Sky Princess is a Royal-class cruise ship currently operated by Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. She is the second ship in the cruise line's history to sail under this name. She is the fourth Royal-class ship in the Princess fleet and commenced operations in October 2019.[3][4] The ship measures 145,281 GT and has a capacity of 3,660 passengers.[4]
History
Planning and construction
Carnival Corporation first entered a strategic agreement with Fincantieri in March 2015 for five cruise ships for delivery between 2019 and 2022.[5] From this agreement, the order for a then-unnamed, fourth Royal-class vessel was announced for Princess on 30 December 2015.[6][7] The contract for this order was finalized on 2 April 2016.[8] On 30 November 2017, Princess Cruises officially announced the name of the fourth Royal-class ship as Sky Princess, in honor of a previous Princess vessel that carried the same name.[9][10]
Construction began on 9 November 2016 with the steel cutting for the ship's bow at Fincantieri's shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia,[11] with a separate milestone on 8 September 2017 marking the steel-cutting for the rest of the ship at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone.[12] Her keel-laying was performed on 5 July 2018.[13] She was floated out on 14 February 2019[14] and completed her sea trials in September 2019.[15]
Debut
Sky Princess was officially delivered on 15 October 2019 in her handover ceremony at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone.[3][4]
The ship sailed a four-day pre-inaugural "shakedown" cruise for the press on 16 October 2019 from Trieste to Athens with a call in Kotor.[16] She performed her official maiden voyage on 20 October 2019, a seven-day cruise sailing between Athens and Barcelona.[17] She sailed a short inaugural season in the Mediterranean in fall 2019 before repositioning to her new homeport of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, arriving on 1 December 2019.[9] Due to high demand, two three-day inaugural cruises were scheduled on 1 December 2019 and 4 December 2019, with both cruising between Port Everglades and Princess Cays.[18]
Sky Princess was christened at Port Everglades on 7 December 2019 by NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy Captain Kay Hire and NASA engineer Poppy Northcutt.[19]
Operational career
During the winter months, Sky Princess sails in the Caribbean from Port Everglades.[20][21] For the summer months, she sails in Europe, including the Baltic region.[22][23] In the fall, she sails along the Maritimes and New England from New York.[24][25]
Design and specifications
Sky Princess measures, has a length of 330.0 m, a draft of 8.49 m, and a beam of 38.4 m.[26][1] She is powered by a diesel-electric genset system, with four total Wärtsilä engines, producing a total output of 62.4 MW.[26] Main propulsion is via two propellers, each driven by a 18 MW electric motor.[26] The system gives the vessel a service speed of 21.9 kn and a maximum speed of 23 kn.[26] The ship houses 1,830 passenger cabins and 757 crew cabins.[26] Of the 1,830 passenger cabins, 81% have a balcony.[26] The ship has a maximum capacity of 5,800 passengers and crew.[26]
References
- {{csr|shipname=Sky Princess|id=9802396|register=lr|access-date=21 October 2019}}^
- Sky Princess Officially Joins Princess Cruises Fleet 15 October 2019, retrieved 16 October 2019^
- Fincantieri: Sky Princess Delivered in Monfalcone Fincantieri, 15 October 2019^
- Fincantieri Delivers Sky Princess The Maritime Executive, retrieved 2019-10-21^
- Fincantieri: Five Next-Generation Ships for Carnival Corporation Fincantieri, 27 March 2015^
- Sky Princess Cruise Ship Ship Technology, retrieved 2019-08-23^
- Carnival Corporation to Build Four Cruise Ships as Part of Memo of Agreement with Fincantieri S.p.A. Carnival Corporation & plc, 2015-12-30^
- Record Fincantieri: The Group Will Build 5 Cruise Ships for Carnival Corporation Fincantieri, 2 April 2016, retrieved 3 February 2020^
- Princess Cruises: Princess Cruises to Name Next Ship Sky Princess Princess Cruises, 30 November 2017, retrieved 23 August 2019^
- Princess Unveils Leadership Team for New Sky Princess Cruise Industry News, 11 February 2019, retrieved 23 August 2019^
- Fincantieri cuts steel for fourth Royal-class Princess ship Seatrade Cruise News, 2016-11-09^
- Fincantieri: Work Starts in Monfalcone on the New Princess Ship Fincantieri, 8 September 2017^
- Sky Princess Keel Laying YouTube, 2018-07-19^
- Princess Cruises celebrates milestones for Royal-class ships CruiseandFerry.net, retrieved 2019-09-11^
- Sky Princess Completes Sea Trials Cruise Industry News, 10 September 2019, retrieved 11 September 2019^
- Agents get chance to win Sky Princess mini-cruise www.travelmole.com, retrieved 2019-10-03^
- Sky Princess Ready for October Debut Cruise Industry News, 8 August 2019, retrieved 3 October 2019^
- Ben Souza. Princess Cruises Adds Extra Sailing on New Cruise Ship in December Cruise Fever, 2019-09-05, retrieved 2019-10-04^
- Sky Princess Christened Cruise Industry News, 2019-12-07^
- Sky Princess to Debut in Caribbean for 2019-2020 Season Cruise Industry News, 17 May 2018, retrieved 11 September 2019^
- Princess Cruises: Princess Cruises Announces 2020-2021 Caribbean & Panama Canal Seasons Featuring Newest Ships Princess Cruises, 2019-05-02, retrieved 2019-11-20^
- Princess Cruises Debuts Newest Ship for 2020 Europe Season Yahoo! Finance, retrieved 2019-09-11^
- Princess Announces Five Ship 2021 Europe Program Cruise Industry News, 14 August 2019, retrieved 20 November 2019^
- New Sky Princess will sail Canada/New England in 2020 Seatrade Cruise News, 2018-11-08, retrieved 2019-09-11^
- Princess Announces 2021 Canada/New England Program, Including New Sky Princess Cruise Industry News, 22 August 2019, retrieved 20 November 2019^
- Majestic Princess Sky Princess Fincantieri, retrieved 11 July 2020^