''Regal Princess'' is a operated by
Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of
Carnival Corporation & plc, and is the second ship to sail for the cruise line under this name. ''Regal Princess'', as well as her
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
, were ordered on 17 February 2010 from
Fincantieri and were constructed at the Fincantieri shipyard in
Monfalcone,
Italy, and debuted in 2014.
History
Construction and delivery
The final contract for the first two ''Royal''-class vessels was signed on 4 May 2010.
On 28 August 2012, the ship's keel was laid in Monfalcone and the name of the ship was also officially announced as ''Regal Princess''.
Her
float-out ceremony was conducted on 26 March 2013 and she was floated free from the builder's
dry dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
on 29 March 2013 and then moored alongside the outfitting pier, where construction continued.
''Regal Princess'' successfully completed her sea trials in the
Adriatic Sea from 16 to 21 April 2014.
Construction progressed faster than expected and the ship arrived 13 days ahead of schedule.
She was delivered to Princess Cruises on 11 May 2014 in a ceremony at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone.
She had her official naming ceremony in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
, on 5 November 2014 and was officially christened by the original cast of ''
The Love Boat'':
Gavin MacLeod,
Fred Grandy,
Ted Lange,
Bernie Kopell,
Lauren Tewes, and
Jill Whelan.
Operational history
The debut of ''Regal Princess'' was conducted earlier than originally scheduled, due to an earlier delivery. The maiden voyage had been scheduled for 2 June 2014, but was moved up to 20 May.
The ship conducted a four-night pre-inaugural cruise from 16 to 20 May 2014 from
Trieste that visited
Kotor. The maiden voyage departed from
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
on 20 May 2014 for
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
,
Mykonos, and an overnight call in
Istanbul. She spent her inaugural season in the
Mediterranean before departing Venice on 17 October 2014 to reposition to
Port Everglades
Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2019, Port Eve ...
for her American debut, sailing Eastern
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
itineraries.
From 2014 to 2020, she sailed the Caribbean during the winter months from Port Everglades and the
Baltic region in Northern Europe during the summer season, with five-to-seven-day voyages to the
New England coast and
the Maritimes from
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
during the fall.
In summer 2020, she was scheduled to operate her first season in the
British Isles before repositioning to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
in fall 2020 for her maiden season in
Oceania. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, all British Isles voyages were cancelled. In summer 2021, ''Regal Princess'' was set to debut in
Seattle to cruise her first
Alaska season, but fleet redeployments later scheduled her to return to Europe and homeport in
Southampton during that time frame. In 2022, ''Regal Princess'' was the setting of the
American and
Australian versions of the reality show ''The Real Love Boat'', which aired on
CBS and
Network 10.
Design and specifications
As a sister ship to ''Royal Princess'', ''Regal Princess'' shares many of the same dimensions, features, and overall design.
The ship measures , has a length of , a
draught of , and a beam of . She is powered by a diesel-electric
genset system, with four total
Wärtsilä engines, producing a total output of .
Main propulsion is via two
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
s, each driven by a electric motor.
The system gives the vessel a service speed of and a maximum speed of .
The ship houses 1,780 passenger cabins and 751 crew cabins.
Of the 1,780 passenger cabins, 81% have a balcony.
The ship has a maximum capacity of 5,600 passengers and crew.
Describing the style that inspired much of the interior design on ''Regal Princess'', Giacomo Mortola, head architect at ship design firm GEM, explained:
Notable features aboard the ship include a multi-level atrium, a theater, various dining rooms and restaurants, and pools.
Incidents
March 2019 rescue
On 5 March 2019, ''Regal Princess'' rescued two survivors after their private plane crashed into the Caribbean near
Grand Turk
Grand Turk Island is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the largest island in the Turks Islands (the smaller of the two archipelagos that make up the island territory) with . Grand Turk contains the territory's capital, Cockburn To ...
. The cruise line released a statement, saying "Princess Cruises can confirm that upon request from the U.S. Coast Guard, ''Regal Princess'' assisted in the rescue of two U.S. citizens whose private aircraft went down southeast of Grand Turk in the Caribbean Sea. Both people rescued sailed onboard ''Regal Princess'' as the ship sailed to the next port of call St. Thomas."
COVID-19 pandemic
On 7 March 2020, two crew members of ''Regal Princess'' were tested and the docking of the ship at
Port Everglades
Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2019, Port Eve ...
in
Fort Lauderdale,
Florida,
U.S., was delayed for about a day while waiting for test results. The tests were negative, and the crew did not have respiratory complications, so the ship was allowed to dock.
On 10 May 2020, a 39-year-old female Ukrainian crew member of ''Regal Princess'' died after going overboard from the ship while it was docked in
Rotterdam.
One source stated that she had committed suicide, and she had been scheduled to be repatriated on a charter flight which was subsequently cancelled.
She was reportedly distraught and last seen crying aboard the ship.
References
External links
*
"''Regal Princess'': Sister to 'Kate Middleton's ship' may be the bridesmaid but she's still so impressive"– review by John Honeywell, aka Captain Greybeard, in the ''
Daily Mirror''
{{List of ships built by Fincantieri
Ships of Princess Cruises
Ships built in Monfalcone
Ships built by Fincantieri
2013 ships