Sky Princess Tour
We promised you a tour of the Sky Princess, the ship we cruised across the Atlantic Ocean on. So here it is. Hopefully, this will give you a good idea of what the boat is like, whether you’ve never cruised before, or have never cruised on the Sky Princess.
The Sky Princess is a Royal-class cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises. Sky Princess was built in 2019. It is 330 meters long (1083 feet) and 38 meters wide (126 feet). There are 19 decks, but only decks 4 through 19 are accessible to passengers. Note: there is no Deck 13. It can accommodate up to 3660 passengers plus a crew of 1346. There are 1830 passenger cabins and 757 crew cabins.
We’ll start at the top, Deck 19 and work our way down to Deck 4. Decks 18 and 19 do not go the full length of the ship, so the middle portion of Deck 17 is exposed to the sky.
To get from one deck to another, there are several options. There are three sets of large stairwells and elevators. One is located towards the front of the ship, one is mid ship, and the third is towards the back of the ship. We always took the stairs, yes, even when we were going from Deck 4 to Deck 18. We needed to somehow work off all of the calories we consumed!
On the aft (rear) section of Deck 19, called the Sky Deck, is a little putting green.
On the fore (front) section of Decks 18 and 19 is the Sanctuary which is a lounge area that requires a reservation (and extra fees) to access.
On the aft section of Deck 18, called the Sports Deck, is the jogging track and a sports court which can be used for basketball or pickle ball. This is also where the large electronic screen is mounted, which overlooks the Lido Deck below. The screen is used for movies.
On Deck 17, called the Sun Deck, goes the full length of the ship, but with a hole in the middle, open to the Lido Deck below. In the center of the Sun Deck are hot tubs. In the aft section, is the Fitness Center, Youth Center, and Teen Lounge. However, we didn’t see many children on the ship.
In the fore section is the Retreat Pool, surrounded by some cabins. The Retreat Pool is for adults only. There is no view of the ocean from the Retreat Pool area, but it is a quiet place to relax, away from the noise and bustle of the rest of the ship.
Deck 16, the Lido Deck is a full deck. The center section is mostly open to the sky, with two swimming pools and some hot tubs and lots of lounge chairs, with a view of the movie screen. In the fore section are some cabins. Between the pools and the cabins are a line of counter service stations, including Slice Pizzeria, Mix Bar, and the Salty Dog Grill.
The aft section of the deck is taken up by a huge food buffet called the World Fresh Market. The buffet has an incredible variety and large selection of items. Parts of it stay the same every day and other sections rotate on a daily basis. The buffet is included with basic cruise package.
Between the pools and the buffet is another bar, Sea View Bar, and a soft serve ice cream counter called Swirl. Swirl is included in everyone’s cruise package, so we visited it almost every day, despite all the great food on the buffet. Yes, that is how much we like our ice cream.
At the far back, behind the buffet, is yet another bar, the Wake View Bar, along with another pool, the small Wake View Pool.
Decks 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 are all cabin decks. Our cabin was Deck 9, the Dolphin Deck.
There are self-serve laundry facilities mid ship on each of the cabin decks. The machines cost $3 to wash and $3 to dry per load. There is also laundry service available.
Midship on Deck 14, there is a wedding chapel and a concierge lounge. The concierge is only available for certain cruise packages. There always seemed to be some type of private function going on in the chapel when we went by, so we don’t know what it looks like inside.
On Decks 7 and 6, the Promenade Deck and the Fiesta Deck, are open in the middle, looking down to Deck 5, the Plaza Deck. In addition to the three sets of stairwells found on all the other decks, there are four grand spiral staircases going between Decks 5, 6, and 7, with wonderful views of the Piazza.
The Promenade Deck includes a variety of shops, Alfredo’s Pizzeria (an extra charge for us), the Crown Grill (also an extra charge), the Vista Lounge, Princess Live! and the upper access to the Princess Theater. The main entertainment show every evening was held in the Princess Theater. The Vista Lounge and Princess Live! venues held other activities throughout the day, such as Bingo, art auctions, and live music.
On the Fiesta Deck, is the lower entrance to the Princess Theater, the casino, more shops, a photo and arty gallery, the Take Five Bar, a small arcade room, and the Estrella Dining Room. Behind the Estrella Dining Room is the Cielo Dining Room, which can only be accessed from the aft stairwell from either Deck 7 or 5.
On the Plaza Deck is the Catch by Rudi (extra charge), the Vines Wine Bar, Gelato (extra charge), Sabatini’s Trattoria (extra charge), the International Café (included), Guest Services Desk, Shore Excursion Desk, the Internet Café, the Lotus Spa and Salon (extra charge), and the Soleil Dining Room. Since we didn’t pay for a spa, we didn’t see the inside of the spa and salon.
The Plaza area in the center was used as a dance floor, for dancing lessons and performances. There were also special events held here, like a putting competition between passengers and crew members. There was usually live music performing in this area as well.
The International Café had limited options, mostly sandwiches, but it was open 24 hours per day. So it is a great way to satisfy those late night munchies.
The three main dining rooms each operated a little differently, even though they all served the same menu. The Soleil Dining Room was a traditional cruise dining experience, where you were assigned the same table, shared with the same people, for one of two seatings every evening. The Cielo Dining Room took reservations every evening, where you could choose a private or shared table. This allowed you to choose a different time on different days, so you could schedule around other activities you might want to participate in. It also allowed you to meet different people each evening. The Estrella Dining Room was walk up service only, no reservations. You could choose a private or shared table here as well. Unlike the other two dining rooms, which were only open for dinner, the Estrella Dining was open for breakfast and lunch as well as dinner. However, we would recommend having breakfast and lunch at the World Fresh Marketplace, Slice or the Salty Dog, unless you are really looking for a dining experience.
During the day, the Cielo Dining Room was turned into a Quiet Reading Room, with coffee, tea, and light treats available. Many people would use it to not only read, but spend time on a computer, play cards or quiet games with others, or meet groups of others sharing a common craft, like crocheting. It was Keith’s favorite place to escape to.
The only part of Deck 4 that is accessible to passengers is the Medical Center. Hopefully, you never have to go down there.
In each of the stairwells, there were large displays. There were two types of electronic displays. One was an interactive ship directory, helping you find where you wanted to go, with directions from your current location. If you logged in using your medallion, it would show you the location of your cabin, your muster station location or the location of your linked shipmates. The other display showed the ship’s schedule of events. If you used your medallion to log in, you could perform functions like bookmark an event or see your dining reservations.
The only cabin we can describe for you is the one we stayed in. It was a balcony room with a queen bed. According to Princess, the balcony room is between 214 to 222 square feet, including the balcony. When you come into the room, the large open closet with a safe is to the right, with the bathroom door leading from the closet.
It is a small bathroom with a sink and shower, but it’s bigger than our bathroom in our RV back home (a Winnebago EKKO), so we were happy with it.
As you continue into the room, you pass the queen size bed with a large TV mounted on the opposite wall. On each side of the bed are night stands with lamps and drawers for storage. Next to the far night stand is a desk with a chair. Opposite the desk is a drink counter with an electric kettle and a small refrigerator. So you could make hot beverages inside your room or store drinks and food in the fridge. But since there is so much food and drinks available on the ship, we never used the drinks in our room nor the fridge, other than filling a glass with water from the sink.
The outside wall of the cabin is mostly glass, which is a sliding glass door to the balcony. The balcony is not very large, but it is big enough for two chairs and a small table. Ours was probably slightly larger than most, as ours was where the deck angled out. We found ourselves sitting out there quite often. It was very peaceful watching and listening to the ocean waves.
The TV in the room had quite a variety of options. It was used to view your mandatory safety video. You could view movies, TV series, exercise routines, and listen to music. You could explore the ship, dining options, the ship’s event schedule, and future cruises. Also through the TV, you could request room service or food delivery. However, we never used the TV other than for the safety video. There was never a lack of things to do on the ship.
Well, that concludes the tour of the Sky Princess. Hopefully that helped you get an idea of what cruising on the Sky Princess was like. We wish you happy travels wherever and however your journey takes you.
Check out our related video: Sky Princess Tour
(Ann)