Royal Princess (2013)

This article is about the 2011-built ship. For the 1984-built "Royal Princess", see MV Artania. For the 2001-built "Royal Princess", see MV Adonia.
Royal Princess at Southampton Docks.
History
Name: Royal Princess
Owner: Carnival plc
Operator: Princess Cruises
Port of registry: Hamilton,  Bermuda
Builder: Fincantieri,Monfalcone, Italy
Yard number: 6223[1]
Laid down: 20 October 2011
Launched: 16 August 2012
Christened:
Completed: June 2013
Acquired: 4 June 2013
Maiden voyage: 16 June 2013
In service: 2013
Identification:
Status: In service
General characteristics
Class and type: Royal-class cruise ship
Tonnage: 142,714 GT
Length: 330 m (1,083 ft)
Beam:
  • 47 m (155 ft) - With SeaWalk[2]
  • 38 m (126 ft) - Without SeaWalk[2]
Capacity: 3,600 passengers

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.

Princess Cruises ordered Royal Princess, as well as her fleetmate Regal Princess, both at the time unnamed, on 17 February 2010.[3] The final contract was signed on 4 May 2010.[4]

Construction of Royal Princess began on 15 March 2011 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy when the first plate was cut.[5] The next major milestone in construction occurred on 20 October 2011, when the ship's keel was laid.[6] She was launched in August 2012; fitting out continued, and Fincantieri delivered her to Princess Cruises in Spring 2013.[7]

The ship measures 141,000 GT and has a capacity of 3,600 passengers.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5]

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.[8][9]

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 it undertook an Iberia Cruise departing on 16 June 2013 from Southampton to Vigo, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Malaga and Barcelona.[10]

Sister Ships

In May 2014, Princess Cruises launched the running mate to Royal Princess, the new Regal Princess. Dimensions and capacity are approximately the same.[11]

Also in 2015, Princess Cruises sister brand P&O Cruises officially entered service, on 14 March 2015 Britannia that has many similarities to the Royal-class ships.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

References

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140416181642/http://www.naviecapitani.it/gallerie%20navi/Navi%20da%20Crociera%20----%20Cruise%20Ship/schede%20navi/P/PRINCESS%20CRUISE/Royal%20Princess.htm. Archived from the original on April 16, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2013. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 1 2 "Royal Princess Fact Sheet". Princess Cruises. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Fincantieri to Build Two Prototype Ships for Princess Cruises". Cruise Industry News. 17 February 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  4. ↑ "Carnival Corp. Finalizes Contracts for Two New Princess Ships". Cruise Industry News. 4 May 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Construction of ROYAL PRINCESS Officially Starts at Italy Shipyard". Shipbuilding Tribune. 16 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Italy: Fincantieri Shipyard Holds Keel Laying Ceremony for Royal Princess". Shipbuilding Tribune. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Fincantieri's largest ship is launched". The Motorship. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "The Duchess of Cambridge to Name Royal Princess : Princess Cruises". Princess.com. 2013-04-09. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  9. ↑ "UK: The Duchess of Cambridge to Name 'Royal Princess'". World Maritime News. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
  10. ↑ "Eastern Caribbean Getaway". Priness.com. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  11. ↑ "Regal Princess - Cruise Ship Information - Princess Cruises". Princess.com. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  12. ↑ "Britannia Cruise Ship | P&O Cruises". P&O Cruises. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "Royal Princess Suffers Power Outage in the Mediterranean". Cruisefever.net. 2013-09-22. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  14. ↑ Lizzie Porter (10 March 2016). "How cruise lines mop up after 3,500 passengers - and brace themselves for thousands more". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 August 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Princess (ship, 2013).
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/14/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.