Regal Princess (2013)

History

Construction and delivery

The final contract for the first two Royal-class vessels was signed on 4 May 2010. On 28 August 2012, the ship's keel was laid in Monfalcone and the name of the ship was also officially announced as Regal Princess. Her float-out ceremony was conducted on 26 March 2013 and she was floated free from the builder's dry dock on 29 March 2013 and then moored alongside the outfitting pier, where construction continued. Regal Princess successfully completed her sea trials in the Adriatic Sea from 16 to 21 April 2014.

Construction progressed faster than expected and the ship arrived 13 days ahead of schedule. She was delivered to Princess Cruises on 11 May 2014 in a ceremony at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone. She had her official naming ceremony in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 5 November 2014 and was officially christened by the original cast of The Love Boat: Gavin MacLeod, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, Bernie Kopell, Lauren Tewes, and Jill Whelan.

Operational history

The debut of Regal Princess was conducted earlier than originally scheduled, due to an earlier delivery. The maiden voyage had been scheduled for 2 June 2014, but was moved up to 20 May. The ship conducted a four-night pre-inaugural cruise from 16 to 20 May 2014 from Trieste that visited Kotor. The maiden voyage departed from Venice on 20 May 2014 for Corfu, Mykonos, and an overnight call in Istanbul. She spent her inaugural season in the Mediterranean before departing Venice on 17 October 2014 to reposition to Port Everglades for her American debut, sailing Eastern Caribbean itineraries.

From 2014 to 2020, she sailed the Caribbean during the winter months from Port Everglades and the Baltic region in Northern Europe during the summer season, with five-to-seven-day voyages to the New England coast and the Maritimes from New York during the fall.

In summer 2020, she was scheduled to operate her first season in the British Isles before repositioning to Australia in fall 2020 for her maiden season in Oceania. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all British Isles voyages were cancelled. In summer 2021, Regal Princess was set to debut in Seattle to cruise her first Alaska season, but fleet redeployments later scheduled her to return to Europe and homeport in Southampton during that time frame.Ever since redeployment, Regal Princess has been doing European and Caribbean Cruises every year, with the exception of 2026 where it will do Caribbean cruises year round. In 2022, Regal Princess was the setting of the American and Australian versions of the reality show The Real Love Boat, which aired on CBS and Network 10.

Media

It featured as the location of the first two series of television show "The Cruise: Fun-Loving Brits at Sea"

Design and specifications

As a sister ship to Royal Princess, Regal Princess shares many of the same dimensions, features, and overall design. The ship measures , has a length of 330.0 m, a draught of 8.5 m, and a beam of 38.4 m. She is powered by a diesel-electric genset system, with four total Wärtsilä engines, producing a total output of 62.4 MW. Main propulsion is via two propellers, each driven by a 18 MW electric motor. The system gives the vessel a service speed of 22 kn and a maximum speed of 22.9 kn. The ship houses 1,780 passenger cabins and 751 crew cabins. Of the 1,780 passenger cabins, 81% have a balcony. The ship has a maximum capacity of 5,600 passengers and crew.

Describing the style that inspired much of the interior design on Regal Princess, Giacomo Mortola, head architect at ship design firm GEM, explained:

Notable features aboard the ship include a multi-level atrium, a theater, various dining rooms and restaurants, and pools.

File:Pool Deck on the Regal Princess.jpg|Pool deck File:Regal Princess Theater 2018.jpg|Theater File:Regal Princess lounge and steakhouse 2018.jpg|Lounge File:Regal Princess Piazza 2018.jpg|Atrium

Incidents

March 2019 rescue

On 5 March 2019, Regal Princess rescued two survivors after their private plane crashed into the Caribbean near Grand Turk. The cruise line released a statement, saying "Princess Cruises can confirm that upon request from the U.S. Coast Guard, Regal Princess assisted in the rescue of two U.S. citizens whose private aircraft went down southeast of Grand Turk in the Caribbean Sea. Both people rescued sailed onboard Regal Princess as the ship sailed to the next port of call St. Thomas."

COVID-19 pandemic

On 7 March 2020, two crew members of Regal Princess were tested and the docking of the ship at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S., was delayed for about a day while waiting for test results. The tests were negative, and the crew did not have respiratory complications, so the ship was allowed to dock.

On 10 May 2020, a 39-year-old female Ukrainian crew member of Regal Princess died after going overboard from the ship while it was docked in Rotterdam. One source stated that she had committed suicide, and she had been scheduled to be repatriated on a charter flight which was subsequently cancelled. She was reportedly distraught and last seen crying aboard the ship.

References

References

1. {{cite ship register
2. (17 February 2010). "Fincantieri to Build Two Prototype Ships for Princess Cruises".
3. (4 May 2010). "Carnival Corp. Finalizes Contracts for Two New Princess Ships". Cruise Industry News.
4. (28 August 2012). "Princess Cruises Announces Name of Next New Ship Will Be ''Regal Princess''".
5. Rowlands, Cherie. (31 August 2012). "Keel laying for new Princess".
6. "Princess Cruises Celebrates Float Out of ''Regal Princess''". Princess Cruises.
7. Tribou, Richard. (23 April 2014). "Princess Cruises' new ''Regal Princess'' completes sea trials". [[Orlando Sentinel]].
8. Stieghorst, Tom. (17 October 2013). "Regal Princess to arrive two weeks early".
9. (16 May 2014). "Fincantieri's Monfalcone Displays ''Regal Princess''".
10. (13 August 2014). "Original ''Love Boat'' cast are ''Regal Princess'' godparents".
11. (5 November 2014). "''The Love Boat'' Original Cast Christens ''Regal Princess''".
12. (23 January 2015). "The Love Boat's Captain Stubing returns to launch the Regal Princess". [[The Australian]].
13. Jainchill, Johanna. (9 April 2013). "Princess to deploy fewer ships in Europe".
14. (20 May 2014). "Regal Princess sets sail on inaugural voyage".
15. Stieghorst, Tom. (15 May 2013). "Royal Princess to sail Canada/New England cruises".
16. (2016-05-11). "Princess Cruises 2017 Europe Offers Best of Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and British Isles".
17. (2016-11-17). "Princess Cruises Announces 2018 Europe Program".
18. Sloan, Gene. (2016-11-28). "Princess Cruises to expand Canada and New England sailings".
19. Delahaye, Julie. (25 October 2018). "Princess Cruises reveals the very glamorous itineraries it has planned for 2020".
20. (15 November 2018). "''Regal Princess'' to Join ''Majestic Princess'' in Australia".
21. "''Regal Princess'' to embark on largest Australia season in 2020".
22. (6 May 2020). "Princess Cruises Extends Pause of Global Ship Operations for Remaining Summer 2020 Season".
23. (30 December 2019). "Princess Cruises reveals 2021 Alaska cruises".
24. Kalosh, Anne. (8 July 2020). "Majestic Princess to replace Regal in Alaska as Regal takes over for Grand in UK". Seatrade Cruise News.
25. (September 1, 2022). "Princess Cruises Offers Something Everyone Will Love with The Love Boat Sale".
26. Knox, David. (June 23, 2022). "Crew sets sail on 10's Real Love Boat".
27. "The Cruise: Fun-Loving Brits at Sea (TV Series 2023– ) - Episode list - IMDb".
28. Saltzman, Dori. (20 November 2013). "Princess Cruises to Tweak Regal Princess Design". Cruise Critic.
29. Gibson, Rebecca. (1 December 2014). "Designing Regal Princess".
30. "Royal Princess Regal Princess". Fincantieri.
31. (5 March 2019). "Cruise Ship Makes Rescue After Plane Crash in the Caribbean".
32. Bartiromo, Michael. (7 March 2019). "Cruise passengers praise ship's crew, Coast Guard for rescuing plane-crash victims: 'Incredible work'".
33. "Princess Cancels More Cruises Due to Coronavirus".
34. (10 May 2020). "Crew Member from Regal Princess Goes Overboard During Final Repatriation Cruise".
35. (10 May 2020). "Crew Member Goes Overboard from Regal Princess {{pipe}} Crew Center".
36. (13 May 2020). "Desperate cruise employees say they're losing hope amid reports of overboard deaths". [[Miami Herald]].