MONFALCONE, Italy
听
Loyalty has its rewards for cruise lines and Princess, arguably more than others, has a loyal following.
What I have seen of the new Royal Princess, here at the Fincantieri Shipyards in Monfalcone, Italy, is that Princess has walked the tightrope by enhancing the familiar while taking a giant step forward with new features that will make returning passengers comfortable and new ones impressed. With its last new ship, the Ruby Princess in 2008, Princess was ready to refresh the fleet with the upcoming prototypes 鈥� Royal this year and Regal next year. It appears that Princess not only walked the tightrope 鈥� she raced across it.
With 1,000 workers buzzing around the ship in three shifts, I suggested to Capt. Tony Draper 鈥� the master of the Royal Princess 鈥� that he might be hard-pressed to make her sea trial next week and he simply assured me: 鈥淪he will be more than ready to go.鈥� (For more on the Royal Princess, and the Regal, check my blogs that started April 1 at portsandbows.com.)
While some features are improvements on existing venues, a lot is new.
SeaWalk, a glass-bottomed elliptical walkway, looks straight down on the ocean as it extends from the top deck. Want a drink with that view? On the other side, you will find the Seaview Bar. Nighttime and its LED features will show SeaWalk at its best.
A TV studio will feature various performers, cooking classes, and more will be on the air and in your cabin from 8 a.m. to midnight on sea days, along with a large choice of feature movies.
Remember all the time you took looking for your cruise pictures? Now, special kiosks feature face recognition and you can find all of them at once.
For those cruising in one of the suites, you will now have your own lounge.
Meanwhile, the familiar Horizon Court buffet has been expanded to 1,500 seats, 150 of them facing the main pool deck. A first for Princess, beverage stations are gone from this area 鈥� with waiters鈥� serving beverages at your table.
The ship鈥檚 three main dining areas are capable of holding a total of 1,800, with the anytime dining section seating containing more tables for two.
Adjacent to that, Bistro Lounge has its own 110-square-metre pastry kitchen, for everything from waffles to desserts. Jonathan Wilson, the head of hotel operations, claims it鈥檚 in a class by itself when compared to all cruise lines.
Still with dining, a fibre-optic illuminated curtain encircles a new feature, Chef鈥檚 Table Lumiere, which seats 12 in the middle of the traditional dining room.
With the ship spending most of its time in the warmth of the Medittereanenan and the Caribbean, the 270-metre outdoor jogging and walking track and the expanded pool area should be appreciated. The movie screen has been enlarged and moved higher up on the ship. That screen enhances a dancing- waters show each night and during the day loungers occupy the water stage.
I think the Atrium or Piazza is going to be the winner on the Royal Princess. It鈥檚 bigger when compared to Princess鈥檚 other ships and one neat trick that will probably be copied by other lines is the move of the front and shore excursions desks into a mini atrium in the back, leaving a wonderful, convivial and large entertainment atrium.
The Royal Princess will be launched from Southampton in mid-June with two overnight cruises and then will leave on an inaugural (and sold out) 19-day cruise.
She will spend the rest of the summer on a regular run of itineraries between Barcelona and Venice 鈥� for Princess, the Grand Mediterranean cruises.
