Rumor re Pacific Princess & Tahitian Princess

[Druke I]

Bill Miller of World Ocean and Cruise Liner Socity is reporting a RUMOR that Pacific Princess and Tahitian Princess may be transferred to Cunard, for world wide cruising.

 

I for one sure hope that is not true.

[amyr]

I also hope this isn't true. We spent 24 days on the Pacific last Fall, and I've been waiting for new schedules to come out so we can book another cruise on her. I had really been hoping that the PP would take over for the Royal. The Pacific was a wonderful ship, and many of the people we sailed with booked subsequent voyages while still on board.

 

While I'm all for world cruising, can't the ships do that with Princess? At the rate they're going there's not going to be anything left but mega ships with 7-10 day itineraries, which are wonderful and affordable to be sure. I really hope, though, that Princess will offer a little bit of everything, itinerary and ship size wise.

 

Amy

[Druke I]

amyr

 

I'm also a fan of Pacific Princess (new) - haven't been on Tahitian yet.

 

Reference big ships - they can't get into many of the Asian Cruise Terminals -draft problems - and end up in container terminals - far from city centers.

 

I'm hoping that PacPrincess will take on many of the "exotics" that Royal Princess used to do. Royal Princess is (was) among my favorite ships, having been on her 4 times.

[FreQuentKruser]

Oh how sad it will be if this rumor is true. We are leaving on the PP in a few weeks for a 4 week cruise thru the Pacific Theater. We are elite members and have been on many of the Princess ships, but not on the Pacific Princess, we've been looking forward to it. We love some of the other smaller ships, not just because they can go places that the larger ships cant but because they have a special intimacy about them. We've been eagerly awaiting the 2006 schedule for the PP and the TP, many of the other ships have their schedules already published, maybe this is why we havent been able to find a schedule for the Pacific and Tahitian Princess, how sad.

[donna5]

Keep the Tahitian and Pacific. These make you feel like you are really on a ship.

[bdjam]

Jan Schwartz – who is in an important position with Princess, but I don’t know her official title – was interviewed by Cruise News Daily when it was announced that Regal Princess was to be transferred from the fleet. She almost sounded defensive in her remarks, but she indicated that Princess was dedicated to providing “Personal Choice” to its passengers and that choice included ship size and itinerary. She noted that with the inclusion of Tahitian, Pacific and the reintroduction of Sea, the number of “small” ships coming into the fleet was greater than the number leaving (Royal and Regal). So, if you take her for her word, the rumor is just that.

I tend to feel that Princess realizes it has a small ship fan base as part of its past passengers, and wants to cater to that, but little by little the “small” ships are getting bigger. Now the “small” ships include the Sun Class – of which Sun Princess was the largest passenger ship in the industry when she was introduced in 1995.

[spongerob]

I'm not sure that this is such a bad deal. With Princess management actively involved in Cunard, it's maybe a great move. If people could still get Captain's Circle credit on Cunard cruises and vice verssa, the color of the funnel would really be a non-issue. I wouldn't mind a bit being able to call myself a Cunarder someday.

[Bruin Steve]

All I know is that I have been waiting for the 2006 schedules to be released, hoping to see the equivalent of the following July 2005 offering:

 

2005/2006 - 6A - Beijing, Xian & Yangtze River Cruise - 25 Days / 24 Nights

8-night Land Tour featuring 3 nights in Beijing, a night in Xing and Wuhan and river cruising on the Yangtze River plus a 16-day Bangkok to Beijing cruise

 

Itinerary: K517 | Tour: T5C06A | Ship: Pacific Princess

Departure Date: July 9, 2005

 

1 Upon arrival transfer from airport/hotel to pier to embark on your 16-day cruise

2 Bangkok (Unithai Port) 5:00 PM View

3 At Sea

4 Kuantan 9:30 AM 5:30 PM View

5 Singapore 8:00 AM 6:00 PM View

6 At Sea

7 Phu My (For Ho Chi Minh City) 7:00 AM 5:00 PM View

8 Nha Trang 9:00 AM 4:00 PM View

9 At Sea

10 Hong Kong 12:00 PM 7:00 PM View

11 At Sea

12 At Sea

13 Shanghai 7:00 AM 6:00 PM View

14 At Sea

15 Nagasaki 8:00 AM 5:00 PM View

16 Pusan (Busan) 7:00 AM 12:30 PM View

17 At Sea

18 Xingang (For Beijing) 7:00 AM View

18 Upon disembarkation take an afternoon tour of the Forbidden City of Beijing. The evening is yours to enjoy. Overnight Beijing

19 Fly to Xian, an ancient Chinese capital. See 6,000 life-like Terra Cotta Warriors. Tonight it's dinner and a folkloric show at Tang Palace. Overnight Xian

20 Enjoy a morning tour of the capital. Later fly to Chongqing to embark on your cruise ship for some river cruising. Overnight onboard ship

21 Sail down the Yangtze River. Overnight onboard ship

22 Sail through Qutang, the shortest but most dramatic gorge and continue on through Wu Gorge. Overnight onboard ship

23 Tour the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest construction project. Disembark in Yichang and motorcoach to Wuhan for dinner. Overnight Wuhan

24 Fly to Beijing. Tour the amazing Temple of Heaven. Overnight Beijing

25 Walk The Great Wall. The evening enjoy a Peking Duck dinner. Overnight Beijing

26 After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight home.

 

My fear is especially if the Pacific Princess and Tahitian Princess are put to some other use, this or similar itineraries will not be offered...by Princess or by anyone...at least not in July, which is the only time we can do it with my wife's school calendar...

 

It would be disappointing to us as this was to be our 25th Anniversary trip...

[Opinions]

Jan Schwartz – who is in an important position with Princess, but I don’t know her official title – was interviewed by Cruise News Daily when it was announced that Regal Princess was to be transferred from the fleet. She almost sounded defensive in her remarks, but she indicated that Princess was dedicated to providing “Personal Choice” to its passengers and that choice included ship size and itinerary. She noted that with the inclusion of Tahitian, Pacific and the reintroduction of Sea, the number of “small” ships coming into the fleet was greater than the number leaving (Royal and Regal). So, if you take her for her word, the rumor is just that.

 

Isn't the Sea larger than the Regal or Royal?...Also since the inclusion of the Tahitian and Pacific haven't there been any other,newer and larger ships added to the fleet to make the average size larger?...Based on this in my opinion the "rumor" could maybe be true...We shall see.

[bdjam]

Isn't the Sea larger than the Regal or Royal?...Also since the inclusion of the Tahitian and Pacific haven't there been any other,newer and larger ships added to the fleet to make the average size larger?...Based on this in my opinion the "rumor" could maybe be true...We shall see.

Yes – hence “small” in my post.

[Druke I]

BDJAM

 

Certainly don't want to dispute what you are saying, but remember just a couple of years ago we were assured that Princess was going to retain Royal Princess and Regal Princess, and that Regal Princess was to have some major work done on her.

 

I put little faith into what the PR types at Princess say - they are the same knownothings who had Diamond & Sapphire transiting the Atlantic from the shipyard when built. Princess' own PR people did not realize that those two ships were built by Mitsubishi at Nagasaki Japan, and had to transit the Pacific to reach California.

 

World Ocean and Cruise Liner Society has a pretty good track record regarding information on the shipping industry. They reported Crystal Harmony leaving the fleet fully 9 mos, if not a year before Crystal would confirm it.

[bdjam]

BDJAM

 

Certainly don't want to dispute what you are saying, but remember just a couple of years ago we were assured that Princess was going to retain Royal Princess and Regal Princess, and that Regal Princess was to have some major work done on her.

I don’t disagree with you – just stating what old Jan has to say. You do have to wonder, however, what there is to gain in telling your passengers falsehoods regarding fleet deployment. Personally, if I don't like a ship, I'm not going to book it no matter what I've been told about where that ship might be...?

[jig]

Last year Princess released their plans for the PP on May 17,2004. The Its. were available on June 4. On June 5 I booked the PP from Bangkok to Cape Town to Sydney. The first 30 days were sold out in 2 weeks. I too am waiting for the 2006 plans. However a few things make me believe they are staying with princess. First the Pacific is not going back to Australia for the 2006/2007 season. Princess is sendind the Dawn to P&P Australia for that. Also on Princess's website when you use either the cruise finder or shore ex locator you will see a word "world". When you use it it comes up blank but why would it be there. It's only been there for about 5 months.

I have already been on the PP and was on the TP over Christmas and new year. I like these ships very much. I was on the Star Princess last year. I think it's too big.

I guess we all have to just keep checking.

[calikak]

You do have to wonder, however, what there is to gain in telling your passengers falsehoods regarding fleet deployment.

 

I agree. If Princess is going to be a big-ship-only cruise line, then the corporate office should tell us, instead of jerking us around like they have been. It only makes people angrier when the inevitable ship transfers are announced. Personally, I don't mind the larger ships, but I do mind being lied to.

[Bruin Steve]

I happen to like the bigger ships...I love more amenities, more choices, etc. But that's in general - If I'm going to the Mexican Riviera with three ports and three at sea days and where everyone tenders into Cabo anyway...

 

But, here, I am expressly looking for the itinerary...So, hearing that the ports are ill-equipped for larger ships scares me...And then, there's the question of whether Princess will do this route in JULY if they have to fill up a 2,000 passenger ship...I have heard it's hot in July in Southeast Asia and it may not be that popular a time to go...My guess is there is SOME demand from customers like us...maybe just enough to fill up a nice, small 670 passenger ship...

 

It's no great shakes to have all megaliners if they're ALL going to be sailing the Caribbean all winter and Alaska all summer...Princess has a niche with these exotic routes so you'd hope they wouldn't give those up...

[DrivesLikeMario]

I posted info about this a few months ago. According to Tahitian Port Authorities, the Tahitian Princess did not renew her docking contract for anything past April, 2006 and neither did the Windstar ship. They were concerned about loosing revenue (dah!).

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens. I can't imagine Princess not putting a ship in French Polynesia. Maybe they have plans to move one of the older ships there? Maybe the Sun or Dawn?

[laurieb]

isn't the Tahitian Princess a good money maker for Princess? I don't care what the size of the ship, I just want to be able to cruise on an affordable ship in 2007. Princess would be wise to take up the Ren. itinerary and stay in fp.

[eroller]

Personally I think the rumor is true. Fact is, PACIFIC and TAHITIAN do not fit the Princess profile. Princess has become a mass-market line that markets very large ships. This is the image they want, and getting rid of CROWN/ROYAL/REGAL PRINCESS seems to confirm the direction they are heading, not the mention the current newbuilds on order. The Sun Class ships (still big ships) are small enough to sail the more exotic itineraries and Princess is actually doing extremely well sending the huge Grand Class ships to once remote itineraries such as Asia and Europe.

 

I think Carnival Corp. wants to position Princess as the "large ship" cruise line, with Holland America being entrenched as the Premium midsized ship brand. Cunard currently seems a bit lost, but one thing is certain and that is they need more tonnage. I don't think Carnival Corp. is ready to spend another $800M on a QM2 clone, and in fact the new QUEEN VICTORIA is all but on hold. The first piece of steel hasn't even been cut yet, and may never be. Rumor is that QE2 may be retired sooner than expected, and that leaves Cunard with only QM2. Unacceptable to operate a one-ship brand. Moving PACIFIC and TAHITIAN over two Cunard gives Cunard the opportunity to expand market share, and also removes two ships from Princess that really don't "fit" the brand. The interior decor and style of these two small ships is really quite suited to Cunard. They have a very "English Countryside" feel to them. They could be renamed with traditional Cunard monikers and marketed as Cunard's "explorer ships" and sent globe trotting.

 

I also heard one of the reasons that Princess pulled PACIFIC PRINCESS from Australia next year is because Holland America is sending STATENDAM down under. HAL didn't want to compete with another mid-sized ship in the same market.

 

So time will tell, but I think it's inevitable that these two ships will depart the Princess fleet. Of course if they go to Cunard then Princess will still be operating them. After all, these days Cunard is merely an extension of Princess Cruises ... complete with Princess Captain's and staff .... but that is a topic for another thread! ;)

 

Ernie

[jig]

one thing wrorg with your idea. Both the PP in it's P&O incarnation and the Stantedam will be in Australia in 2005/2006. The Dawn will be there in 2006/2007. Right now Australia can support both. The sell out very fast..

[eroller]

one thing wrorg with your idea. Both the PP in it's P&O incarnation and the Stantedam will be in Australia in 2005/2006. The Dawn will be there in 2006/2007. Right now Australia can support both. The sell out very fast..

 

 

Hmmm. I don't see anything scheduled for PP (as a P&O Australia ship) after April 2006. STATENDAM doesn't arrive East until March 2006. I'm not sure where you see her there in 2005? Basically PP will be exiting as STATENDAM arrives.

 

I don't think HAL considers DAWN to be competition like the PP. One ship is more mass-market at almost 80,000 gt, while the STATENDAM comes in more mid-sized at 55,000 gt. The issue was with PP and her mid-sized status.

 

Ernie

[Opinions]

Personally I think the rumor is true. Fact is, PACIFIC and TAHITIAN do not fit the Princess profile. Princess has become a mass-market line that markets very large ships. This is the image they want, and getting rid of CROWN/ROYAL/REGAL PRINCESS seems to confirm the direction they are heading, not the mention the current newbuilds on order.

 

Ernie

 

Great Post!!!

[mommykim]

Hi all,

I too have been waiting for the late 2006 early 2007 its. for the PP & TP. I am a little different than a lot of you in that I love both sized ships. When we cruise with our son who's 9 the bigger the better. More to do and all that. When it's just the 2 of us smaller is better as it's more intimate and we really miss being able to feel the sea beneath us. That's one reason we're really going to miss the Royal. We only got to sail on her once but it was love at first sight!

[halj]

I prefer the smaller ships such as PP and TP.:cool: They present a friendlier feel, not the mass marketing comercialized feel.:( Rob had a great thought in his post of who cares which funnel the ship has as long as the customer loyalty programs are all meshed together. :D The TP was great. We were able to get into the islands of Tahiti that I don't think the mega ships can. Not mention the 600-700 passengers on one island was a good number, where 2600 would overwhelm some islands such as Huahine or Riaatea. IMHO

[set2374]

Jan Schwartz – who is in an important position with Princess, but I don’t know her official title – was interviewed by Cruise News Daily when it was announced that Regal Princess was to be transferred from the fleet. She almost sounded defensive in her remarks, but she indicated that Princess was dedicated to providing “Personal Choice” to its passengers and that choice included ship size and itinerary. She noted that with the inclusion of Tahitian, Pacific and the reintroduction of Sea, the number of “small” ships coming into the fleet was greater than the number leaving (Royal and Regal). So, if you take her for her word, the rumor is just that.

 

I tend to feel that Princess realizes it has a small ship fan base as part of its past passengers, and wants to cater to that, but little by little the “small” ships are getting bigger. Now the “small” ships include the Sun Class – of which Sun Princess was the largest passenger ship in the industry when she was introduced in 1995.

 

Jan Schartz is a he and I believe he is the director of cruise operations.

[Stranger1]

It was these concerns that made me change my schedule around and book the Tahitian Princess in March 06 instead of waiting for the June schedule to come out (or not come out). Hey, I'm going 2 months sooner so life is good!