Princess Cruises is a premium cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation Ltd. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the company operates 17 ships visiting more than 330 destinations across all seven continents.
The brand combines large resort-style ships with destination-led itineraries, traditional cruise activities and technology built around its wearable Princess Medallion. Princess is also closely associated with the television series The Love Boat, which introduced the experience of cruising to a worldwide audience.
History of Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises began in 1965 when founder Stanley McDonald chartered Canadian Pacific's Princess Patricia for winter cruises from Los Angeles to Mexico. The company's first departure took place on 3 December 1965.
The early operation expanded with additional chartered ships before Princess developed a more permanent fleet. British shipping group P&O acquired the business in 1974, giving Princess access to greater financial and operational resources while retaining its separate brand identity.
Princess became known internationally through The Love Boat, the American television series broadcast from 1977. Episodes were filmed aboard Princess ships including Pacific Princess and Island Princess, turning the vessels and the company's sea-witch logo into recognisable symbols of cruise holidays.
P&O's cruise businesses were separated into P&O Princess Cruises in 2000. That company combined with Carnival Corporation in 2003, bringing Princess into what is now Carnival Corporation Ltd.
Princess continued expanding with increasingly large vessels, including the Grand class from 1998 and the Royal class from 2013. A further generational change arrived with the LNG-powered Sun Princess in 2024 and sister ship Star Princess in 2025.
Current Princess Cruises fleet
Princess Cruises currently operates 17 ships across four principal design groups.
Sphere class
- Sun Princess — entered service in 2024 as the first Sphere-class ship and Princess's first vessel powered by liquefied natural gas.
- Star Princess — entered service on 4 October 2025 as the second Sphere-class ship.
Royal class
- Royal Princess — entered service in 2013 as the first member of the class.
- Regal Princess — entered service in 2014.
- Majestic Princess — entered service in 2017.
- Sky Princess — entered service in 2019.
- Enchanted Princess — entered service in 2021.
- Discovery Princess — entered service in 2022 as the sixth Royal-class vessel.
Grand-class generation
- Grand Princess — entered service in 1998 and gave its name to the wider design family.
- Caribbean Princess — entered service in 2004.
- Diamond Princess — entered service in 2004 and operates extensively in Asia and Japan.
- Sapphire Princess — entered service in 2004.
- Crown Princess — entered service in 2006.
- Emerald Princess — entered service in 2007.
- Ruby Princess — entered service in 2008.
Coral class
- Coral Princess — entered service in 2003 and was designed with dimensions suitable for the original Panama Canal locks.
- Island Princess — entered service in 2003 as the sister ship of Coral Princess.
The age, capacity and facilities of Princess ships vary substantially. Guests should check the individual vessel when comparing restaurants, accommodation, pools, entertainment spaces and family facilities.
Sun Princess and Star Princess
Sun Princess and Star Princess are the largest vessels in the Princess fleet. Built by Fincantieri at Monfalcone, Italy, each Sphere-class ship is approximately 177,800gt and accommodates 4,300 guests at lower-berth capacity.
The ships introduced a substantially different design from the preceding Royal class. Their central Piazza sits within the outward-facing glass Sphere, while The Dome is a glass-enclosed multipurpose space inspired by the terraces of Santorini. The Princess Arena uses a flexible theatre configuration, and the main dining room extends across three levels.
Both ships use liquefied natural gas as their primary fuel. LNG can reduce several forms of air pollution compared with conventional marine fuel, although its overall climate impact depends partly on the control of methane emissions throughout production and operation.
Star Princess is also the subject of the E4 television series covered in Deck7's article Star Princess takes centre stage in Cruising Paradise.
Princess MedallionClass
The Princess Medallion is a small wearable device used across the fleet. It can identify a guest to shipboard systems, unlock their stateroom as they approach and support contactless purchases and personalised service.
The connected Princess app provides functions including boarding preparation, navigation, itinerary information, dining arrangements and OceanNow delivery. Some services, packages and delivery options carry additional fees depending on the fare and package purchased.
MedallionClass is intended to reduce the need for traditional cruise cards and allow crew members to recognise and assist guests more easily. Passengers can choose how extensively they use the associated app and location-enabled features.
Dining and onboard experience
Princess ships offer included main dining rooms and casual venues together with speciality restaurants carrying additional charges or package inclusions. Familiar fleet venues can include Crown Grill, Sabatini's Italian Trattoria, Alfredo's or Gigi's Pizzeria, the International Café and World Fresh Marketplace.
The exact selection differs by ship. Newer vessels have introduced restaurants and partnerships including The Catch by Rudi, Love by Britto, Makoto Ocean and Spellbound by Magic Castle.
Entertainment includes production shows, live music, comedy, quizzes, casinos and Movies Under the Stars. The Piazza operates as a central gathering space, while larger and newer ships provide purpose-built theatres and additional performance venues.
Princess accommodates families and provides supervised children's and teenagers' programmes on applicable sailings. Adults-only spaces include The Sanctuary, with the more extensive Sanctuary Collection offered aboard Sun Princess and Star Princess.
Princess Plus and Princess Premier
Princess sells optional Plus and Premier packages that combine selected onboard benefits. Depending on the package, market and sailing date, these can include drinks, Wi-Fi, speciality or casual dining, crew appreciation, fitness classes, OceanNow delivery and other services.
Package contents and limits change periodically. Passengers should check the conditions applying to their precise booking date and voyage rather than relying on the inclusions advertised for a different season.
Destinations and homeports
Princess sails to more than 330 destinations and operates in every major cruise region. Its programmes include Alaska, the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Northern Europe, British Isles, Panama Canal, Mexico, Hawaii, California coast, Canada and New England, South America, Asia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.
The line also offers world cruises and longer combination voyages. Selected itineraries visit Antarctica as destination cruises, with scenic cruising and port arrangements determined by the published programme rather than expedition-style landings from dedicated polar vessels.
Princess has a particularly strong association with Alaska. Its cruise programme is supported by land-based cruisetours and Princess-owned wilderness lodges, allowing guests to combine a sailing with rail and road travel into the state's interior.
Homeports vary by season and include Fort Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, Southampton, Barcelona, Rome's port of Civitavecchia, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Singapore and Japanese ports.
The Love Boat
The Love Boat was set aboard Princess ships and used cruise travel as the background for a weekly mixture of comedy and romantic stories. The series ran in its original form from 1977 to 1986 and continued through specials and later versions.
Although the original Pacific Princess is no longer part of the fleet, Princess continues to use The Love Boat identity in marketing, events and ship-naming ceremonies. Members of the programme's cast have maintained a long association with the cruise line.
Future Princess ships
Fincantieri disclosed in 2026 that it had signed an agreement for three new Voyager-class cruise ships for Princess Cruises. The agreement was signed in April 2026 and remains subject to customary financing and other conditions.
As of August 2026, Princess and Carnival Corporation have not published complete specifications, names, homeports or detailed delivery schedules for the three vessels. They should therefore be treated as future contracted or planned ships rather than members of the current 17-ship operating fleet.
The programme is covered within Deck7's wider profile of Fincantieri's cruise-ship history, shipyards and orderbook.
Ownership and leadership
Princess Cruises is one of the cruise brands owned by Carnival Corporation Ltd. The wider group also includes Carnival Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, Cunard, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, Seabourn and AIDA Cruises.
Gus Antorcha has served as president of Princess Cruises since December 2024. He oversees the brand's fleet, commercial strategy and global operations and reports to Carnival Corporation chief executive Josh Weinstein.
Sources
- Princess Cruises: company history, fleet and destinations
- Princess Cruises: official fleet overview
- Princess Cruises: Star Princess
- Princess Cruises: Sun Princess fact sheet
- Princess Cruises: Star Princess fact sheet
- Princess Cruises: Plus and Premier package information
- Carnival Corporation: Princess Cruises president Gus Antorcha
- Fincantieri: Princess Cruises three-ship agreement