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This article is about the cruise ship operating since 2019. For the ship known as Sky Princess from 1988–2000, see Atlantic Star (cruise ship). For other uses, see Sky Princess.

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.[9][10] The ship measures 145,281 GT and has a capacity of 3,660 passengers.[10][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.[11] From this agreement, the order for a then-unnamed, fourth Royal-class vessel was announced for Princess on 30 December 2015.[4][12] The contract for this order was finalized on 2 April 2016.[13] 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.[14][15]

Construction began on 9 November 2016 with the steel cutting for the ship's bow at Fincantieri's shipyard in Castellammare di Stabia,[16] with a separate milestone on 8 September 2017 marking the steel-cutting for the rest of the ship at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone.[17] Her keel-laying was performed on 5 July 2018.[5] She was floated out on 14 February 2019[2] and completed her sea trials in September 2019.[18]

Debut

Sky Princess was officially delivered on 15 October 2019 in her handover ceremony at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone.[9][10]

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.[19] She performed her official maiden voyage on 20 October 2019, a seven-day cruise sailing between Athens and Barcelona.[1] 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.[14] 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.[20]

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.[6]

Operational career

During the winter months, Sky Princess sails in the Caribbean from Port Everglades.[21][22] For the summer months, she sails in Europe, including the Baltic region.[23][24] In the fall, she sails along the Maritimes and New England from New York.[25][26]

Design and specifications

Sky Princess measures 145,281 GT, has a length of 330.0 metres (1,082.7 ft), a draft of 8.49 metres (27.9 ft), and a beam of 38.4 metres (126 ft).[7][3] She is powered by a diesel-electric genset system, with four total Wärtsilä engines, producing a total output of 62.4 megawatts (83,700 hp).[7] Main propulsion is via two propellers, each driven by a 18 megawatts (24,000 hp) electric motor.[7] The system gives the vessel a service speed of 21.9 knots (40.6 km/h; 25.2 mph) and a maximum speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph).[7] The ship houses 1,830 passenger cabins and 757 crew cabins.[7] Of the 1,830 passenger cabins, 81% have a balcony.[7] The ship has a maximum capacity of 5,800 passengers and crew.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Sky Princess Ready for October Debut". Cruise Industry News. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Princess Cruises celebrates milestones for Royal-class ships". CruiseandFerry.net. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Sky Princess (9802396)". LR ships in class. Lloyd's Register. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b c "Sky Princess Cruise Ship". Ship Technology. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Sky Princess Keel Laying". YouTube. 19 July 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Sky Princess Christened". Cruise Industry News. 7 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Majestic Princess Sky Princess" (PDF). Fincantieri. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  8. ^ Princess Cruises (15 October 2019). "Sky Princess Officially Joins Princess Cruises Fleet". PR Newswire. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Fincantieri: Sky Princess Delivered in Monfalcone". Fincantieri. 15 October 2019.
  10. ^ a b c "Fincantieri Delivers Sky Princess". The Maritime Executive. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  11. ^ "Fincantieri: Five Next-Generation Ships for Carnival Corporation". Fincantieri. 27 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Carnival Corporation to Build Four Cruise Ships as Part of Memo of Agreement with Fincantieri S.p.A." Carnival Corporation & plc. 30 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Record Fincantieri: The Group Will Build 5 Cruise Ships for Carnival Corporation". Fincantieri. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Princess Cruises: Princess Cruises to Name Next Ship Sky Princess". Princess Cruises. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Princess Unveils Leadership Team for New Sky Princess". Cruise Industry News. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Fincantieri cuts steel for fourth Royal-class Princess ship". Seatrade Cruise News. 9 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Fincantieri: Work Starts in Monfalcone on the New Princess Ship". Fincantieri. 8 September 2017.
  18. ^ "Sky Princess Completes Sea Trials". Cruise Industry News. 10 September 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  19. ^ "Agents get chance to win Sky Princess mini-cruise". www.travelmole.com. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  20. ^ Souza, Ben (5 September 2019). "Princess Cruises Adds Extra Sailing on New Cruise Ship in December". Cruise Fever. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Sky Princess to Debut in Caribbean for 2019-2020 Season". Cruise Industry News. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  22. ^ "Princess Cruises: Princess Cruises Announces 2020-2021 Caribbean & Panama Canal Seasons Featuring Newest Ships". Princess Cruises. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  23. ^ "Princess Cruises Debuts Newest Ship for 2020 Europe Season". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  24. ^ "Princess Announces Five Ship 2021 Europe Program". Cruise Industry News. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  25. ^ "New Sky Princess will sail Canada/New England in 2020". Seatrade Cruise News. 8 November 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Princess Announces 2021 Canada/New England Program, Including New Sky Princess". Cruise Industry News. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
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