The Princess X90: When the Flybridge Becomes the Main Event
The Princess X90 flips convention: a true super flybridge with an enclosed sky lounge, optional 85" TV, hot tub-ready aft deck and twin drop…
Read the articleThe Princess Yachts X Series
The Super Flybridge line — 82'5" to 88'11", MAN V12 power, 25 to 30 knots
You want the living space of a boat ten feet longer and you are willing to trade top-end speed for it. That is the X Class, and it is the most genuinely different thing Princess builds.
Princess calls the concept the Super Flybridge: instead of a flybridge sitting on top of a conventional yacht, the upper deck becomes a full-height, climate-controlled second saloon running most of the boat's length. The X80 was the first, with an enclosed sky lounge and five en-suite cabins. The X90 adds drop-down balconies to port and starboard and a main-deck owner's suite.
The X Lineup, Smallest to Largest
Every Princess Yachts X model we review in depth, in the order owners step up through the series.
Photo credit Princess Yachts.
The Princess X80 is an 82-foot dual-deck crossover with an enclosed upper salon and five ensuite cabins plus crew quarters — twin 1,900 HP MANs take it to 30 knots wide open.
The Princess X90 is an 89-foot crossover with drop-down balconies port and starboard, an enclosed flybridge sky lounge, and a main-deck owner's suite — twin 2,000 HP MANs take it to 27 knots.
Don't see the X model you're after — or a brand-new launch? Request specs through Yacht Specs Direct.
Moving Up the X Series
The X80 is 82'5" on a 19'11" beam at 155,016 lb, on twin MAN V12-1650s or V12-1900s for a published 25 to 30 knots. Five en-suite cabins plus crew quarters for three — five with the optional berths — and 1,849 gallons of fuel. It carries more cabins than any other Princess in our library.
The X90 is 88'11" on a 21'8" beam at 201,800 lb, on twin MAN V12-1900s, 2000s or 2200s for a published 22 to 27 knots. Four cabins plus crew, 2,905 gallons of fuel, and full-width drop-down balconies either side of the cockpit.
The pattern going up is the one the whole class is built on: the X90 is six feet longer than the X80 but carries one fewer guest cabin and gives up three knots. You are buying volume and outdoor deck, not accommodation count or speed.
Our Take
The X Class is the range I find easiest to recommend and the hardest to sell, because the spec sheet works against it. A 22 to 27-knot top speed on an 89-foot boat reads as slow next to a Y80 doing 33. Spend a weekend aboard and the number stops mattering.
What you get instead is an upper deck you will actually live on in weather that would drive you off any conventional flybridge, and on the X90, balconies that turn the cockpit into something closer to a beach club. For an owner who cruises with family in shoulder season, that is worth more than six knots.
The honest caution is that these are heavy boats and the engine choice matters more here than anywhere else in the range — the X80 spans five knots between its two MAN options. Do not buy either of these from a brochure. Get the sea trial on the exact package, loaded the way you will actually run it.
Princess Yachts X Articles & Guides
Watch Our Princess Yachts X Reviews
Official Princess Yachts Premieres
Videos courtesy of Princess Yachts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Princess X Class model has more cabins?
The X80, despite being the shorter boat. It carries five en-suite cabins plus crew quarters at 82 feet 5 inches, where the 88-foot-11-inch X90 carries four plus crew. The X90 spends its extra length on volume and outdoor deck, including full-width drop-down balconies either side of the cockpit, rather than on accommodation count.
Why is the Princess X Class slower than the Y Class?
Because it is carrying a great deal more structure. The Super Flybridge concept turns the upper deck into a full-height enclosed saloon, which adds weight and windage high up. The X90 publishes 22 to 27 knots and the X80 25 to 30, against 30 to 35 for the Y Class. What you buy with those knots is enclosed living space you can use in weather.
Which X Fits Your Life?
Tell us how you plan to use the boat — guests, range, crew or no crew — and we'll give you the straight story on where in the X series you belong, new or brokerage.
Explore All Princess Yachts ModelsOr reach Tony directly: TS@MintedYachts.com · +1 (404) 805-9819