Princess Cruises and Fincantieri shipbuilding company announced today the signing of the final contracts for the construction of two next-generation cruise ships, which will be the largest ever built so far in Italy. Delivery for the 4,300-guest, 175,000-tonne vessels is scheduled for late 2023 and spring 2025 respectively.
The announcement follows the initial signing of a memorandum of agreement between the two parties in July 2018.
First LNG-Powered Princess Ships
The ships will be based on a next-generation platform design, being the first Princess Cruises vessels to be dual-fuel powered primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). LNG is the marine industry’s most environmentally friendly advanced fuel technology and the world’s cleanest fossil fuel, which will significantly reduce air emissions and marine gasoil usage.
Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president, said: “Princess Cruises continues to grow globally, adding new ships to our fleet built by our long-time trusted ship building partner, Fincantieri, who brings decades of expertise to these next-generation cruise ships. Even more exciting is that these two ships are being designed to include our MedallionClass platform, powered by Ocean Medallion, the most advanced wearable device available within the global hospitality industry.”
Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said: “This result proves, once again, the trust we receive from the market, which allows us to look to the future with ambition. In fact, for Princess Cruises, we have received orders for 21 ships, another unprecedented result in this industry.”
Princess Ships on Order
Three new Royal-class ships are currently on order with the next new ship, Sky Princess, under construction scheduled for delivery in October 2019. Princess recently announced that two new (LNG) ships which will be the largest ships in the Princess fleet, accommodating approximately 4,300 guests with expected delivery in 2023 and 2025. Princess now has five ships arriving over the next six years between 2019 & 2025.
Ocean Medallion Continues
The Ocean Medallion is a complimentary, automated piece of technology, the same size as a 10p piece, given to each guest that enables features such as keyless stateroom access and quicker and easier embarkation and disembarkation.
Guests can currently experience the Medallion on Caribbean Princess and Regal Princess. By the end of the year, the Medallion will be activated on three additional ships: Royal Princess, Crown Princess and Sky Princess.
Sky Princess is currently under construction in Monfalcone, Italy. The ship is due to launch October 2019.
E
In 2017, Princess Cruises introduced the Ocean Medallion – the cruises industry’s most advanced wearable device, provided free to each guest sailing on a MedallionClass ship. The award-winning innovation offers the fastest way to a hassle-free, personalised cruise, giving guests more opportunity to enjoy their time onboard. Ocean Medallion will be activated on five ships by the end of 2019. An activation plan will continue across the global fleet in 2020 and beyond.
Leave a Reply