''Enchanted Princess'' is a ''Royal''-class

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

operated by

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the List of cruise lines# ...

, a subsidiary of

Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...

. Princess finalized the order for its fifth ''Royal''-class ship in 2016 from

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

shipbuilder

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

and her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 14 February 2019 in

Monfalcone Monfalcone (; Bisiacco: ; fur, Monfalcon; sl, Tržič; archaic german: Falkenberg) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Gorizia in Friuli Venezia Giulia, northern Italy, located on the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means 'falcon mountain' ...

. Originally expected to be delivered in June 2020, the ship was hampered by construction delays after Fincantieri's operations were affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and she was delivered three months later, on 30 September 2020. After a year-long pause in operations amid the pandemic's impact on tourism, Princess inaugurated the ship's operations on 10 November 2021, when she set sail on her maiden voyage.

Design

''Enchanted Princess'' measures and has a length of , a draft of , and a beam of . She is powered by a diesel-electric genset system, with four total

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

engines, producing a total output of . Main propulsion is via two propellers, each driven by a electric motor. The system gives the vessel a service speed of and a maximum speed of . The ship houses 1,830 passenger cabins and 757 crew cabins. Of the 1,830 passenger cabins, 81% have a balcony. The ship has a maximum capacity of 5,800 passengers and crew. Onboard, the ship includes many of the same modifications in accommodations and offerings first introduced on 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 ...

, '' Sky Princess.'' Among the shared features include a new suite accommodation category, but she also includes new restaurants and revised interior décor in select venues.

Construction

Carnival Corporation first entered into a strategic agreement with

in March 2015 for five cruise ships scheduled for delivery between 2019 and 2022. From this agreement, the contract for a then-unnamed, fifth ''Royal''-class vessel was finalized for Princess on 2 April 2016. Initial reports stated that she would measure approximately 145,000 GT and have a capacity of 3,660 passengers. On 20 August 2018, Princess announced that its fifth ''Royal''-class ship would be named ''Enchanted Princess''. On 14 February 2019, the

was laid at the shipyard in

. She was then floated out on 6 August 2019 with a dedication performed by Fincantieri employee Marinella Cossu before Princess Cruises celebrated a separate ceremony on 17 September 2019, with Filipino Princess crew recruiter and trainer Doris Magsaysay Ho performing the honors. In April 2020, Princess announced that Fincantieri had temporarily closed its shipyards for six weeks amid the national outbreak of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Italy The COVID-19 pandemic in Italy is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was first confirmed to have spread to Italy on 31 January 2020, when t ...

, which resulted in delays affecting the ship's construction and delivery timeline. After construction resumed, she began her sea trials on 13 June 2020, sailing from Monfalcone to

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. She remained in Palermo until 26 June before returning to Monfalcone on 29 June. On 8 July 2020, she successfully completed her sea trials. ''Enchanted Princess'' was originally scheduled to debut on 15 June 2020 but delays caused the ship to be delivered three months later on 30 September 2020 in Monfalcone. Upon her delivery, she also became the 100th passenger vessel constructed by Fincantieri. In November 2021, Princess named three women from

The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904, and has served as a meeting point fo ...

as the godmothers to christen the vessel: Lynn Danaher, Vicki Ferrini, and Jenifer Austin. Princess released a taped production that was streamed on 13 December 2021, during which the three godmothers named ''Enchanted Princess.''

Service history

''Enchanted Princess'' was scheduled to debut on 15 June 2020 on a pre-inaugural

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

sailing from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 19 June 2020 prior to her christening on 30 June 2020 in Southampton. However, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Princess ceased operations through summer 2021, effectively cancelling the ship's debut year in Europe and the Caribbean. The ship sailed her maiden voyage on 10 November 2021 from Port Everglades, with calls at

Princess Cays Princess Cays is a tourist resort at the southern end of the island of Eleuthera, Bahamas. It is owned by Carnival Corporation, which owns Princess Cruises, among others. Carnival Corporation also owns nearby Half Moon Cay. Contrary to the implica ...

, St. Thomas,

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

, and

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

. Dry dock in Palermo Italy March 31 - April 13, 2023

References

{{Princess Ships Ships of Princess Cruises Passenger ships of Bermuda Ships built in Monfalcone Ships built by Fincantieri 2019 ships