| Traditional keel laying ceremony features Chinese Lion Dance ceremony to mark construction milestone

Princess Cruises has marked the start of construction of its new ship with a traditional Chinese lion dance during an official keel laying ceremony at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. The yet to be named ship, will be customised to appeal to the China market when it makes a memorable debut in summer 2017.

Following the lion dance and a traditional blessing by a priest, the ship’s keel – which weighs approximately 500 tonnes – was moved into position by crane onto the keel blocks. The computer-guided manoeuver took only minutes, belying the more than two million man-hours that will ultimately go into building the vessel. The 3600-passenger, 141,000-tonne ship will remain in the building dock until float-out next summer.

The new Royal Class ship will offer many of the same special features as Royal Princess and Regal Princess, which have been well-received by the industry and will also showcase the exclusive Princess Class experience designed specifically for the Chinese market.

Additional details about the new ship’s features and deployment schedule will be announced over the coming months.

Further information about Princess Cruises is available by visiting www.princess.com

SOURCE   Princess Cruises