Princess Cruises to build two next-generation LNG cruise ships

Princess Cruises has announced plans to build two new cruise ships for delivery between late 2023 and spring 2025.

The next-generation vessels will be 175,000 gross tonnes and accommodate approximately 4,300 guests.

The ships will be Princess Cruises’ first to be dual-fuel powered, primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and will be built at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.

Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, said: “This revolutionary platform for next-generation, LNG-powered cruise ships will introduce innovative design and leisure experiences driven by the future holiday 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.”

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, said: “We are proud to extend our long-established partnership with Princess Cruises, a brand we have been tied to since our return to the cruise ship building industry in 1990. After so many years, we are ready to enter, together, a new era of this industry, increasingly aimed at reducing even more of our environmental impact.

“We proudly do this with an all-time record project, both in terms of size and technology. We believe that there are no more significant milestones than these to reaffirm our market-leading position. This builds upon the solid partnership between our country and Carnival Corporation – the largest foreign investor in Italy – while at the same time building upon our technological strength and increasing employment.”

Princess Cruises has three new Royal-class ships on order with Fincantieri, including its next new ship, Sky Princess, which is currently under construction and scheduled for delivery in October 2019.

The two other Royal-class ships are planned for delivery in 2020 and 2022.