Royal Princess: The shape of things to come for HAL?

[bepsf]

Have you seen the announcement for Princess' new ship?

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4413#

...also a video on the Princess home page:

http://www.princess.com/

So what do you think - Is this the basis for the HAL newbuild that is in planning for 2014?

[esther e]

I hope not. It's too big for us.

[Copper10-8]

Have you seen the announcement for Princess' new ship?

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4413#

 

...also a video on the Princess home page:

 

http://www.princess.com/

 

So what do you think - Is this the basis for the HAL newbuild that is in planning for 2014?

 

Only time will tell!;)

Spaarndam

Leerdam

Obdam

Werkendam

[luckysadie]

I hope not as well. I don't like elevated glass floors so the walkway and the bar don't appeal to me. I'm sure HAL wants to attract younger cruisers so the movies under the stars with "signature fresh popcorn" will be popular. I just wonder when the waterslides will be coming.

[luxurysailer]

That's way too big. Leg's hope HAL doesn't go there.

[jhannah]

Well, it's certainly a fresh look for Princess. It should appeal to a lot of people. The adults-only retreat pool appears to be an extra-cost option, since it's in the cabana area.

 

I still like the nautical lines of HAL ships, and I'm not keen on huge vessels. But something tells me that this basic design will eventually appear in the Holland America fleet.

[jhannah]

Well, it's certainly a fresh look for Princess. It should appeal to a lot of people. The adults-only retreat pool appears to be an extra-cost option, since it's in the cabana area.

 

I still like the nautical lines of HAL ships, and I'm not keen on huge vessels. But something tells me that this basic design will eventually appear in the Holland America fleet.

[KirkNC]

Interesting but bigger than we like also. The Skywalk would be popular early in the cruise. I think more restaurants with greater variety are great.

 

Kirk

[kazu]

I do hope this is not the way HAL is going to go - it it does. ..we are off to Oceania or whatever or maybe we will just start to diy tours.

 

 

We really like HAL and enjoy the size of the smaller ships - so no appeal here for us - and in case HAL reads these boards - we will be 4 star next cruise

[foodsvcmgr]

Princess basic design platforms have been shared with former parent P&O

but not other Carnival Corp. lines, not sure why that would necessarily

change now.

 

I think the "Signature" model can probably be exploited for 2 more

fleetmates, but likely not for 4-5 years at any rate.

 

Carnival has made some effort at distinguishing characteristics among

the brands in their portfolio, I suspect HAL will continue to offer a

more classic, low key approach, albeit to a new generation of cruisers.

[janmcn]

Too big...another floating apartment building. We'll stick with HAL's smaller ships.

[DeepWaterMariner]

We love the current (and soon to be gone) Royal Princess which has none of these features and less than the current Princess large ships. I guess we'll cherry pick our cruises on the smaller ships as long as they are still around. That is also our preference on RCI, where we prefer the Vision and Radiance class ships rather than the Voyager and larger classes.

[Sage]

One certainly hopes not.

[Cruizer Bill]

I prefer the smaller ships as well. Bigger is not better!

[RevNeal]

Only time will tell!;)

Spaarndam

Leerdam

Obdam

Werkendam

 

Leerdam would be appropriate ... particularly so given how many HAL Mariners would look at such a ship. :)

 

Then, of course, they could name her Dubbeldam II. The way North Americans would butcher that name would also be appropriate. ;)

[sail7seas]

I'm getting nervous we'll lose the beautiful blue hulls. :eek:

 

I never expected to like the size of Eurodam but we really like that ship and have sailed her five cruises. I sincerely doubt we'd enjoy anything even 1,000 tons larger.

 

I'm not all that concerned HAL will follow Princess new builds..... yet.

[Rowena]

Gee, I hope not, however I am not the 'target' age group. Yet, my age group **is** the one with the most 'expendable' cash available, the company will do what most companies do, look toward the future. Ah, well.

[mudscraper]

On the Oosterdam last year at the Captains Q & A Captain Van Der Loo was asked about the building of future HAL ships. He said that while no more smaller size ships will be built, Holland America knows it`s customer base and that they don`t want huge ships. It was his opinion that future HAL ships will be 100,000 tons maximum.

[Himself]

I do not think HAL will build that big unless Carnival Corporation forces them to build that big. They describe the Eurodam and the Nieuw Amsterdam as "Mid-size" ships. And if one looks at the two that are always in port with them at FLL, then they do look mid-sze.

[Hlitner]

We are Princess fans (and also HA fans) and do welcome the new design. Princess has milked the Grand Class design for many years and its time for something a little differnt. That being said we really love the smaller HA ships for a change in pace,

 

Hank

[bepsf]

I think the "Signature" model can probably be exploited for 2 more

fleetmates, but likely not for 4-5 years at any rate.

 

I disagree...

 

Signatures are nothing more than Vista-Plus - and they're so outdated when compared to the competition, whether you're looking at the larger Celebrity Solstice-Class, or the smaller Oceania Marina-Class...

...after all, they're based on the 2000 Costa Atlantica/Spirit Class.

 

Personally, I wouldn't mind a larger ship if it had the space/passenger ratio of the smaller ships...

...but there's certainly something to be said for the smaller ships where you don't have to walk 1/2 a mile to get from your stateroom to cocktails, dinner, nightcaps and back!

[bobalink]

I can hardly wait to book a cruise on the new Royal Princess. It looks like it will be beautiful, and I expect to get the excellent service and value that we always get when we sail with Princess.

 

So glad there are lots of choices when choosing a cruise.

[Tamaracboy]

Brian,

 

I can't imagine a single HAL regular that would go for anything that size. (the Ūberdam?)

But, since HAL believes their current clientele are all dying off, and thus are chasing newer blood, I would expect something along the lines of a further refined Signature (Super Vista?) class ship with extra dining options.

 

I'm no "spring chicken", but don't expect to expire any time soon. So hopefully HAL hasn't counted me out yet.

I really liked the Eurodam and just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam, which I think is classier and much more traditional with its Deco touches.

One or two more of this class should work with HAL's upscale posture as well as economically.

The only thing I could really add would be another distinct dining venue.

 

Now, what they should really be thinking about is building a replacement for the Prinsendam. She's not getting any younger and maintenance will soon outstrip profitability.

This new Queen (Prince) of the fleet should be equally sized, equally elegant, equal public space ratio, (plus a new restaurant or two), and I would add some degree of ice rating to her hull for those Top Of The World cruises.

Oh, and while I'm dreaming, maybe a little faster as well. Who wouldn't like an extra hour or two in port, or one extra stop on a grand voyage ? ?

Think how fast the old TA Liners used to be. (and that was with steam)

 

You find the investors, and I'll get this built ;) ;)

We could even name her the Briandam (or anything, since it probably won't be HAL/Carnival that's building her)

 

Do you really think HAL is just going to abandon their smaller ship loyalists ?

Certainly a new build of the R or S class size could be profitable considering the unique itineraries HAL does ? ? ?

 

r.

[Cruizer Bill]

I must admit the video is breathtaking! I'd love to go on board and spend an evening there!

[signora]

I really hope HAL doesn't go bigger. We just got off Eurodam in February after a Xmas cruise on RCCL's Adventure of the Seas. While I loved the ports on Adventure, I hated the ship: A floating over-priced mall that was way too big; impersonal, crowded, with zero class or taste. She's about 139,000 tons with over 3000 passengers, and I will never sail something that size again. Eurodam, however, was just the opposite: classy, elegant, intimate even at 2000 passengers plus. Next Caribbean cruise for us: Nieuw Amsterdam. 'Nuf said.