A new order for two next-generation ships makes Princess Cruises the fastest-growing line in the premium cruise market and adds to an unprecedented roster of over 100 cruise ships due to debut in coming years.
In addition to Sky Princess arriving this year and two more coming in the next couple of years, the line announced contracts for two more ships that will be the largest ever built in Italy and accommodate about 4,300 guests each.
They will run with a new generation dual-fuel propulsion system that’s powered primarily by liquefied natural gas, which burns with minimal exhaust. They’ll be built at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone and be delivered in 2023 and 2025.
The contracts are following up on reports by Cruise Lines International Association and the United Nations that growth in the number of people cruising between 2004 and 2014 outpaced land-based vacations by over 20 per cent. CLIA projects 30 million people will take an ocean cruise in 2019, an all-time record.
“This result proves, once again, the trust we receive from the market, which allows us to look to the future with ambition,” said Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri. With the new orders, the ship builder has 21 new cruise ships in its order books.
That’s just part of a roster of over 100 new cruise ships to be launched over the next five years from shipyards around the world. They include many ships carrying over 4,000 guests but also a daunting array of exploration ships with space for 200 or less. Cruise lines will have to entice as many as 150,00 new passengers to cruise each week in coming years to fill them all.
The first of the five ships in waiting for the Princess royal family is Sky Princess, arriving in October. It will be Princess Cruises’ 18th ship and the fourth Royal-class ship.
It’s among the first to add a wearable OceanMedallion device for guests to interact with crew and get addition entertainment. By the end of 2019, the MedallionClass experience will be available on five Princess ships and will eventually be available throughout of the fleet.
