Princess Cruises has celebrated the float out of the 3,660-guest Enchanted Princess from its building dock at Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.
A ceremony marked the occasion when the ship met the sea for the first time, a significant construction milestone that marks the transition from building to fitting out.
The float out of a ship is the modern-day equivalent to the ‘launch’, which saw ship’s slide down a slipway into the water in dramatic style until the latter half of the 20th century.
Serving as the Madrina was Doris Ho, head of a long-standing partnership with Princess Cruises to recruit, train and develop crew members
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In Italy, the milestone is celebrated with a ‘Madrina’ blessing the vessel and wishing it a safe onward journey, as well as signaling the flow of water into the ship’s building dock.
Serving as the Madrina was Doris Ho, president and CEO of the Magsaysay group based in the Philippines – one of the largest human resource companies in the Asia Pacific region.
Ho has been head of a long-standing partnership with Princess Cruises to recruit, train and develop crew members who work onboard the line’s fleet of ships.
“We’re delighted to see another significant stage of Enchanted Princess’ construction successfully completed,” said Tony Roberts, Vice President, UK & Europe, Princess Cruises.
“The countdown to her launch in Southampton next year continues and we’re eagerly anticipating the final development of this stunning ship over the next few months,” he added.
The ship will officially launch in Southampton in June, 2020, and while this was not officially the first time she touched water, it does mark the first time she has left the building dry dock.
The float out of Enchanted Princess comes just weeks after her sister ship Sky Princess completed her sea trials ahead of an October, 2019 delivery to the cruise line.
The 143,700-gross ton Enchanted Princess will include the signature features of sister ships Royal Princess, Regal Princess, Majestic Princess and Sky Princess, as well as offering new innovations such as Phantom Bridge, and the Jazz lounge Take Five and Sky Suites debuting aboard Sky Princess.
Enchanted Princess’ sister ship Majestic Princess cruised from Dubai in 2017
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Phantom Bridge is a first-of-its-kind ‘digitally enhanced’ escape room that combines AI simulation and physical elements for the ultimate escape room at sea.
The two ‘Sky Suites’ have the largest balconies at sea and will be centrally located on the top decks for a private vantage of the Movies Under the Stars cinema screen and will boast 270-degree panorama views and sleep up to five guests.
They will feature two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a dining area with skylight as well as a host of exclusive amenities.
The new jazz lounge ‘Take Five’ is a redesigned version of the Vista Lounge found aboard the existing Royal-class ships, but Enchanted Princess will also feature an enhanced Princess Theatre and the recently announced production show ‘Rock Opera’.
In addition, there will be more than 25 dining venues and bars including the World Fresh Marketplace and speciality restaurants Bistro Sur La Mer (French bistro), Crown Grill Steakhouse and Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria.
Enchanted Princess will also have the Lotus Spa on-board, featuring the largest thermal suite at sea, including hydrotherapy pool, heated stone beds, Turkish bath and dry, steam and aromatherapy chambers.
Last but not least, she’ll have a redesigned adults-only Sanctuary area, with a contemporary design including twice as many private cabanas as its sister ships, as well as new lounge furniture and the option for guests to indulge in a spa treatment.
Enchanted Princess will of course feature Princess Cruises’ new OceanMedallion wearable device, which is the same size as a 10p piece, and is intended to deliver a simpler, more effortless and personalized cruise experience.
The OceanMedallion offers several benefits:
Expedited arrival – Guests who arrive at the terminal with travel documents (i.e. passports) uploaded to their profile enjoy a streamlined and expedited check-in process that gets their holiday started even sooner
Touchless stateroom entry – No need to touch, swipe or insert cards or devices into the door handle to unlock the stateroom. As a guest approaches their stateroom the door automatically unlocks
On-demand services – Using smart devices, guests have the ability to order drinks, food and retail items such as suntan lotion and have them delivered directly anywhere onboard, including to their stateroom
Interactive game play – Available on portals throughout the ship, PlayOcean allows guests to take part in digital scavenger hunts, interactive games and create their own avatars, as well as turning their smart device into a game controller for interactive gaming on the Movies Under The Stars top-deck screen
Family and friends locator – Accessible on portals throughout the ships and via guests’ smart devices, OceanCompass leverages the OceanMedallion to easily locate and chat with friends and family onboard. OceanCompass guides guests throughout their journey, providing directional information so they can seamlessly navigate to their next point of interest
Interactive voyage timeline – Available on ship portals and via smart devices, JourneyView is an interactive timeline that lets guests scroll through all of the events available on board during their voyage and bookmark activities they’re interested in to their own personalised itinerary.
Voyage itineraries are available as many as 60 days in advance, allowing guests to start planning before they leave home
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