Sky Princess completes first dry dock ahead of Northern European summer season

Princess Cruises‘ Royal-class cruise ship Sky Princess has completed her first dry dock, with minor upgrades and major technical work done ahead of her summer cruise season in Northern Europe.

Sky Princess spent a total of 16 days in dry dock at Damen Verolme in Rotterdam undergoing regular maintenance and mechanical work.

The project included installation of class certified parts for a new air lubrication system and a full hull painting program, Damen said in a press release.

A total of 1,200 crew members and 700 contractors were involved in the dry docking, the ship’s first since she was delivered in 2019 as the fourth Royal-class ship in the Princess fleet.

Class certification societies, which ensure that ships are built to stringent international standards, require that cruise ships go into dry dock at least every three to five years to check all equipment and machinery and complete routine maintenance work such as hull cleaning and repainting.

During these dry docks, cruise line also make scheduled refurbishments that might include adding or swapping out venues, replacing fixtures and furnishings, and a number of other upgrades, but its unclear whether any major changes were made to Sky Princess’ passenger areas.

Sky Princess resumed service on May 5th and will now spend her summer season cruising Northern Europe out of Southampton, UK.

Her itineraries include Western Europe, the Norwegian Fjords, the Mediterranean, and the Baltic. In May, the ship sailed a 7-night cruise to Scandinavia, in addition to a special 14-night cruise to Iceland and Norway.

These two-week cruises out of Southampton feature visits to Akureyri, Isafjord and Grundarfjordur in Iceland, as well as Skjolden, Olden and Alesund, in Norway.

Sky Princess will return to North America in November, with a range of winter Caribbean cruises on offer out of Port Everglades, Florida from November 25th.

As the fourth ship in the 141,000 gross ton Royal-class for Princess Cruises, Sky Princess is largely similar to her sister ships, but introduced the cruise line’s first Sky Suites, with the largest terraces in the fleet, with sweeping views of the pool deck and Movies Under the Stars screen.

Sky Princess carries over a range of popular features found aboard other Royal class cruise ships such as alfresco massages in The Sanctuary (a secluded adults-only pool area), and a range of high-end dining options, including the  chic French bistro La Mer by Michelin-starred chef Emmanuel Renaut.