The Regal Princess was launched today at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard. Delivery is scheduled for spring 2014, while its sister ship, the Royal Princess, launched last August, and will be delivered this spring.

Attending the ceremony for Princess Cruises were Rai Caluori, executive vice president fleet operations, and Stuart Hawkins, vice president newbuilding. Representing Fincantieri were, among others, Enrico Buschi, CEO, and Carlo De Marco, shipyard manager.

The Regal Princess consolidates Fincantieri’s position as building the largest passenger ships in Italian shipbuilding history, the yard said in a prepared statement. At 141,000 gross tons, 330 metes long and 38 meters wide, the new ship is the largest ship ever built by Fincantieri.

It has 1,780 cabins, of which 1,438 with balconies (81% of the total), and is able to accommodate 3,600 passengers, with total capacity for over 5,600 people including crew.

As an innovative prototypes for a new ground-breaking class of ship, the Regal and Royal Princess has what is called “future-proof design”, not only in terms of layout and state-of-the-art performance, but also because they comply with the most recent regulations in shipping.

According to Fincantieri, among the future proof elements are the rational use of space, with the aim of avoiding any wasted tonnage that would otherwise increase operating costs and energy savings to reduce emissions into the atmosphere and water. The ships will be able to adapt to every possible type of cruise, operating from Alaska to Australia, even in environmentally protected areas where navigation is restricted.

Fincantieri has built 63 cruise ships since 1990, including 13 only for Princess Cruises. Another 11 ships are being built or about to be built in the Group’s yards.