Princess Cruises Orders 2 More Ships

Princess Cruises, which is part of Carnival Corporation, has completed contracts for the building of 2 passengers ships with a capacity of 3,600 each. This comes after the company signed a memorandum of agreement in February.

The Fincantieri shipyard in Italy has agreed to build the estimated 141,000 ton ships for about €155,000 for each lower berth. The ships are set to start servicing journeys in spring 2013 and 2014, and they will be the largest in the cruise line’s fleet.

The design of the ships will continue with the themes that Princess Cruises has given to the newest additions to their fleet. However, they are set to feature new innovations as well, including all outside cabins and the incorporation of balconies. This will increase the amount of balconies on the liner’s ocenview cabins to 80% on board.

It is also expected that Princess Cruises’ signature Piazza, the central atrium of their ships that features retail, entertainment and dining, will be expanded on these 2 new ones. They are also anticipated to expand restaurants and the Sanctuary, which is the company’s spa offering. Other specifics for the design and amenities on these new ships will be revealed in the coming months.

Major mainstream cruise lines have started to commit to building new ships recently. Norwegian Cruise Line will soon have the completed Norwegian Epic, while Carnival Cruise Lines has had a third Dream-class ship on order since December. This has broken somewhat of a drought among spending and expanding cruise line fleets, which is largely due to more people traveling with the economic recovery from the recession.