The line marked important stages in the construction of the trio of vessels – Sky Princess, Enchanted Princess and a sixth Royal-class ship which has yet to be named – at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard this morning (February 14).
The first part of the celebration saw a steel-cutting ceremony for the line’s next Royal-class ship, which is scheduled for launch in 2022, during a live broadcast from Fincantieri’s yard in Naples.
This was followed by a keel-laying ceremony for Enchanted Princess, set to make its debut in Southampton in June 2020.
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The final act of the event saw the madrina of Sky Princess, Kerry Ann Wright, a Glasgow-based second officer with the line, bless the construction of the ship, which is due to be launched in October.
WATCH: Join TTG in Italy as Princess Cruises marks milestones for three of its ships
The three new ships are part of a major expansion by Princess Cruises with another two vessels on order for delivery in 2023 and 2025 – this will increase the line’s capacity by 32% over the next six years.
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Addressing Fincantieri staff, guests and media at Monfalcone, Jan Swartz, group president of Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia, said the expansion made Princess "the world’s fastest growing premium cruise line".
Swartz added: “We’re proud to not only celebrate these three major construction milestones in the same day but also to continue to innovate our product with cutting-edge technology and elevated guest experiences that will be offered on all of these."
Sky Princess and Enchanted Princess will both sail short seasons in the Mediterranean after coming into service in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
They will also be the first new Princess ships to be launched with its wearable Ocean Medallion technology fully enabled for passengers.
