Fincantieri Monfalcone floats out Princess Cruises’ next-gen Sun Princess
Carnival Corporation’s Princess Cruises brand has celebrated construction milestone with the float out of its next-generation ship, Sun Princess, at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone, Italy, shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy.
Following the Italian shipyard’s tradition, the float out is marked by a special ceremony where a “Madrina” is named to offer blessings and best wishes for the vessel, celebrating the flow of water into the ship’s building dock. Princess Cruises hotel general manager Simona Stumberger was selected to serve in this special role as an ambassador for Princess, because, says the cruise line, “she epitomizes professionalism and always delivers service with a smile.”
This is the brand’s third ship to carry the Sun Princess name, adding to the legacy of the first ship sailing from 1974 to 1988 and the second ship sailing from 1995 to 2020. That first ship was the setting for the Love Boat TV series and carried just 700 guests. The new 175,000 gt ship will be the brand’s largest ship ever and will accommodate 4,300 guests.
The float out completes the first comprehensive phase of construction for Sun Princess, which now transitions to focus on building the ship’s interiors —which, as we previewed last year, promise to be spectacular.
The 21-deck, 1,133 feet-long Sun Princess will offer guests an array of new dining, entertainment and activity offerings, as well as luxurious staterooms and suites across a broad spectrum of categories. The ship will be highlighted by spectacular public spaces such as The Dome, a transformational entertainment venue inspired by the terraces of Santorini, the next-level, brand-iconic Piazza, and three-story Horizons Dining Room.
Green, too
In addition, Sun Princess has been designed to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The ship’s sustainability features include:
Fuel and energy management
Sun Princess will be the first ship in the Princess fleet to be powered by LNG, with an LNG capacity of 4,000 cubic meters, sufficient for almost 9 days sailing at service speed. The secondary fuel is marine gas-oil so no heavy or intermediate fuel oil will be carried on board.
Two shore power connections, on both the port and starboard side of the vessel, will enable “cold ironing,” with the cruise ship able to turn off the engines and connect to local electric power to run all onboard services during port calls. Sun Princess is outfitted with custom-built electrical connection cabinets that automatically connect the ship’s electrical network to the local electrical network ashore, reducing air emissions in the ports that support shore power.
Waste management
A micro auto gasification system (MAGS) is installed for waste. MAGS is the world’s most compact, efficient and environmentally safe technology to convert a variety of combustible materials into thermal energy – energy that can be used in other systems onboard.
The food waste management system is designed with distributed and centralized bio-digesters and dehydrators as a clean alternative to recycle food waste and reduce use of landfills.
