New Spaces Unveiled for Princess Cruises’ New LNG Mega-Ship

Princess Cruises has revealed new design details cruisers will see aboard Sun Princess, the first ship in the line’s Sphere-class that’s set to debut in early 2024. Highlights include a three-story dining venue and a casino that will be the largest in the Princess fleet.

Innovations Enhance Public Spaces

With a year to go until Princess Cruises’ 4,000-guest Sun Princess is introduced, the line on February 3 offered some sneak peeks of the ship’s interior public spaces.

In what will be a first for the Carnival Corporation brand, the Horizons Dining Room will span three decks, with each deck offering different dining options and formality levels. Natural light and a central sculpture will enhance the venue’s open spaces.

The ship’s theater, the Princess Arena, will be the fleet’s most technologically impressive and will sport a curved theater-in-the-round design with movable seats able to accommodate 1,000 guests.

Its Princess Casino will be the cruise line’s biggest in size and number of gaming positions, offering more than 200 slot and video poker games.

Princess Cruises President John Padgett said, “With the construction of any new ship, we have the incredible opportunity to design standout spaces with our guests’ preferences in mind.”

He added, “With the new platform and size of Sun Princess, we’re uniquely able to refresh venues we know our guests love and expand upon, redesign and elevate them to the next level. We know our sun-inspired designs will exceed expectations and elevate the entire Princess experience.”

In other entertainment reveals, the Princess Live! space on Sun Princess will combine the elements of the existing Princess Live! and Explorer’s Lounge areas, where guests can participate in game shows, trivia and the cruise line’s popular Wake Show. The space will offer full beverage services and be located nearby restaurants.

The cruise line’s signature restaurants will be included on Sun Princess, and some will have new designs and decor. Crown Grill, for instance, a favorite specialty restaurant, will be modernized with contemporary designs like leather booths, circular seating and custom-designed artwork, the line said.

A newly imagined Sabatini’s Italian Trattoria will feature a pasta room where guests can watch the pasta-making process. The line described the Italian specialty space as having “intimate bistro-style nooks and a dramatic circular main room.”

While we’re on the topic of Italy, the new Princess cruise ship will feature Alfredo’s Pizzeria, where guests will be able to watch the chefs create their pizza. The kitchen will have a new open-mouth oven that reaches 968 degrees.

Also getting a makeover onboard the new ship is the retail area, the Shops of Princess. Sun Princess will have five retail locations and an art gallery. Stores will include a lifestyle boutique, a bazaar featuring destination-specific items, plus jewelry, watches and more.

Ship to Sail Inaugural From Barcelona

The 175,500-gross-ton Sun Princess will sail her 10-day Inaugural Grand Mediterranean cruise on February 8, 2024, from Barcelona to Rome.

The ship will operate a full season in the Mediterranean, offering 7- to 23-night itineraries from multiple departure ports, including Barcelona, Rome, Athens, and Southampton. The ship is slated to reposition to Fort Lauderdale in November 2024.

Under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, Sun Princess is the line’s first ship powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Her as-yet-unnamed sister ship, the second of the Sphere class, is scheduled to debut in mid-2025.

Sun Princess is named for an older Princess ship of the same name. The original Sun Princess entered service in 1995 and carried 2,000 guests. In 2020 Carnival Corporation announced it would sell the ship, along with another older Princess vessel, Sea Princess, as part of a fleet-wide reduction.

Sun Princess, which was one of the ships used for the filming of the hit TV show “The Love Boat,” was sold to Japan-based Peace Boat, an organization that promotes peace, human rights, and sustainability, and bases many of its activities on passenger ships.