Sky Princess, Princess Cruises’ latest newbuild visits Valletta

Valletta Cruise Port has welcomed Sky Princess, Princess Cruises’ brand-new ship debuting this October. Sky Princess features exciting entertainment venues, new dining choices and award-winning chef partnerships and can accommodate up to 3,660 passengers with over 1,300 crew. Sky Princess, the newest addition to the Princess Cruises’ fleet elevates the distinctive, contemporary design and luxurious attractions of Princess Cruises to new heights. This is the fourth Royal-class ship, and sister ship to Royal Princess, Regal Princess and Majestic Princess. Princess Cruises forms part of the Carnival Group.

Following its arrival into Valletta’s Grand Harbour Sky Princess guests and crew were welcomed ashore to the lively tunes of a traditional village band featuring a number of local favourites, along with international pieces. A traditional plaque exchange was organised aboard, with a number of local stakeholders attending the event.

Minister for Tourism Konrad Mizzi highlighted the added value created by high-end cruise line visits to Valletta. The Minister lauded efforts to develop the Valletta Cruise Port in an all year-round operation.

Valletta Cruise Port’s CEO and Global Ports Holding COO, Stephen Xuereb commented that, “We are proud to welcome Sky Princess on her maiden call to Valletta Cruise Port just a few weeks after her debut. This call comes at a busy time for cruising in Malta, and in a year where Valletta is expected to reach a record 900,000 cruise passenger movements. On behalf of Valletta Cruise Port and Global Ports Holding, we congratulate Princess Cruises on this achievement and look forward to many more years of fruitful cooperation.”

Ivan Mifsud, Managing Director of Mifsud Brothers Ltd. (MBL), port agents for the HAG group (Seabourn, Holland America and Princess) added that, “this maiden call is the sixth out of seven Princess calls in Valletta this year. It is indeed encouraging to see a marked increase in Princess calls.”

Sky Princess is on her inaugural season in the Mediterranean, before repositioning to Port Everglades, where she is expected to arrive on 1st December.