Princess Cruises fourth Royal-class ship to be named Sky Princess

Princess Cruises has announced that its new Royal-class cruise ship will be named Sky Princess and will sail an inaugural Mediterranean cruise season before being repositioned to Ford Lauderdale for a series of Caribbean cruises.

Sky Princess is the fourth of Princess Cruises Royal-class ships. She is a sister ship to Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess, which featured a Dubai cruise departure last year during her repositioning to Asia.

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A fifth Royal-class vessel is also currently under construction at Fincantieri and will debut in 2020.

Sky Princess is scheduled to debut in October 2019. The 143,700 ton, 3,660-passenger vessel will prove popular with Middle East cruise passengers on her Mediterranean itineraries as the Middle East is a cruise source market that tends to prefer European and Mediterranean cruises.

Sky Princess will feature the same popular features that debuted aboard the first three Royal-class cruise ships.

Princess Cruises says the new ship will “feature an evolution of the successful design platform used for previous Royal-class ships”.

What this means is that Sky Princess will include signature elements aboard her sister ships such as the soaring central Piazza-style atrium, Princess Live! entertainment venue, the relaxing adults-only Sanctuary, Camp Discovery youth and teen centres, and a wide variety of guest-favourite dining venues including the Salty Dog Grill, Alfredo’s Pizzeria, Vines Wine Bar, Chef’s Table Lumiere, and World Fresh Marketplace.

“Sky Princess continues a Princess Cruises legacy and honours one of our previous ships,” said Jan Swartz, group president of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia.

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Each cruise ship is slightly different in its décor and layout, however and Sky Princess is expected to debut with updated décor and design throughout the ship. Sky Princess will also feature the outdoor “Movies Under the Stars” theater, and 80 percent of all staterooms will have balconies.

She will also feature some exciting new innovations according to Princess Cruises, which says such announcements will be made closer to her delivery date.

Sky Princess will be the second cruise ship to carry that name for Princess Cruises, the original Sky Princess was a 1984-built cruise ship that Princess acquired as part of its purchase of Sitmar Cruises.

“When Princess merged with Sitmar Cruises in 1988, Sky Princess joined our fleet and sailed with us for 12 years,” said Swartz. “Now more than 30 years later, a new Sky Princess will join the fleet featuring our modern design platform and contemporary innovations offered to exceed our guests’ expectations.”

The inaugural Mediterranean deployment of Sky Princess features 10 cruise departures on eight unique itineraries.

Sky Princess Mediterranean inaugural cruise itineraries include:

• October 20, 2019: Seven-day Inaugural Mediterranean & Adriatic – departs Athens (Piraeus), visiting Kotor, Corfu, Sicily (Messina – for Mt. Etna & Taormina), Naples (for Capri & Pompeii) and arrives Barcelona
• October 20, 2019: 14-day Inaugural Western Mediterranean & Adriatic Medley – departs Athens (Piraeus), visiting Kotor, Corfu, Sicily (Messina – for Mt. Etna & Taormina), Naples (for Capri & Pompeii), Barcelona, Gibraltar, Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), Genoa (for Milan), Florence/Pisa (Livorno) and arrives Rome (Civitavecchia)
• October 27, 2019: Seven-day Mediterranean – departs Barcelona, visiting Gibraltar, Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), Genoa (for Milan), Florence/Pisa (Livorno) and arrives Rome (Civitavecchia)
• October 27, 2019: 14-day Western Mediterranean Medley – departs Barcelona, visiting Gibraltar, Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), Genoa (for Milan), Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Rome (Civitavecchia), Kotor, Corfu, Valletta (Malta), Sicily (Messina – for Mt. Etna & Taormina), Naples (for Capri & Pompeii), arrives Rome (Civitavecchia)
• November 3, 2019: Seven-day Mediterranean – Roundtrip Rome – departs Rome (Civitavecchia), visiting Kotor, Corfu, Valletta (Malta), Sicily (Messina – for Mt. Etna & Taormina), Naples (for Capri & Pompeii) and returns Rome
• November 3, 2019: 14-day Western Mediterranean Medley – departs Rome (Civitavecchia), visiting Kotor, Corfu, Valletta (Malta), Sicily (Messina – for Mt. Etna & Taormina), Naples (for Capri & Pompeii), Rome, Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Genoa (for Milan), Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), Gibraltar, arrives Barcelona
• November 3, 2019: 28-day Western Mediterranean Grand Adventure – departs Rome (Civitavecchia), visiting Kotor, Corfu, Valletta (Malta), Sicily (Messina – for Mt. Etna & Taormina), Naples (for Capri & Pompeii), Rome (Civitavecchia), Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Genoa (for Milan), Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), Gibraltar, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville (Cadiz), Lisbon, Madeira (Funchal) and arrives Ft. Lauderdale
• November 10, 2019: Seven-day Mediterranean – departs Rome (Civitavecchia), visiting Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Genoa (for Milan), Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), Gibraltar and arrives Barcelona
• November 10, 2019: 21-day Mediterranean Grand Adventure – departs Rome (Civitavecchia), visiting Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Genoa (for Milan), Toulon/Provence (La Seyne), Gibraltar, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, Seville (Cadiz), Lisbon, Madeira (Funchal) and arrives Ft. Lauderdale
• November 17, 2019: 14-day Spanish Passage – departs Barcelona, visiting Valencia, Malaga, Seville (Cadiz), Lisbon, Madeira (Funchal) and arrives Ft. Lauderdale