Princess Cruises has a new ship coming out in June and she’s a beauty. It’s the Santa Clarita-based cruise line’Royal Princess—a 3,600-passenger jewel of the sea. She makes her maiden voyage with a seven-day Iberia cruise from Southampton to Barcelona departing June 16 in the Mediterranean.
If you want to sail on the inaugural voyage, you can book your trip starting March 15. And you should do it sooner than later because maiden voyages sell out fast, especially by Princess repeat passeners who like to be the first onboard. Who doesn’t? There’s nothing like sailing on spanking new, virginal ship.
“It’s fitting that our new ship will cruise on our most popular Europe itinerary, the Grand Mediterranean,” said Jan Swartz, executive vice president for Princess Cruises. “And the shorter preview cruises prior to the Mediterranean season certainly offer a unique opportunity to sample the new Royal Princess experience our passengers are eagerly awaiting.”
Princess recently revealed details about ship’s showcase atrium which will feature a vibrant collection of always-changing quick bites and light meals, beverages, entertainment, shopping and guest services. This signature space will be 50 percent larger than on the newest class of Princess ships and will debut a number of brand new features, including Bellini’s Italian cocktail bar, Ocean Terrace seafood bar, a gelateria, and Celebrations, a new gift shop for those marking special occasions onboard.
The Royal will also house updated passenger favorites like the International Café, Sabatini’s Trattoria, and Crooners martini bar which will now feature dueling piano entertainment and a dramatic ocean vista. And the stunning Bar Piazza will feature an exclusive twin tea tower with over 300 tea and infusion combinations.
If you want an up close look at the new ship, c heck out the preview video featuring Princess president and CEO Alan Buckelew and executive vice president Rai Caluori showing off the new atrium atwww.princess.com/royalprincess.
“Many features aboard the new Royal Princess will be exciting evolutions of the popular and successful features found throughout our fleet, and the atrium is no exception,” added Swartz. “The expansion in size of this space provided us an opportunity to add some brand new venues to what is already a favorite passenger area.”
Here’s the inaugural season in a nutshell
On June 10 and 13 the Royal Princess will do 3-day advance preview cruises roundtrip from Southampton with a call at St. Peter Port on the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel. These voyages open for booking at a later date when the inaugural celebrations for the ship are in place. Interested passengers are advised to follow www.princess.com for the availability of these cruises.
Then on June 16 she’ll do her debut Iberia voyage departing Southampton to Barcelona with calls at Vigo (for Santiago de Compostela), Lisbon, Gibraltar and Malaga; followed by a12-day Grand Mediterranean sailings departing June 23 through September 27, 2013.
The nine Grand Mediterranean sailings will cruise between Barcelona and Venice, with calls at Toulon (for Provence), Livorno (for Florence and Pisa), Civitavecchia (for Rome), Naples (for Capri and Pompeii), Mykonos, Istanbul, Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Athens and finally an overnight stay in the beautiful Italian city of Venice. Passengers on the seven-day voyage can combine their sailing with the first Grand Mediterranean cruise for a 19-day Grand Adventure.
The Royal Princess is the first of two new-generation ships for Princess which are being built by Fincantieri at their Monfalcone, Italy shipyard. Some additional new features found aboard will be an over-water SeaWalk, a top-deck glass-bottomed enclosed walkway on the ship’s starboard side extending more than 28 feet beyond the edge of the vessel, and the similarly-unique cantilevered SeaView bar, featuring cocktails with unbeatable vistas. Also on her top decks,Royal Princess will feature a new adults-only pool surrounded by seven plush private cabanas that appear to be floating on the water, two additional pools, a dazzling water and light show, an expanded version of Princess’ signature adults-only haven, The Sanctuary, and the popular poolside theater, Movies Under the Stars.
A number of renderings of the ship’s atrium spaces can be viewed on Princess' Flickr page at http://bit.ly/ibsJQp.
Additional information about Princess Cruises is available through a professional travel agent, by calling 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237), or by visiting the company's website at www.princess.com.
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