Construction and delivery The final contract for the first two
Royal-class vessels was signed on 4 May 2010. On 28 August 2012, the ship's keel was laid in Monfalcone and the name of the ship was also officially announced as
Regal Princess. Her
float-out ceremony was conducted on 26 March 2013 and she was floated free from the builder's
dry dock on 29 March 2013 and then moored alongside the outfitting pier, where construction continued.
Regal Princess successfully completed her sea trials in the
Adriatic Sea from 16 to 21 April 2014. Construction progressed faster than expected and the ship arrived 13 days ahead of schedule. She was delivered to Princess Cruises on 11 May 2014 in a ceremony at Fincantieri's shipyard in Monfalcone. She had her official naming ceremony in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 5 November 2014 and was officially christened by the original cast of
The Love Boat:
Gavin MacLeod,
Fred Grandy,
Ted Lange,
Bernie Kopell,
Lauren Tewes, and
Jill Whelan. , 2020
Operational history The debut of
Regal Princess was conducted earlier than originally scheduled, due to an earlier delivery. The maiden voyage had been scheduled for 2 June 2014, but was moved up to 20 May. She spent her inaugural season in the
Mediterranean before departing Venice on 17 October 2014 to reposition to
Port Everglades for her American debut, sailing Eastern
Caribbean itineraries. From 2014 to 2020, she sailed the Caribbean during the winter months from Port Everglades and the
Baltic region in Northern Europe during the summer season, with five-to-seven-day voyages to the
New England coast and
the Maritimes from
New York during the fall. In summer 2020, she was scheduled to operate her first season in the
British Isles before repositioning to
Australia in fall 2020 for her maiden season in
Oceania. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, all British Isles voyages were cancelled. In summer 2021,
Regal Princess was set to debut in
Seattle to cruise her first
Alaska season, but fleet redeployments later scheduled her to return to Europe and homeport in
Southampton during that time frame. Ever since redeployment,
Regal Princess has been doing European and Caribbean Cruises every year, with the exception of 2026 where it will do Caribbean cruises year round. In 2022,
Regal Princess was the setting of the
American and
Australian versions of the reality show
The Real Love Boat, which aired on
CBS and
Network 10.
Media It featured as the location of the first two series of television show "The Cruise: Fun-Loving Brits at Sea" ==Design and specifications==