Princess Cruises celebrated its fifth Royal-class vessel Enchanted Princess’ float-out ceremony on Monday.
In line with maritime tradition, a bottle was smashed against the side of the 3,560-passenger ship, which will launch in Southampton in June, in front of a crowd made up of shipbuilders and dignitaries in Fincantieri’s Monfalcone yard in Italy.
President and chief executive of A. Magsaysay, Doris Ho (pictured), acted as the ship’s madrina, or godmother, addressed the crowd before the vessel was floated out for the first time.
Ho has worked in partnership with Princess Cruises for more than 30 years, recruiting staff from the Philippines for the line.
Currently, more than 7,000 Filipinos work on the line’s ships – around a quarter of the entire on board workforce.
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Ho said: “I am honoured to be invited by Princess Cruises. The invitation to be madrina reflects the importance that Princess Cruises places on its crew.
“Over the last 30 years, I have seen the commitment from the line to offer long and fulfilling cruises.”
Rai Caluori (pictured), Princess Cruises’ executive vice president of guest experience and product development, said the ship would deliver “enchanted experiences” and having been fitted with Ocean Medallion, it had the “the most advance device in the global hospitality industry”.
Wearable-technology Ocean Medallion is being rolled out across the fleet and allows passengers to order drinks, find travel companions and navigate their way around the ship.
Princess Cruises’ vice-president, UK and Europe, Tony Roberts said “thousands” of people from across the travel industry would be invited by the line to see Enchanted Princess when it docks in Southampton in June 2020.
Although the line has not finalised the full launch party details, Roberts revealed guests would be invited to different quayside events, including the naming ceremony.
Asked how agents would secure their place at the naming ceremony, Roberts said: “We are still working on that but we are very confident that Enchanted Princess’ launch will be a highly memorable event.”