May to September operating a series of new seven and 14-night itineraries from the port for Rome before sailing between Rome and Barcelona on a series of 11-night cruises.
Sky Princess is replacing Crown Princess in Southampton from April to September 2021, running eight and 12-night British Isles cruises and a series of 12-night Scandinavia and Russia voyages.
Regal Princess will also be based in Southampton, sailing a number of itineraries ranging from four to 24 nights to destinations including Iceland and Norway, the Mediterranean, Canary Islands, the Baltic and Canada and New England.
Enchanted Princess represents an evolution of a design platform used for sister ships Regal Princess, Royal Princess, Majestic Princess and the most recently introduced Sky Princess
Enchanted Princess is the 100th cruise ship built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. Crown Princess was the first ship to launch Fincantieri into the modern passenger shipbuilding business when it was delivered in 1990.
Princess Cruises president Jan Swartz said: “The heart and soul of the ship are always its teams, and I know she is in good hands with our dedicated crew watching over her with great care and pride.
“We look forward to brighter days ahead when we can officially welcome the first Enchanted Princess guests to enjoy all this beautiful ship has to offer.”