Royal Princess profile and photo tour,

This week the focus is on Princess Cruises' latest ship, Royal Princess.

Royal Princess is a significant ship. Not only is she the first new ship brought into service by Princess Cruises since 2008 but she is the first new design implemented by Carnival Corporation in several years.

During this interim, competitors Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines have brought out ships that are a radical departure from the past - - Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Breakaway. Not only were these ships big but they offer a new model of cruising. One in which the guest has quality choices not just about dining but also about entertainment. How would Princess and its parent Carnival Corporation respond.

Royal Princess is a much bigger ship than the rest of the Princess fleet. Indeed, she is the biggest ship in the 100-plus ship Carnival Corporation fleet leaving aside Cunard's Queen Mary 2. At the time of her entry into service, Royal Princess was the ninth largest cruise ship in the world. Thus, she is competitive in size with the new ships launched by Princess' competitors.

She also offers guests more dining options and more entertainment options. However, Princess has been very successful with its existing formula. Therefore, Princess was careful to preserve the feel and style of its existing fleet. It has enhanced rather than abandoned its formula.

Technology underlies many of these enhancements. But an equally important ingredient was space. Princess has used the additional space provided by the great size of the ship to produce visually impressive rooms such as the Piazza but also to ensure that guests do not feel crowded. Passengers frequently have the impression that the ship is not full, even though all of the staterooms are usually occupied.

Beyondships's profile of Royal Princess, with menus, daily programs, information and photos of the ship is at http://beyondships.com/Princess-RP-Profile.html

The multi-page photo tour of the interior and the public spaces of the ship begins at http://beyondships.com/Princess-RP-Tour-1.html

Next, week we will be adding more to our Royal Princess' section including interviews with the captain and the hotel director.