Name Royal Princess Operator Princess Cruises Yard number 6223 Length 330 m Launched 16 August 2012 Place built Monfalcone, Italy | Owner Carnival plc Port of registry Hamilton, Bermuda Laid down 20 October 2011 Construction started 20 October 2011 Beam 38 m Builder Fincantieri | |
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MS Royal Princess is a cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises, and the third ship to sail for the cruise line under that name. The ship was built by Fincantieri at their shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. Royal Princess is the flagship of the Princess fleet, a designation held up to that point by Grand Princess.
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Princess Cruises ordered Royal Princess, as well as her fleetmate Regal Princess, both at the time unnamed, on 17 February 2010. The final contract was signed on 4 May 2010.
Construction of Royal Princess began on 15 March 2011 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy when the first plate was cut. The next major milestone in construction occurred on 20 October 2011, when the ship's keel was laid. She was launched in August 2012; fitting out continued, and Fincantieri delivered her to Princess Cruises in Spring 2013.
The ship measures 141,000 GT and has a capacity of 3,600 passengers. Her amenities include a pair of public areas cantilevered over the side of the ship on the top deck—a walkway on the starboard side and a bar on the port side. She also has fewer pools than previous Princess Cruises ships and features expanded public areas, including the movie theater, the "Sanctuary" bar and the central Piazza atrium. The ship will also have more dining options than previous Princess vessels. The ships of this class are one of the first passenger vessels built compliant to the new safe return to port requirements.
On 9 April 2013, it was announced that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge would name Royal Princess in a naming ceremony in Southampton on 13 June 2013. The ceremony upheld British ship-naming traditions including the blessing, a performance by the Royal Marines and the pipers of the Irish Guards. Royal Princess arrived at the Ocean Terminal in Southampton on Friday 7 June, where a series of events commenced for customers and travel agents, including a special naming gala on the evening of Wednesday 12 June. The ship’s inaugural celebrations concluded with her maiden voyage on 16 June.
Maiden voyage
Royal Princess underwent what was marketed as a preview cruise on 9 June 2013, lasting for two nights, going from Southampton to St. Peter Port, Guernsey and back to Southampton. Then she undertook an Iberia Cruise departing on 16 June 2013 from Southampton to Vigo, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malaga and Barcelona.
Sister ships
In May 2014, Princess Cruises launched the running mate to Royal Princess, the new Regal Princess. Dimensions and capacity of the two ships are approximately the same.
In 2015, Princess Cruises' sister brand P&O Cruises began operating Britannia, a vessel that has many similarities to the Royal-class ships.
Incidents and accidents
On 22 September 2013, Royal Princess suffered a power outage while sailing between Mykonos and Naples in the Mediterranean. The power failure occurred at 1:30 pm local time. Emergency generators operated to provide hotel services to the passengers.
Prior to the power loss, the anchor motor failed and left 90 feet of anchor hanging for over four hours until a new motor could be installed. It delayed the ship on its trip from Mykonos to Naples.
The second half of the cruise was cancelled and all of the passengers were flown home early with flights out of Rome and Naples. The Royal Princess cancelled her visits to Rome, Livorno, Toulon, and sailed directly to Barcelona effecting repairs on the way and embarked her next cruise in Barcelona as planned.
Popular culture
A 2016 Daily Telegraph article described the quasi "military operation" required to load and unload 3600 passengers and eight tons of food at the beginning and end of each cruise.