Princess Cruises Announces Name of Newest Ship

The fourth Royal-class ship from Princess Cruises will be called Sky Princess, Princess Cruises announced yesterday.

The ship, a sister ship to Princess’ Royal-class ships, is scheduled to debut in October 2019 in the Mediterranean.

The name originally comes from a ship that joined the Princess Cruises fleet in 1988 when the brand merged with SITMAR Cruises, a Monaco-based shipping and cruise company. The original Sky Princess sailed with Princess Cruises until 2000.

“Sky Princess continues a Princess Cruises legacy and honors one of our previous ships,” Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia President Jan Swartz said in a statement.

The 143,700 ton ship will sail 3,660-passengers, with 80 percent of all staterooms featuring balconies, when it enters service.

Its design will mirror what Princess did with its other Royal-class ships — Royal Princess, Regal Princess, and Majestic Princess; and will include a Piazza-style atrium, a Princess Live! Theatre, the adults-only Sanctuary, and Camp Discovery youth and teen centers.

For dining, the ship will also feature Princess-staples Salty Dog Grill, Alfredo’s Pizzeria, Vines Wine Bar, Chef’s Table Lumiere, and World Fresh Marketplace.

The ship’s top deck will showcase another Princess hallmark with an open-air poolside amphitheater for the line’s “Movie Under the Stars” program that debuted on Caribbean Princess in 2004.

According to Princess, more details, including what it calls “exciting new innovations which will enhance the guest experience,” will be revealed in the coming months.

Sailing schedules
During its inaugural season, Sky Princess will sail 10 departures of 8 different itineraries. The itineraries are combinable for an extended journey.

Sailing options will include a seven-day Mediterranean and Adriatic itinerary from Athens to Barcelona on Oct. 20, 2019; a seven-day Mediterranean sailing roundtrip from Rome on Nov. 3, 2019 that can be extended into a 28-day Western Mediterranean Grand Adventure to Ft. Lauderdale that features stops in Corfu, Sicily, Naples, Florence, and more; and a 14-day Spanish Passage itinerary from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale that departs Nov. 17, 2019.

Bookings for the ship will open on Dec. 14. Passengers with Elite status in the line’s Captain’s Circle loyalty program can book a day early. A 10 percent reduced deposit is available for all bookings made by Aug. 31, 2018.