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Further details have been included in an article in Seatrade News Some excerpts: Design ...it is not an Excel-class ship, like the latest of sister brands Carnival Cruise Line, P&O Cruises and AIDA Cruises, Parker pointed out. The Sphere class sprang from a blank sheet, he said, and it's the first design from the ground up for the Princess Medallion experience, which impacted the positioning of galleys and other behind-the-scenes elements to make it more efficient for crew to provide 'Ocean Now' service — food and beverages delivered anywhere passengers request by app. Mysterious black door Parker said there will be a black door on Deck 8 leading to a new, immersive experience but gave no further clues. World Fresh Marketplace World Fresh Marketplace will be relocated from the Lido Deck to Deck 9 with access to the promenade, and will offer additional outdoor food outlets, with more theming — details to come. Princess Arena Contemporary and versatile, the Princess Arena provides the most technologically advanced Princess theater design. By Richmond International, it has no pillars and three configurations: theater in the round, traditional proscenium style and keyhole proscenium — a 'very sophisticated space,' in Allnatt's words. Though it seats 1,050, it seems much more intimate by putting viewers around the stage. A stunning visual above the center can become part of the show, and there's a double-deck LED screen. Princess Live! On Sun Princess, Princess Live! has evolved from a studio into a lounge space with great views, Allnatt said. The stage is on the side, and there will be a special bar — more to come on that. Staterooms Altogether, more than 70% of the accommodations have balconies (and all balcony rooms have a sofa). There are 100 connecting rooms, ideal for families. No accommodations have obstructed views, and no bathrooms have shower curtains (instead, doors). Space has been optimized by doing away with walk-in closets. The Dome High on Decks 17 and 18, The Dome will be 'a new experience on a cruise,' according to its creator, Lionel Ohayon, founder & CEO, ICRAVE Design. It is inspired by views of the Greek Islands and covered in glass, making it ideal for soaking in the scenery. But The Dome is much more than a lounge. It will have a massive waterfall, an indoor-outdoor pool, and a terrace. It will be possible to deploy a stage over the pool and to project images on The Dome's surface. The Landing Deck 4 holds The Landing, where passengers will embark, whether by adjustable gangways that move with the tide or 'luxury launches' in tender ports. The Landing will provide space for security at ports that don't have it and serve as a lounge that's optimized for the tenders with a grab 'n' go drinks area and access to the midships and forward stairs/elevators. 'Instead of feeling like you're in a crew area, you're in a guest area,' Parker said. At sea, the space can be configured for other uses like meetings. The redesigned tenders will have two decks, with outdoor seating on top and air-conditioned seating below.

Thank you @snoozecrooze and yes, I've done 'live from' threads on both Majestic and Sky Princess inaugurals and love discovering all their shiny new nooks and crannies - while racing around answering questions from fellow cruisecritic members if we can! It's the only time we might venture into a gym lol Hoping to repeat for Sun Princess if all goes well!

Princess have released an official Sun Princess Float Out video with more details

Something new to Princess - the Landing, an elegant embarkation and tender point on Sun Princess. New luxury tenders with a top viewing deck will take passengers ashore in some ports. This is the rendering: And current build progress:

This was on instagram also from today's shipyard visit (from EatSleepCruise)

More photos from the PR shipyard visit First four courtesy of Dave Monk (shipmonk) Deck 8, with it's extra-high ceiling, will house Princess Cruises' largest casino More Sphere pics Princess Live! More external shots, courtesy of CruiseFever The Piazza, courtesy of Jane Archer

Pictures from the PR shipyard visit today: Courtesy of Dave Monk (shipmonk) Wheelhouse Bar Reserve Restaurant Wakeview Terrace Part of the 9-deck high glass Spheres Signature Restaurant Part of the three-storey Horizons main restaurant on Sun Princess, with a staircase still to be installed Al fresco at Alfredo’s - the pizzeria on Sun Princess will have an outdoor seating area with heaters The Promenade Deck Another view of the 9-deck glass sphere Cabana Deck

TO UPDATE THIS LIST: DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Caribbean Princess Ozren Marelic Daniel France Oscar Perego Coral Princess Diego Perra Kelvin Joy Joachim Rothe Crown Princess Tony Ruggero Olivia Guthrie Matt Joseph Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Princess Stefano Ravera Sophie Gideon Mikiko Ikemoto Samantha McDonough Silvio Zampieri Discovery Princess Craig Street DuVaul Gamble Neil Rose Catalin Ionel Emerald Princess Giuseppe Castellano David Frost Lauren Meyer Enache Popescue Enchanted Princess Nick Nash Gary Golding Duke Christopher Francisco Patricio Grand Princess Christopher B. Lye Jayson Douglass Callie Smit Giuseppe Francina Island Princess Paul Slight Andi Sanders Mark Gillespie Francesco Ciorfito Majestic Princess Andrea Spinardi Kristoff Greyling Ron Goodman Douw Steyl Regal Princess Aldo Traverso Allie Ambriano Matt Thompson Nicola Furlan Royal Princess Steve Holland Armando Merin Ruth Sandell Claudio Giuliani Ruby Princess Mario Tani Michael Reitano Tim Donovan Jacques Ghennai Sapphire Princess Todd McBain Fernando Cunha Ben Powney Mario Propato Sky Princess Heikki Laakkonen Paul Chandler-Burns Madison Adams Giuseppe Gelmini <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> (Changes made: Kristoff Greyling taking over as CD on Majestic) Future moves: Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27. Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May. Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March. Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK. Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April. Sky - CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe. Captain Laakkonen leaves on March 11 and returns in July.

Believe there is a shipyard visit coming up in the next week so look out for some more PR....

Ahh that's the problem - we were talking about Virgin Voyages and their "buffet" or Galley was very limited in the evenings...I think they only had a burger available when we went. Hence Princess is a better line for us with the always available options, the buffet, Alfredos/Gigis, International Cafe and OceanNow.

Nope. I think we Brits can be a bit reserved when it comes to expressing our dining requirements - if it's not on the menu then we don't tend to go off it! My partner won't do veggies either - it's chicken, beef or cheese and hence we quickly run out of dishes 😀

Sun Princess had it's technical floatout at Fincantieri on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by Monfalcone shipyard director, Cristiano Bazzara, the General Manager of the Merchant Ship division of Fincantieri, Luigi Matarazzo and the mayor Anna Cisint. In the speeches they mention that it will be the largest ship ever built in Italy, will be the largest in the Princess fleet, the first LNG ship for Fincantieri and the 20th ship built by Fincantieri for Princess Cruises. Sun Princess Tech Floatout.mp4 There is a more detailed video (mostly in Italian) from the newspaper Il Piccolo here

An interesting video from Hillary who is on Caribbean Princess and experiencing long lines at Coffee and Cones because of this launch

TO UPDATE THIS LIST: DO NOT push the "Quote" button. It creates a copy that the next person cannot properly update. DO select and copy ALL of the text (including the instructions and the list) up to COPY TO THIS LINE . . . from the most up-to-date list (the most recent reply with the list).  Go to the bottom of the latest post, to the "Reply to this Topic..." box to create a new post. Paste your copied text into that box. Make your modifications to the list. Add change notes at the bottom. Click the "Submit Reply" button just below the list you are modifying. Confirm that everything is correct! You can edit for up to 20 minutes. SHIP CAPTAIN CRUISE DIRECTOR ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR DIR, RESTAURANT OP's Caribbean Princess Ozren Marelic Daniel France Madison Adams Oscar Perego Coral Princess Diego Perra Kelvin Joy Joachim Rothe Crown Princess Vincenzo Lembo Kristoff Greyling (until March 2) Michael Kujawski Mariusz Czemarmazowicz Diamond Princess Stefano Ravera Sophie Gideon Mikiko Ikemoto Samantha McDonough Silvio Zampieri Discovery Princess Craig Street DuVaul Gamble Neil Rose Catalin Ionel Emerald Princess Giuseppe Castellano David Frost Lauren Meyer Enache Popescue Enchanted Princess Nick Nash Jody Miles (until Feb. 27) Duke Christopher Francisco Patricio Grand Princess Christopher B. Lye Jayson Douglass Callie Smit Giuseppe Francina Island Princess Paul Slight Andi Sanders Mark Gillespie Francesco Ciorfito Majestic Princess Andrea Spinardi Kevin Tugwell Ron Goodman Douw Steyl Regal Princess Aldo Traverso Allie Ambriano Matt Thompson Nicola Furlan Royal Princess Steve Holland Armando Merin Ruth Sandell Claudio Giuliani Ruby Princess Mario Tani Michael Reitano Tim Donovan Jacques Ghennai Sapphire Princess Todd McBain Fernando Cunha Ben Powney Mario Propato Sky Princess Heikki Laakkonen Matt Barnard (until Feb. 25) Dan Falconer Ciprian Hoidreag <COPY TO THIS LINE SO THERE IS SPACE TO TYPE CHANGE NOTES AFTER THE CHART> (From insta: Added Mikiko Ikemoto as Japanese CD on Diamond alongside Sophie; Matt Thompson is ED on Regal with Alex Y now at home) Future moves: Caribbean - CD Jody Miles joins on April 27. Discovery - Captain Smith returns in May. Enchanted - CD Gary Golding scheduled to join (right after Jody leaves?). Island - ED Mark Gillespie leaves in mid-March. Regal - CD Aaron Hawkins (possibly?) joining when ship is in the UK. Royal - CD Corinne Steel returns in April. Sky - CD Paul Chandler-Burns scheduled to join (right after Matt leaves?). CD Matt Barnard returns in May when ship is in Europe. Captain Laakkonen leaves on March 11 and returns in July.

The seawitch is on... Photo by Raffaele Tulimieri

Thanks for this insight into the design differences. So Princess have a totally different shipyard doing their design and build work (Fincantieri for Sphere class versus Meyer Werft for Excellence class) although Carnival is the corporation at the top here. Wondering how this all started - did they just take the footprint /external design features, hand it to Fincantieri and ask them to come up with their own ideas?

Do VV change their menus for each restaurant at all? We've only done 2 three-nighters with them and my other half won't do Test Kitchen type food and can only eat certain dishes (won't touch fish, pork, lamb etc) from the restaurant menus.This means we have been put off booking longer cruises with VV as he will have to repeat. Also their Gallery (i.e. buffet) has very few options in the evening.

Cove balconies are highlighted here:

These are the sheltered balconies under the lifeboats . On P&O Iona and Arvia they have a separate window and door entrance rather than sliding doors and there is a glass panel underneath the handrail. A metal flap can be swung round and bolted to the door to protect you from bad weather so you may not be able to get onto the cove balcony during those times. Not saying this will be the same design for Sun Princess as it is being built by Fincantieri rather than Meyer Werft, but it has a similar footprint to these ships If you forward to 8:40 on this cabin review video on P&O Iona then you will see what they have.

The unofficial deck plan (cruisemapper) have called this space Altitude Restaurant but no more details out there

The Signature Lounge rendering has been released. Wow, that aft view will be amazing and an improvement on the Concierge Lounge on Royal class!

Latest pic of Sun Princess at the shipyard:

Replying to my own post - these are noted as Teen Areas and a Kids Center on the unofficial deck plan. One of the Teen areas roughly align with the Scene teen area on P&O Iona.

Some other new venues on the deck plans - The Underground and Neon Grove on deck 7 and Firefly Park next to Guest Services on deck 6! Guesses please....

Yep but it depends how badly you want the extra space - these personally wouldn't suit us! 😀