Princess Cruises Order Two LNG-Powered Next-Generation Ships

Princess Cruises has announced that it has signed a memorandum of agreement with the Italian shipyard Fincantieri to construct two next-generation cruise ships.
 
The new vessels will be 175,000 gross tonnes, making them the largest cruise ships in the Princess Cruises fleet. They will also be the largest cruise ships to be built at the Italian shipyard so far.

Both ships will accommodate approximately 4,300 passengers and will be based on a next-generation platform design and the first Princess Cruises ships to be dual-fuel powered, primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
 
Jan Swartz, President, Princess Cruises, said: “This revolutionary platform for next-generation, LNG-powered cruise ships will introduce innovative design and leisure experiences driven by the future vacation and lifestyle trends of our guests – further evolving the already best-in-class Princess Cruises experience we deliver today. We look forward to collaborating with Fincantieri to bring our vision for this next-generation premium cruise ship into service”.
 
The first of the two next-generation cruise ships is expected to be delivered to the cruise line in late 2023 and the second will debut in spring 2025.
 
Princess Cruises now has a total of five new cruise ships on board. Three Royal-class ships are planned, the next to launch being Sky Princess in October 2019. The other Royal-class ships will launch in 2020 and 2022.