Caribbean/Crown vs Grand Princess Where do they put the extra people

[MikeInPgh]

My wife and I are doing some pre-pre-planning and looking at one of the Crown Princess cruises out fo San Juan in Nov or Dec 2006.

 

My concern is that the only extra space I see on deck plans is an extra deck of cabins.

 

The dining rooms, pool areas, showrooms and lounges all look the same as on the Grand Princess.

 

How do they fit the extra 500 pax into the dining rooms and such? Is it that much more crowded than the Grand? or am I missing something?

 

Mike

[Toto2Kansas]

It does make the passenger to space ratio smaller than on other ships. But after sailing on the CB, it is barely noticeable.

[spongerob]

There was a lot of speculation about this before Caribbean Princess was launched. The design of CB/Crown lose some GRT versus the Grand Princess because the covered conservatory has been removed. This opens up the upper decks and provides a lot of extra room, perfect for Caribbean and other 'sunny' itineraries. The aft dining room is also quite a bit larger. "Crowding" really isn't any more of an issue than it is on the earlier generation of Grand-class ships.

 

I will be curious to see if the Crown Princess makes up for what I think is a serious flaw in the design of Caribbean Princess. The crew complement is the same as the other Grand-class ships, which means that everyone is stretched just a little further. Some departments do not seem to be adequately staffed. I believe that this has a noticeable effect on service in some areas.

[Druke I]

If they can't fit through the Panama Canal, they are too damned big!