Princess Cruises celebrated, September 17, the float out of the Enchanted Princess at its building dock. Named madrina (or godmother) of Enchanted Princess to “bless the ship” and celebrate the flow of water into the ship’s building dock, is Doris Magsaysay Ho, Group President and CEO of the Magsaysay Group of Companies. The event, a significant construction milestone for Princess Cruises, at its Fincantieri Shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, marked the occasion of the ship officially meeting the ocean for the first time.
Princess Cruises President Jan Swartz sent a personal invitation to Ms. Doris Ho to serve in the special role of madrina -- following the Italian shipyard’s custom in celebrating the float out of a ship. Magsaysay is a long-standing partner of Princess Cruises in recruiting, training, and developing skilled crew members who work onboard its cruise lines global fleet.
“At Princess Cruises, our crew members are truly the heart of our company and the reason we are able to create memorable vacation experiences for our guests every day,” said Ms. Swartz. “Ms. Ho’s passion for the ship manning business and our seafarers led her to grow Magsaysay into the successful business it is today and we’re proud to employ more than 7,000 Filipino crew members onboard our ships. We’re honored to reflect on our successful partnership and proudly name her Madrina of Enchanted Princess.”
The 143,700-ton Enchanted Princess can carry 3,660 guests and will include the best of the stunning features found on Royal Princess, Regal Princess, Majestic Princess and Sky Princess, as well as new offerings that represent an evolution of the current ships’ designs. Now that it is afloat, the new Royal-class ship will be moved to the outfitting dock where final construction and interior furnishing will take place. It is scheduled to debut on June 19, 2020 with a season of Mediterranean cruises.