Princess Cruises has sent Royal Princess back into service after a fortnight in dry dock in Singapore, with an Irish pub in the Piazza, 20 extra cabins and a private club carved out of the adults-only sun deck.
The 3,595-passenger ship was in dock from 16 to 30 October, Princess said on Friday. She now heads to Sydney for a summer of Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific cruises, which makes her a fly-cruise for anyone reading this in Britain.
She is the first of five Royal-class ships to get the work. Sky Princess, which sails from Southampton from March to October next year, is on the list.
What changed on board
O’Malley’s Irish Pub takes the deck 5 spot that used to be Vines, the wine bar. Princess describes it as bringing the pub it already runs on its newer ships to Royal Princess, with Irish-inspired food and a bar built for a crowd.
Bellini’s, the cocktail bar next door, has expanded into what was the photo gallery, so it now looks out over the Piazza.
The casino is bigger. The staircase between decks 6 and 7 has been taken out, and the floor it freed has gone to slot machines, according to Princess.
The Effy jewellery boutique has been refreshed and the shops have a new operator, Starboard.
Twenty cabins have been added: six mini-suites, seven oceanview, two insides and five single insides.
Rodrigo Llaguno, Princess’s chief operating officer, called the work “thoughtfully refreshed spaces designed to elevate every aspect of the guest experience”.
The Sanctuary becomes a members’ club
The Sanctuary Collection is Princess’s ship-within-a-ship, first seen on Sun Princess and Star Princess. On Royal Princess it covers suites, mini-suites, deluxe balcony and balcony cabins, plus a set of newly built oceanview cabins sold only as part of the collection.
Buy into it and you get the Sanctuary Club, a Sanctuary Restaurant on deck 6 beside the Concerto dining room that nobody else can book, and the Princess Premier package of drinks, speciality dining, Wi-Fi and crew tips thrown in.
The Sanctuary Club is the old Retreat Pool and The Sanctuary combined. On Royal-class ships The Sanctuary has been an adults-only deck anyone could buy into by the half day or the day, and the Retreat Pool beside it was free to any adult on board.
Until 22 April 2027 any passenger aged 16 or over can still use the club as a preview, Princess says. From that date it belongs to Sanctuary Collection guests only.
Passengers who had already booked a Reserve Collection cabin on Royal Princess before 22 October get the Sanctuary upgrade without paying more, though not the Premier package.
Sky Princess is next in line from Southampton
Sanctuary Collection cabins on Sky Princess go on sale on 10 December, starting with a 14-night Baltic cruise from Southampton on 29 May 2027. Regal Princess opens on 5 November, Discovery Princess on 4 December and Enchanted Princess on 17 December.
Princess has yet to announce dry dock dates for the four ships still to be converted. On Royal Princess the Sanctuary work arrived in the same dock as the pub, the extra cabins and the casino, and the company describes the five-ship rollout as the first phase of a multi-year modernisation programme.
Sky Princess shares Southampton with Majestic Princess in 2027, with 45 departures between them.
The bottom line
Royal Princess has gained a pub, a bigger bar, more slots and more beds, and British cruisers will need a flight to see any of it.
What they will see at Southampton is the other half of the refit. The sun deck that any adult on a Royal-class ship could use, for free or for a day pass, is becoming the private club of the dearest cabins on board.
On Royal Princess that happens on 22 April. On Sky Princess, the first sailing it applies to leaves Southampton on 29 May.
