On 9 April 2013, it was announced that The Duchess of Cambridge would name Royal Princess in a naming ceremony in Southampton, United Kingdom on 13 June 2013. On, Royal Princess was officially presented to Princess in Monfalcone.
She floated out of the shipyard on 16 August 2012. Her keel-laying ceremony was held on 20 October 2011. The same day, it was announced she would be named Royal Princess, in honor of the former ships with the name in the cruise line's history. On 15 March 2011, Princess and Fincantieri celebrated the cutting of the steel for the new-build vessel at the shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy. The ship is reported to have cost $735 million. The final contract for the two ships was signed on. These two vessels would become the largest vessels to be built by Fincantieri and also the largest vessels built for Princess to date. The ships were designed to measure approximately 139,000 GT with a passenger capacity of 3,600 and had scheduled debuts for spring 20, respectively. On 17 February 2010, Carnival Corporation & plc reached an agreement with Italian shipbuilder, Fincantieri, to build two prototype ships for Princess.
Among the offerings onboard are two sets of cantilevered walkways extending over the port and starboard sides of the ship known as the "SeaWalk," three swimming pools, a dancing water fountain, a movie screen designed by Daktronics, a nightclub, and several entertainment lounges. As the largest ship in the fleet at the time, an increase in overall volume and decrease in space allocated to pools allowed for more venues than on any other Princess ship. Royal Princess was one of the first passenger ships built to comply with the safe return to port requirements. The ship has a maximum capacity of 5,600 passengers and crew. Of the 1,780 passenger cabins, 81% have a balcony. The ship houses 1,780 passenger cabins and 751 crew cabins.
The system gives the vessel a service speed of 22 knots (41 km/h 25 mph) and a maximum speed of 22.9 knots (42.4 km/h 26.4 mph). Main propulsion is via two propellers, each driven by a 18 megawatts (24,000 hp) electric motor. She is powered by a diesel-electric genset system, with four total Wärtsilä engines, producing a total output of 62.4 megawatts (83,700 hp). Royal Princess measures 142,714 gross tonnage (GT), has a length of 330.0 metres (1,082 ft 8 in), a draught of 8.5 metres (27 ft 11 in), and a beam of 38.4 metres (126 ft 0 in). The ship measures 142,714 GT and has a capacity of 3,560 passengers. As the lead vessel of the Royal class, she lends her name to the company's Royal class, which will consist of six ships upon the last ship's delivery in 2021. The largest ship to have been built for Princess at the time of delivery in 2013, she became the flagship of Princess. Royal Princess is a Royal-class cruise ship operated by Princess Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc, and is the third ship to sail for the cruise line under that name.