Princess Cruises’ swanky new ship, Royal Princess, will be arriving in Southampton on Friday. She left the shipyard in Italy (Monfalcone, I believe) some time last week, and spent yesterday in Algeciras (I know not why – possibly a marketing event?). She left Algeciras early yesterday evening, heading for Southampton. Current information from AIS has her arriving at 08:30 on Friday morning, which is a little earlier than previously thought. (Update: AIS is now saying 10:30 on Friday.)
I shall be in Southampton on Friday to witness her arrival and hopefully take a few photographs. The weather forecast is looking good, so it ought to be a good day.
Royal Princess will then be based in Southampton for just over a week, hosting industry events and couple of ‘pre-maiden’ mini-cruises before a grand christening event on 13 June, when she will be formally named by the Duchess of Cambridge. Those with long memories – or perhaps just those who will have read Princess’ marketing information – will know that a previous cruise ship with the name ‘Royal Princess’ was christened in 1984 by Princess Diana.
Royal Princess will leave Southampton on her maiden cruise, to the Mediterranean, on 16 June.
Tom: Princess timings have Royal Princess passing Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, at about 09:25, and reaching Ocean Terminal at about 11:00. The stop at Algeciras was to take on fuel, I’m told.
Well, that’s what I’d been told previously as well. However when I looked at AIS earlier this morning the ETA for Southampton was shown as 08:30; although now it’s showing as 10:30.