The US cruise line Princess Cruises has had to cancel the maiden voyage of the “Sun Princess”. This is due to delays in the delivery of the newbuild.
The cruise ship “SunPrincess” (175,000 gt) was supposed to set sail from Barcelona on February 8th for its ten-day maiden voyage – but this will not happen. The commissioned Fincantieri shipyard is unable to deliver on time. [ds_preview]
The shipping company, which belongs to the Carnival Group, has not announced a new launch date. The 345-meter-long ship completed a four-day trial voyage in mid-January. There was no talk of problems at that time.
“Sun Princess” – the largest ship ever built in Italy
The LNG newbuild is the largest ship ever built in Italy and the first ship to be built on a new platform developed exclusively for the Princess Cruises brand. The keel for another sister ship in this class, the “Star Princess”, was laid in December. She is scheduled to set sail on her maiden voyage in August 2025.
The new “Sun Princess” is the third Princcess Cruises ship to bear this name, continuing the legacy of the first and second ships, which were in service from 1974 to 1988 and from 1995 to 2020 respectively.
The luxury liner, designed for 4,300 passengers, has 29 bars and restaurants and over 1,500 balcony cabins on its 17 passenger decks. After the planned delivery, the “Sun Princess” will remain in the Mediterranean until September 2024 and then head to the Caribbean for the 2024/25 winter season before returning to the Mediterranean in spring 2025. (CE)
