Move over, Queen Mary

The Queen Mary 2 is going to have to share her new Brooklyn digs —
with a mere princess.

On Sunday, Princess Cruises new megaliner, The Crown Princess, will set
sail from the new Brooklyn Cruise Ship Terminal in Red Hook, the first
cruise ship to call the $56 million pier home since the QM2 took up residence
in April.

The 3,080-passenger Crown Princess will make its maiden voyage —
a two-day cruise to nowhere for media and cruise industry insiders —
and return for the traditional champagne-bottle sendoff on Wednesday,
June 15.

Martha Stewart, who has taken the job of official “godmother”
to the Crown Princess, will be on hand to break the bubbly over the bow
next week.

But which ship is Brooklyn’s true royalty? Depends on whether you
like your boats really big or merely gargantuan.

In this corner, is the champion, weighing in at 151,000 tons and 14 decks,
just a few feet shorter the Empire State Building, and with enough restaurants
to serve the Eighth Army — the Queen Mary 2!

In the far corner, weighing in at 113,000 tons and 19 decks, nearly as
tall as the Eiffel Tower, and featuring an adults-only spa retreat on
the top deck — the Crown Princess!

Can you say, sunset yoga?

While the Queen Mary 2 specializes in Atlantic Ocean crossings, Princess
is marketing its new boat as New Yorkers’ first chance to cruise
to the Caribbean without having to get on a plane first.

The newcomer is certainly wearing its Brooklyn pride on its bow. Promotional
materials hype a $7 “ultimate balcony nosh,” complete with a
Nathan’s hot dog, a bottle of cold Brooklyn Lager and a slice of
Junior’s cheesecake.

“We wanted to pay tribute to our new home port of Brooklyn in a way
that would make New Yorkers feel right at home on board,” said Jan
Swartz, a Princess senior vice president.

“Since we couldn’t recreate the famed Coney Island Cyclone on
board, the Brooklyn nosh seemed like the next best thing.”

Red Hook residents say they are still waiting for the lucrative business
that the cruise ship industry was supposed to bring to the hard-scrabble
neighborhood.

For now, the biggest change is the first traffic light at the top of Van
Brunt Street to accommodate all the cars, busses and taxis going into
and coming out of the cruise ship terminal — the vast majority making
no stops before heading into the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel or rushing to
area airports.