ROYAL Princess - no Central Staircase a Royal Pain

[antsp]

If you had a cabin on deck fo you think you could sneak down 1 flight.

[Shogun]

Hi There antps

 

the big doors are heavy and expect could well be alarmed, so bridge would know if opened, also small cameras

 

so no sneaking down one level

 

yours Shogun

[PescadoAmarillo]

What I found annoying was when you want to go two decks you wait a long time for a lift to arrive, the lift is full and so you have to wait for another lift.

Considering holiday cruises could have an additional 1700 people on board, that's rather alarming.

[antsp]

Hi There antps

 

the big doors are heavy and expect could well be alarmed, so bridge would know if opened, also small cameras

 

so no sneaking down one level

 

yours Shogun

 

Just a thought. I have heard people say there are cameras on the passenger corridors, i have never seen then and i know all about cctv

[Shogun]

Hi antsp

 

if I recall right the cameras are on the landing were the lifts, stairs are, so cover the entrance to passenger hallways as well.

 

yours Shogun

[caribill]

The Navigator of the Sea has only 2 sets of stairways...one at each end of the interior promenade area by the theater & dining areas...like the Royal only without the midship elevators.

 

Total passenger elevators on Royal: 14

Lower berth passenger max on Royal: 3600

 

Total passenger elevators on Navigator OTS: 14

Lower berth passenger max on Navigator OTS: 3115

 

Same number of elevators for almost 500 more passengers on the Royal.

[Astro Flyer]

Total passenger elevators on Royal: 14

Lower berth passenger max on Royal: 3600

 

Total passenger elevators on Navigator OTS: 14

Lower berth passenger max on Navigator OTS: 3115

 

Same number of elevators for almost 500 more passengers on the Royal.

However this is a discussion about a lack of "central staircase" above deck 7 & I wasn't addressing the elevators. :rolleyes:

 

We rarely use the elevator & save them for those with health issues instead.

[MauiLvrs]

Everyone keeps saying the Royal doesn't have center stairs like the Grand.

So the Grand deck plan must be wrong .... because it shows stairs between decks 4 and 15 :confused:

[PescadoAmarillo]

Everyone keeps saying the Royal doesn't have center stairs like the Grand.

So the Grand deck plan must be wrong .... because it shows stairs between decks 4 and 15 :confused:

On the Grand, a midship stairwell exists, it's just not open to passenger use above Deck 7.

[The Big Booper]

I have been on Freedom of the Sea's and that was huge but did not pay attention to access on that ship either.

 

 

 

The "huge" Freedom class carries 3630 passengers double occupancy, same as the Royal.

 

All RCI and Celebrity ships have the main elevators roughly back 60% from the front of the ship. maybe 70 feet from true midship. All the dining rooms are stacked at the rear of the ship, not scattered like on Carnival and Princess. So there can't be rear elevators.

 

We are relocating to Florida and I was thinking about booking the Royal, first Princess cruise for us since the Grand around 10 years ago. I'll wait to see how the ship does with a full load.

[MauiLvrs]

On the Grand, a midship stairwell exists, it's just not open to passenger use above Deck 7.

You would think by now that the deck plan would be accurate:confused:

Be interesting to see if the deck plan for the Royal/Regal ever show the inaccessible parts of the promenade deck. It does show the center stairs missing.

[Iamcruzin]

You don't seem to understand.

 

A) We're not talking 60-90 seconds.. On your Ruby cruise, there was much less passenger capacity aboard that ship, it's a smaller ship, and people weren't FORCED to use those mid-ship elevators just to go up/down 1- 2- or 3 decks.. These mid-ship elevators on the Royal will garner a LOT more usage, as passengers will not have the option of using the adjacent stairs to zip up/down.

 

B) On our 20 or so Princess cruises, whenever we did decide to chance using an elevator (say to go from deck 5 to deck 14), we'd often wait 2-5 minutes, dependent upon how many stops the elevator was making - which subsequently was dependent upon how many passengers were stopping at each of the decks - getting on and off - before the elevator finally reached our deck.. By that time, instead of it being just us waiting for the lift, a crowd of 8 or 10 or 12 had now gathered... each moving towards one of the elevator lifts hoping that theirs was the one to come first so that they'd be the first to get in.. It sometimes became very "dog-eat-dog", which is the LAST thing I want to encounter when i'm on vacation.. Then, when an elevator FINALLY DID arrive, it was often already 1/2 to 3/4 filled with people, allowing maybe 2-4 people to squeeze in... And I'm not even talking about coming back from a shore excursion at the same time with many other people... with mass gatherings/blockages at the elevators - just to simply get back to their cabins.

 

C) These mid-ship elevators will get even MORE usage because of the eliminated stairs... making passengers DEPENDENT on using them.. People will have no choice... unless they want to traverse the ship down to one end, and then BACK to the middle, if that's where they need to go... instead of, say, just zipping up one deck from 7 to 8 to get to their mid-ship cabin - which would have taken them 20 seconds instead.

 

D) There are already MANY REPORTS from people ACTUALLY having sailed, or currently sailing, on the ship who are reporting major problems and extremely long waits / frustrations with these elevators.. And that's with the ship NOT being filled to capacity.. You keep mentioning waiting 60-90 seconds for an elevator on the Ruby.... that is NOT the case from the reports already emanating from the Royal.

 

E) I am also a very punctual person and leave plenty of time to get to an event / activity / meeting.. But my time - especially on vacation - is very valuable to me and I don't want to needlessly spend time and time again waiting for elevators to arrive - which, when they finally do, arrive half-full with 15 people waiting to get on.. I would MUCH prefer to zip up and down the stairs, especially when it's just 2 or 3 decks.. Waiting for an elevator to take me from deck 7 to deck 8 is just ludicrous.... and having to walk all the way front or aft, and then back again, is also ludicrous.. It's annoying, inconvenient and, in my eyes, unnecessary.

 

F) You mention, twice, that "that little bit of walking was never an issue".. I can assure you that many people recognize that walking is good for them.. However, these same people probably want to choose where and when they want to do this walking....they perhaps wouldn't mind walking up/down the stairs to accomplish that same feat - and saving much of their valuable vacation time in the process.

 

G) I do not advocate being a cheerleader for any one given cruise line, and believe in bringing to the cruise line's attention any of their potential shortcomings/misfires - especially if it negatively affects many of their passengers to some degree.. Princess then has the opportunity to recognize and possibly rectify the problem, if they are able.. At least let them know about it....as a business owner I'm grateful when I get any feedback from my customers - good or bad.

 

- Rick

.

 

Wow...All I can say is "Ain't nobody got time for that."

[baldercash]

Appears Rick - cruiser has worked the numbers on the lack of elevators not just stairs.

 

After rereading this thread again I am taking this stair issue more seriously and will definitely consider location and an inside cabin when sailing the Royal.

 

As an aside I just booked our 1st river cruise on Viking and looking at those balconies reminded me of Royal. With the extreme pricing and demand on these ships we chose a window cabin.

 

I would not be surprised if Princess had reviewed these ships in planning Royal.

They offer balconies very similar in size to Royal.

But they also offer "French balconies" which have no balconies at all but do have sliding glass doors with a guard rail across. So think of it as an ultimate Ocean view.

They state you can sit in you room and consider it your balcony while you look out the door!

 

Possibly a new marketing angle for Royal?

[dmwnc1959]

Appears Rick - cruiser has worked the numbers on the lack of elevators not just stairs.

 

After rereading this thread again I am taking this stair issue more seriously and will definitely consider location and an inside cabin when sailing the Royal.

 

As an aside I just booked our 1st river cruise on Viking and looking at those balconies reminded me of Royal. With the extreme pricing and demand on these ships we chose a window cabin.

 

I would not be surprised if Princess had reviewed these ships in planning Royal.

They offer balconies very similar in size to Royal.

But they also offer "French balconies" which have no balconies at all but do have sliding glass doors with a guard rail across. So think of it as an ultimate Ocean view.

They state you can sit in you room and consider it your balcony while you look out the door!

 

Possibly a new marketing angle for Royal?

 

With a little violin music in the background someone might actually believe you. :rolleyes: But anyone who really knows what a French Balcony is knows better than to fall for your description. The balconies may be small, but they are still a standard balcony, not a French Balcony.

 

If you've ever seen the Spa Balcony accommodations on Norwegian Breakaway's Deck 14 forward, those are French Balconies. The balconies on the deck below the Spa Balconies, the ones with the chairs and table on them, are approximately the same size as the standard balcony on Royal Princess.

 

 

[baldercash]

Interesting, I did not know any cruise lines offered French Balconies.

As I said I think of them as the ultimate Ocean view. I would consider one if the price was close to a OV cabin.

The balconies below look deeper then those offered on Royal though.

 

This is Vikings offering.

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruiseships/europe/viking-idun/b/staterooms.aspx#breadcrumb

[capriccio]

Interesting, I did not know any cruise lines offered French Balconies.

As I said I think of them as the ultimate Ocean view. I would consider one if the price was close to a OV cabin.

The balconies below look deeper then those offered on Royal though.

 

This is Vikings offering.

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruiseships/europe/viking-idun/b/staterooms.aspx#breadcrumb

 

Even Viking doesn't call that a Juliette balcony in a Veranda stateroom: "Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors open to a full-size veranda."

 

Their French balcony stateroom has sliding glass doors opening to nothing: "Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors open to create a French balcony."

[Cruise Junky]

The balconies on the deck below the Spa Balconies, the ones with the chairs and table on them, are approximately the same size as the standard balcony on Royal Princess.

 

 

 

 

So that's Princess's new business model? Drop to NCL's level? Excellent :rolleyes: If I wanted NCL comforts, I'd pay NCL prices.

[dmwnc1959]

So that's Princess's new business model? Drop to NCL's level? Excellent :rolleyes: If I wanted NCL comforts, I'd pay NCL prices.

 

What's interesting is that these two ships, Royal Princess and Norwegian Breakaway, were designed and built by two completely different companies (Princess and NCL), by two different competing shipyards (Fincantieri and Meyerwerft), and in two different countries (Italy and Germany) literally at the same exact time and entered service and month apart, yet came out with standard sized balconies that were nearly exactly identical in size. Why is that?

 

The hull design on NB also has her lifeboats extended out away from the hull where RP does not giving the former the ability to have The Waterfront. I can only imagine the 'outrage' that would have happened on this forum had Princess Cruises and Fincantieri implemented that design feature to allow for some type of promenade. A Princess ship with huge lifeboats extended out from the hull would have been a disaster aesthetically to loyal Princess fans. This was a design risk for NCL as that feature is basically unusable in inclement weather, yet they base the ship year-round in NYC. Even on her Bermuda runs the weather has at times prevented use of those outdoor venues. Another big difference in the design of the ships is the placement of what appears to be an uptake exhaust for the forward dining venues. Norwegian Breakaway and Meyerwerft placed that large 'white box' on the forward end of the lido pool deck, where on Royal Princess it is one deck up and forward at the Retreat giving much more room on the actual pool deck. The rest of Norwegian Breakaway's pool deck is eaten up with the giant water slides, huge bar 'boxes', the Marketplace, and cartoon characters. And at least Royal Princess has The Retreat and pool area and The Sanctuary, whereas that same area on Norwegian Breakaway is a large complex called The Haven Courtyard and Private Sun Deck reserved exclusively for suite guests and The Vibe, a sort of low end sanctuary that you pay to use. Those areas on NCL eat up a lot of deck space, especially The Haven areas with its restricted access.

 

Norwegian Breakaway also seems to have a lot more dining and novelty 'entertainment' venues where you pay a surcharge or dine a la carte, where as Royal Princess has a lot more that are free or included. And I'd much rather have the three deck atrium of Royal Princess with all of it's dining and entertainment venues than what Norwegian Breakaway has, a gigantic two story video screen staring you down all day.

 

But there are those that are completely happy and love the Norwegian Breakaway. It looks nice enough, but really not my cup of tea either. Same goes with Royal Princess, where some have said the ship looks stunning but the lack of certain features keeps them away. It's nice to have choices. Enjoy NCL or Princess, which ever you choose.

 

:D

[JLC@SD]

It makes it very inconvenient to go up or down in the center of the mall because the two elevators there are usually full of people with strollers. I don't understand but there has to be some kind of reason ...........

:confused: ..... :( ....... :confused:

 

Royal Princess elevators will be filled with scooters.....;)

[JLC@SD]

What happens during a Muster Drill .....or a real Muster.

 

Not suppose to use elevators .......so does everyone head to either the front or rear stairs ......and jamb them up.....:confused::eek:

[Cruise Junky]

What happens during a Muster Drill .....or a real Muster.

 

Not suppose to use elevators .......so does everyone head to either the front or rear stairs ......and jamb them up.....:confused::eek:

 

A real emergency they would open up the staff stairs. They probably would for the drill too.

[dmwnc1959]

A real emergency they would open up the staff stairs. They probably would for the drill too.

 

Maybe someone on one of the upcoming Mediterranean cruises can check this?

[pablo222]

What happens during a Muster Drill .....or a real Muster.

 

On other ships I have been on, the crew stairwells have been opened

during the muster drill, with a cabin attendant directing people to it.

Seemed like a good idea to remind people where it was, in case they

needed to use it in an emergency.

[TorontoTL]

On other ships I have been on, the crew stairwells have been opened

during the muster drill, with a cabin attendant directing people to it.

Seemed like a good idea to remind people where it was, in case they

needed to use it in an emergency.

 

This has always been my experience as well, it is neat to be able to check out the crew stairwells.;)

[PescadoAmarillo]

When they mention stairway guides during muster drill, those are the crew members who man not just the passenger stairs, but crew stairs too. We always use the crew stairs during muster, trying to practice with a less obvious route.