Ocean and Pacific Princess

[piper28]

It's only a matter of time before it just becomes not economically feasible to run the R class ships. Heck, even the luxury lines are starting to get rid of smaller ships. Eventually the fare cost just gets to the point where it's too high to get people to book the ships. I'm pretty sure I've heard that Azamera has never made money with the R ships. Oceania built their larger ships, and I'm sure it's a matter of time before they also want to get rid of the R class ships. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if inside of 5 years or so they're gone.

 

(And I *like* the R ships. I'm looking forward to being on one in 4 weeks.)

[melody hounddog]

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

 

Big ships, small ships, mid-sized ships.

 

Exotic itineraries, pedestrian itineraries, etc.

 

Diversification reduces risk!

 

Exactly.

 

I love sailing big Princess ships around Asia, Alaska and Europe. But much prefer my own small yacht in the Caribbean. Variety is the spice of life.

[Pia1913]

It's only a matter of time before it just becomes not economically feasible to run the R class ships. Heck, even the luxury lines are starting to get rid of smaller ships. Eventually the fare cost just gets to the point where it's too high to get people to book the ships. I'm pretty sure I've heard that Azamera has never made money with the R ships. Oceania built their larger ships, and I'm sure it's a matter of time before they also want to get rid of the R class ships. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if inside of 5 years or so they're gone.

 

(And I *like* the R ships. I'm looking forward to being on one in 4 weeks.)

 

Yes, they are expensive and most of the time the prices have been lowered as we've gotten closer to final payment. I just hope the fare goes down for our West Africa next May, though I doubt it since it's been sold out since the beginning. Then comes the WC which historically has had the fares lowered. Please fare fairy do your thing for me this time too. :D

[Bimmer09]

I had my first cruising experience working on a small ship-the Song of Norway, built in 1970 (and still working 43 years on), the foundation of RCL's current line of mega-ships. 27,000 Gross tonnes if I remember correctly. 1200 happy passengers, even though they had no balconies, specialty restaurants, Internet access, in-room tvs and so on. 400 crew including me.

One swimming pool. 4 live bands, smiling personable tray-spinnin' cool runnin'

waiters from the Islands.

 

I am booked on another small ship-the Ocean Princess, because there was no Grand Class ship (my favorite to date) sailing a similar itinerary from Venice to Rome, September 2014. Reading and watching youtube avidly I am really looking forward to sailing on an R Class member of the Princess fleet.

 

When I see regular posters like Paul and Pia spending up to 200 days on these two small ships I feel that there can't be anything wrong with them (for me)

and I may be going back to my roots in size but certainly not in amenities.

 

They have already been around since 1999 but that's just a 14 year old ship and as long as they are well maintained they have many years left for us to enjoy-if Princess keeps them. The more ships you have the more routes you can cover and the more passengers you can take and all of them spend money on board in varying degrees.

 

They are costly though- the cost for a suite on board for our cruise is $4000 more than our week on the Diamond in Alaska on a ship with many fewer features, but we are savoring the prospect of trying something new on a ship with such a high reputation among seasoned cruisers.

 

Diversity is good. As long as people want to sail on the Ocean and the Princess they should remain in the fleet. I understand the economies of scale....but don't ever see myself on the Oasis or the Allure, though I marvel at the ingenuity of the designs and execution.

 

Norris

[antsp]

It's only a matter of time before it just becomes not economically feasible to run the R class ships. Heck, even the luxury lines are starting to get rid of smaller ships. Eventually the fare cost just gets to the point where it's too high to get people to book the ships. I'm pretty sure I've heard that Azamera has never made money with the R ships. Oceania built their larger ships, and I'm sure it's a matter of time before they also want to get rid of the R class ships. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if inside of 5 years or so they're gone.

 

(And I *like* the R ships. I'm looking forward to being on one in 4 weeks.)

 

 

I do agree, but, whoever Princess sell there ships to obviously think they sell tickets and make money, if they can why cant Princess.

[mkcruise]

Headed to the Ocean Princess in August this year after doing the Pacific Princess Holy Land cruise last year which sold us on these ships for some itineraries. Yes, there is not as much to do, but on port intensive itineraries, we really didn't notice. Still a lot of great places to hang out and relax on board, and as most CC'ers have said, the crew does get to know you.

[Pia1913]

I had my first cruising experience working on a small ship-the Song of Norway, built in 1970 (and still working 43 years on), the foundation of RCL's current line of mega-ships. 27,000 Gross tonnes if I remember correctly. 1200 happy passengers, even though they had no balconies, specialty restaurants, Internet access, in-room tvs and so on. 400 crew including me.

One swimming pool. 4 live bands, smiling personable tray-spinnin' cool runnin'

waiters from the Islands.

 

I am booked on another small ship-the Ocean Princess, because there was no Grand Class ship (my favorite to date) sailing a similar itinerary from Venice to Rome, September 2014. Reading and watching youtube avidly I am really looking forward to sailing on an R Class member of the Princess fleet.

 

When I see regular posters like Paul and Pia spending up to 200 days on these two small ships I feel that there can't be anything wrong with them (for me)

and I may be going back to my roots in size but certainly not in amenities.

 

They have already been around since 1999 but that's just a 14 year old ship and as long as they are well maintained they have many years left for us to enjoy-if Princess keeps them. The more ships you have the more routes you can cover and the more passengers you can take and all of them spend money on board in varying degrees.

 

They are costly though- the cost for a suite on board for our cruise is $4000 more than our week on the Diamond in Alaska on a ship with many fewer features, but we are savoring the prospect of trying something new on a ship with such a high reputation among seasoned cruisers.

 

Diversity is good. As long as people want to sail on the Ocean and the Princess they should remain in the fleet. I understand the economies of scale....but don't ever see myself on the Oasis or the Allure, though I marvel at the ingenuity of the designs and execution.

 

Norris

 

Comment re: highlighted portion.

 

These 1999 ships have been kept up and well maintained, far better than the OLD Grand Princess of 1998 which IMO is ready for the scrap heap.

[piper28]

I do agree, but, whoever Princess sell there ships to obviously think they sell tickets and make money, if they can why cant Princess.

 

There's a long ways between thinking they can make money and actually making money. That plus there's probably ways for smaller lines to make things work in very specific circumstances that don't work for a larger line like Princess.

 

A lot is probably also going to depend on the price of oil in the future.

 

I like them myself, but if Azamera really has been having problems making things work out, I don't think that bodes well for Princess making it work either. (And I have to admit, I'm not sure the premium I'm paying for my cruise next month is really worth it. I'd really hoped that one would come down, but then again, since it's sold out, obviously enough people think it's worth it.) The problem for Princess is that if the prices get too high, then people might start looking into higher end cruise lines instead. It's a fine line between the price they need to sell it to make money, how much people are willing to pay, and how high before it drives people to a more luxury line.

[Texed]

I hope they don't get rid of the small ships before June 20th. That is when our cruise on Pacific Princess starts. ;)

[paul929207]

I hope they don't get rid of the small ships before June 20th. That is when our cruise on Pacific Princess starts. ;)

I think you are safe. We are booked this September and October of 2014.

[Seafoam Green]

Sailing on the Pacific Princess in January, we saw the Captain almost everyday in different areas of the ship, and had the chance to eat breakfast with our favorite lounge singer a couple of times.

 

This was a nice 'perk' of the small ships.

[piper28]

Sailing on the Pacific Princess in January, we saw the Captain almost everyday in different areas of the ship, and had the chance to eat breakfast with our favorite lounge singer a couple of times.

 

This was a nice 'perk' of the small ships.

 

Yeah, and we found the captain always seemed to be willing to stop and say hi and talk for a few minutes. Although it can really depend on the captain. I know on the Crown, we often would run into Andy Proctor and he was always willing to talk too.

[Wehwalt]

I've taken both ships and intend to keep doing so in future.

 

The up side is nothing is ever crowded, or far away, and if you are ashore, where you are is probably not flooded by cruise passengers unless a megaship's in port with you (or four, as happened to us in Barcelona). Tendering is not a huge hassle, and neither is em/debarkation.

 

The downside is limited dining options, and fewer activities, that can make a long stretch at sea (we had eight days my last sailing although we did get into Port Said the afternoon of Day Eight) a little bit dull.

[Griller]

With regard to the lack of activities on the small ships I have found it depends very much on the CD.

I just debarked Ocean Princess and the CD was David Bradshawe and the activities were poor to say the least.

I have been on the same ship even on the same itinerary a number of times before with different CD's and there were excellent activities.

 

David Bradshawe padded out the Patter with such activities as "Bouillon will be served"

What more need I say about that?

 

The Port Lecturer was Debbie Fraoli who handed out bad info at her lectures, hesitant and her most popular words were "er" and "sort of". And on anything I knew about in depth she was just wrong on so many facts. Couldn't even spell place names correctly on her slideshow titling. Very poor.

 

No live band, just a rather wooden unsmiling pianist and a similar guitarist even at the Cocktail parties, and this was a Norwegian itinerary Cruise when in previous years Princess have had someone very knowledgable on board who gave a lot of good info prior to ports and fjord transit, and a live commentary as we went through particularly interesting places.

Not any more.

 

The specialty performers were average, the bright spots were Kathy Phippard the cocktail pianist, talented and amusing and Jennifer Gibson an excellent singer with her partner Luis.

The dancers talked about hopes of getting promoted (their words) to a bigger ship of Princess.

 

 

Still a lovely cruise though, but I feel that passengers missed out on so much that Princess used to provide even a year ago.

[cruisemom42]

If the small ships go, I will be cruising a lot less. (I'm talking of all the small ships, not just Princess's as I am an equal opportunity cruiser.)

 

I am willing to pay a premium for cruising on a smaller ship, even if the food, service, etc are not substantially better than on a larger "sister". Surely I cannot be the only one to realize that the larger ships have gotten, the more impersonal the service, the fewer the "flourishes" and the less satisfied I feel with the whole cruising experience.

 

There are niche lines out there who seem to be making a go of it with smaller ships, and I hope they continue to thrive.

[MMDown Under]

I just debarked Ocean Princess and the CD was David Bradshawe and the activities were poor to say the least.

 

The Port Lecturer was Debbie Fraoli who handed out bad info at her lectures, hesitant and her most popular words were "er" and "sort of". And on anything I knew about in depth she was just wrong on so many facts. Couldn't even spell place names correctly on her slideshow titling. Very poor.

 

Still a lovely cruise though, but I feel that passengers missed out on so much that Princess used to provide even a year ago.

 

Sorry that you found the entertainment and port lectures disappointing on your Norwegian cruise.

 

I hope this situation improves for the Iceland and Norway cruise, which is 14 days. As this cruise visits ports off the beaten track, I would hope for interesting and informative talks and port lectures to enhance the voyage.

[Griller]

Sorry that you found the entertainment and port lectures disappointing on your Norwegian cruise.

 

I hope this situation improves for the Iceland and Norway cruise, which is 14 days. As this cruise visits ports off the beaten track, I would hope for interesting and informative talks and port lectures to enhance the voyage.

The last cruise was certainly off the beaten track, way up to the N Pole research station for example, and it wasn't just me that found the entertainment disappointing, other pax were much more vocal and scathing about it than I.

In the mornings at 9am Bradshawe would just read out the whole Patter on the loudspeaker system, and the cry would go up "Oh no its that idiot again. why doesn't he shut the **** up".

IMHO the situation will be no different unless Princess policy on spending AND the CD changes as far as the entertainment is concerned. Bradshawe and his sidekick Simon were all but invisible most of the time. Acts were generally mediocre.

 

As far as the Port Lectures are concerned unless you have been on the cruise before or know something about the country or topic then you will probably never know the tripe you are being served up by Fraoili.

 

One gripe the passengers had was that Fraoli did not explain the hefty sales tax refunds you can get at the end of your time in Norway, it only applies to bigger sales receipts above a certain value. If they had been told that they could have made sure they got them above that value.

 

This was always well explained on previous Princess cruises to Norway which I have taken.

 

Make no mistake I enjoyed this cruise on the Ocean P. , the third time I have done it, the food service and scenery were great.

[Wehwalt]

The last cruise was certainly off the beaten track, way up to the N Pole research station for example, and it wasn't just me that found the entertainment disappointing, other pax were much more vocal and scathing about it than I.

In the mornings at 9am Bradshawe would just read out the whole Patter on the loudspeaker system, and the cry would go up "Oh no its that idiot again. why doesn't he shut the **** up".

IMHO the situation will be no different unless Princess policy on spending AND the CD changes as far as the entertainment is concerned. Bradshawe and his sidekick Simon were all but invisible most of the time. Acts were generally mediocre.

 

As far as the Port Lectures are concerned unless you have been on the cruise before or know something about the country or topic then you will probably never know the tripe you are being served up by Fraoili.

 

One gripe the passengers had was that Fraoli did not explain the hefty sales tax refunds you can get at the end of your time in Norway, it only applies to bigger sales receipts above a certain value. If they had been told that they could have made sure they got them above that value.

 

This was always well explained on previous Princess cruises to Norway which I have taken.

 

Make no mistake I enjoyed this cruise on the Ocean P. , the third time I have done it, the food service and scenery were great.

 

I will admit that on my 30 day (Rome-Civitavecchia) on the Ocean in April and May, I was less than enthused about the port lecturer and other enrichment. There was a series of talks about military spying, and I'm not interested in that. The best were the lectures by the officers (Chief Engineer and Third Officer) and I would gladly have sat through more.

 

Keep in mind that we were at sea for seven and a half days (we got into Port Said and were allowed to get off in late afternoon). There were days when I got the Patter and nothing looked attractive. Bradshaw did have a tendency to natter on over the speakers and also after the show. I am doing the Norway next year (I would have this year but for business commitments), interesting to read your impressions.

[vinonme2]

There are 2 great itineraries on the Ocean Princess for Nov. 2014 that we are seriously considering booking however I am a bit concerned about being on such a small ship for 47 nights. We love cruising and sail days, but haven't cruised a ship this small since the Island Princess back in the early 90's.

 

Is there a live show nightly? We enjoy meeting others for a pre-dinner cocktail and perhaps some dancing. From the pictures I've seen of the ship, several of the bars are in either the restaurants or the show lounge, and not separate locations. Are those bars used mainly by the passengers who will be eating at those restaurants or going to that show? Is there live music for dancing nightly? Does the ship close down early? While I love reading on a cruise, I don't want that to be my only option.

 

Anything you can share about your cruise experiences on this ship would be so greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

[caribill]

Is there a live show nightly? Yes, in the main theater.

 

We enjoy meeting others for a pre-dinner cocktail and perhaps some dancing. From the pictures I've seen of the ship, several of the bars are in either the restaurants or the show lounge, and not separate locations. Are those bars used mainly by the passengers who will be eating at those restaurants or going to that show? Is there live music for dancing nightly?

On the times I have been on these ships there has been a live band (with nearby bar) in thr longe on deck 10.

 

Does the ship close down early? While I love reading on a cruise, I don't want that to be my only option.

 

Anything you can share about your cruise experiences on this ship would be so greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you.

 

see above in red

 

The ship will always have activities going on in the evening, but not as many different ones at the same time as on the larger ships.

[paul929207]

We have been on the Ocean Princess for up to 44 nights at a time. We will be on for 48 starting in September. There is a show in the Cabaret Lounge (Deck 5 forward) every evening. They do the same production shows that you see on the bigger ship, just with a smaller company. There will also be other entertainers coming on and off. Comedians, Hypnotists, Singers, Musicians, etc. There are two show each evening. One is at 8:30 pm - timed for first seating. The other is either at 7 or 10:30 for the second seating.

 

The quality of the guest lecturers will of course vary. Sometimes their subjects seen of limited value. We had one who gave a number of talks on preparing for retirement. Well, there are not too many people still working on a 40+ day cruise.

 

There is a bar in the buffet, by the pool, in the Tahitian Lounge, Cabaret Lounge, By the Casino and outside the restaurant.

[Waynetor]

We did 48 days on the Ocean and loved it - we were never bored. If your cruise is multiple segments together the production shows will be repeated.

 

Oceania cruise lines has sister ships to Ocean and Pacific. This week they but on sale their 2015 180 day world cruise which sold out the first day so there lots of people that love this size of ship.

[suzski]

Another huge fan of the small ships! Sailed the Pacific Princess last fall in the Med and fell in love with the layout and the ability to actually get to know people (including staff) during the cruise. They were previewing the Royal during the cruise and all I could think of was "sure it has some bells and whistles but why would I want to sail on that when I can sail on this?"

[hillslife]

Ocean Princess ( formerly called Tahitian Princess) 107 day world cruise, 12 days Tahiti, and 30 days Africa in 2014. Pacific Princess 14 days Amazon River...love the little girls...very sad if they go away. Never bored...the libraries on them are the best ever.

 

There are just some places you need a smaller ship to get into the ports...:o

[dorisis]

If the price is right, Princess will sell her R class ships. They do not generate as much profit as the larger ships. It's always the bottom line!!!