Princess F55 Review, Specs and Used Buying Guide

The Princess F55 as the sweet spot of the F Class

Princess builds flybridge yachts from the mid-40s to the mid-90s, and the Princess F55 has always occupied the most commercially important slot in that ladder. It is big enough to carry a full-beam master suite, a separate VIP and a real third cabin, yet small enough that an experienced couple can dock it, provision it and take it from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas without paying a captain. That is the market Princess aimed at when the boat launched in 2017, and it is why the F55 became one of the most traded used Princess models in Florida.

The hull and exterior came from Bernard Olesinski, the British designer whose lines have defined Princess for decades, while the interior was handled in-house at the Princess Design Studio in Plymouth. The boat won the flybridge category of the 2019 Motor Boat Awards and a Best Layout award at the 2018 World Yachts Trophies, which tells you where the design team concentrated its effort: not on a radical profile, but on fitting a lot of usable volume into a hull that still looks long and low.

Mk1 (2017 to 2022) versus the 2022 refresh

There are two generations of the F55, and for a used buyer the difference is worth understanding before you start making offers. The original boat ran from 2017 to 2022. In 2022 Princess refreshed it with larger hull windows, richer upholstery and timber options, inlaid polished stainless detailing, revised lighting and more domestic-style galley appliances. The hull, engine room and basic layout did not change.

In practice the Mk2 feels brighter below and more modern in the saloon, but a well kept Mk1 with good soft goods delivers 90 percent of the experience for noticeably less money. If you are buying for a decade of ownership, the larger glazing on the Mk2 is the change you will notice every day. If you are buying for three seasons and planning to trade up, a 2019 to 2021 Mk1 is the smarter dollar.

The Princess F58 made its world premiere at Boot Dusseldorf in January 2025, positioned between the F55 and the F65. It is larger, uses MAN V8 power of 1,000 or 1,200 hp and moves the dinette opposite the galley. Princess has since replaced this boat with an all-new F55 that shares only the name: 54 feet 4 inches overall, a walkaround transom, an aft galley and Volvo D11-725 or D13-900 power. Both newer boats cap how much a late 17.6-meter F55 can be worth, and make it the value route into a modern Princess flybridge.

Flybridge, cockpit and foredeck as three separate rooms

The F55 gives you three distinct outdoor spaces, and that is the main reason owners keep them longer than they planned. The flybridge carries the upper helm to port with companion seating, a wet bar with grill and fridge, a large dinette and sunpads. It is an open bridge rather than a hardtop on most boats, so a bimini or a full enclosure is the first thing to check on a Florida boat. A test crew from Boating New Zealand pointed out that weather protection relies on clears, which is fine in the Abacos and less fine in a Pacific Northwest drizzle.

The aft cockpit is sheltered by the flybridge overhang and has a teak table, a transom bench and doors to the hydraulic swim platform. That platform doubles as the tender lift. With a RIB stowed, getting from the platform to the cockpit becomes a squeeze, which is worth testing yourself if you have older guests. Forward, a sunpad and seating area on the bow gives a quiet, private spot at anchor, reached by side decks with good bulwarks.

• Upper helm to port with Volvo joystick and full instruments
• Hydraulic swim platform rated to carry a tender
• Bow seating and sunpad for anchorage evenings
• Optional crew cabin entered from the transom, away from guests

Full-beam master, VIP forward and a convertible third cabin

The lower deck is the F55's strongest argument. The owner's stateroom sits amidships across the full 16-foot beam, with big hull windows, a dressing table and an en suite head. The VIP is in the bow with a double berth and its own access to a head, and the third cabin to starboard has twin singles. Princess was clever with the beds: on many boats the twins slide together, which makes the third cabin useful for a couple rather than only for children.

Below the cockpit there is space for an optional crew cabin with its own head, entered from the transom. Owners who run the boat themselves often use it as storage or a cabin for an older teenager, but its presence matters on resale because it widens the pool of buyers who want to hire a captain. In the saloon, the galley and dinette share the main deck with a lower helm, and the walnut joinery that Princess used on many hulls has aged well.

What the Volvo D13s actually deliver

Standard power is a pair of Volvo Penta D13-800 diesels on conventional shafts, with D13-900s as the popular upgrade. Princess quotes a top speed approaching 33 knots, and YachtBuyer lists 32 knots maximum and 26 knots cruising for the first-generation boat. Independent tests confirm those numbers are realistic in calm water with a moderate load, and that a loaded boat in chop will land a few knots lower.

Boating New Zealand ran a D13-900 boat with 80 percent fuel and three people aboard. At 1,850 rpm it made 21.9 knots burning about 53 gallons per hour, at 2,000 rpm it made 25.2 knots on 60 gph, and at 2,350 rpm it touched 32.2 knots on 88 gph. The sweet spot for most owners is 22 to 25 knots, where the boat sits level and the range from 726 gallons is roughly 300 nautical miles with a sensible reserve. Slow it to around 7 to 9 knots and the range stretches past 550 miles, which makes Bahamas hops simple.

Barche Magazine's MAN i6-800 test boat managed 29 knots flat out and cruised at 23 to 24 knots on about 57 gph.

Handling, joystick docking and the gyro question

The F55 uses shafts rather than pods, which means it tracks well in following seas and has the feel of a traditional British flybridge. Bow and stern thrusters with Volvo's joystick give it most of the docking ease of an IPS boat. Testers consistently praise the hull's response at cruise, and the boat banks into turns predictably without the skittish feel some lighter 55-footers have.

Many F55s were ordered with a Seakeeper gyro. It is close to essential for anchoring in the Bahamas swell, and a boat without one sells at a discount. One tester noted the gyro is mounted rather far aft, which can nudge the running trim, so pay attention to tab settings during your sea trial and do not be alarmed if the boat wants a touch more bow-down tab than you expect.

Running a Princess F55 without a captain

This is one of the few 55-plus-foot flybridges that a competent owner operator can handle, and that changes the economics dramatically. Without a full-time captain, expect to spend roughly $120,000 to $210,000 a year in South Florida once you add insurance, a 60-foot slip, two Volvo services, the generator, the gyro service, bottom paint and a detailing contract. Add $90,000 or more if you employ a captain.

Fuel is the surprise for owners stepping up from a 45-footer: 50 to 60 gph at 22 to 25 knots means a 200-hour season can cost $45,000 to $60,000 in diesel.

The F55 on the US brokerage market

Princess has a strong US dealer network, and F55s for sale cluster in Florida, with a few on the West Coast and in the Carolinas. Recent US asking prices ran from about $1.7 million to $1.9 million for 2018 and 2019 boats, with 2021 hulls listed close to $2.2 million. Mk2 boats from 2023 and later sit higher, toward $2.5 million and above for low-hour examples.

The steepest depreciation happens in the first two to three years, then values flatten. The F55's real strength is liquidity: a well presented boat at a sensible price rarely sits for long.