Princess Cruises announced yesterday that they have placed an order for two new ships to be built by Italian shipyard Fincantieri. Weighing in at 141,000 tonnes, when they debut in 2013 and 2014, they will become not only the largest vessels ever built for the line, but will also serve as the company flagships.
Details are still largely under wraps, but both Fincantieri and Princess say that the ships will incorporate a number of popular features, such as the Piazza-style atrium and relaxing Sanctuary first seen onboard Crown Princess.
While Princess states the ships will be evolutionary - loosely implying they will be derivatives of the wildly successful Grand-Class of ships, Fincantieri's press release offered up that in addition to focusing on the known past successes of the line, "an in-depth review has been carried out in order to develop a ship of superior quality."
What does that mean? Specifically, that all ocean-view cabins will have balconies - eliminating the standard "picture window" oceanview cabin, and offering 80% of the total accommodation with private balconies. The remainder are - presumably - all inside cabins.
Fincantieri also hints that the wellness centre (spa), dining rooms, and "main hall" will all be enlarged and feature "luxury decor."
In the end, given the tonnage of the new ships, and the emphasis on enhanced luxury and refinement, it's not hard to picture the newest Princess ships as something resembling the Crown Princess, but QM2-sized. With a maximum capacity of 3,600 - only roughly 500 more passengers than their largest ship currently supports - Princess has remained committed to its current brand and passenger base, and resisted going the route travelled by NCL and Royal Caribbean's 5,000-plus-passenger leviathans.
More details will be made available by the line at a later date; until then, look forward to some more new and innovative ships from Princess arriving in the next few years.
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