He said: “Royal Princess is in many
ways a prototype, but it reflects the de- sign of our other ships. We didn’t want to build a ship that would be an ‘outlier’ and inconsistent with our fleet.” With this in mind, the chance to sail on her during a 12-night Mediterranean cruise in July was a perfect opportunity to see just how this new-build shaped up.
he portents weren’t good. As our flight landed in Venice, a storm was brewing and, by the time we got to the Stazione Marittima, thunderclaps reverberated across the lagoon. Embarka- tion was suspended as winds of up to 45 knots lashed the vast superstructure. Bow- thrusters were even deployed to keep the ship secure at her berth. However, when I did embark into the lavish Piazza, the cosseting aura dispelled any bad karma the weather could invoke. This central atrium is 50 per cent larger than on other Princess ships. Three-decks high, this nexus of dining,
T
The Duchess of Cambridge’s LAST SOLO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT before giving birth turned into A MAJOR TRIUMPH, with images of the Duchess in front of the white hull of Royal Princess BEAMED ACROSS THE WORLD.
lounging and entertainment venues aspires to be the social hub of the vessel. Passengers ascend and descend the
marble-swathed spiral staircases before choosing perhaps to indulge in a glass of Prosecco in Bellini’s followed by a pizza fresh from the oven in Alfredo’s; in the af- ternoon they can select from 250 blends of tea in the International Café or be tempted at the Gelato ice-cream parlour; later, in Crooners, there’s a choice of more than 75 different martinis to savour as the accom- plished pianist engages his audience in late-night repartee.
Rather than change a successful formu- la, Princess wanted to create a vessel of- fering a familiar, yet novel experience and, on this latest addition to their fleet, many favourite attributes have been enhanced, representing more of an evolution than a revolution of the Princess zeitgeist.
M
y 12-day ‘Grand Mediterranean’ cruise from Venice to Barcelona visited Piraeus (Athens), Kusa- dasi, Istanbul, Mykonos, Naples, Civita- vecchia (Rome), Livorno (for Florence and Pisa) and Toulon (for Provence), while the
Autumn 2013 I WORLD OF CRUISING
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