Princess Cruises to Tweak Regal Princess Design

[LauraS]

Check out the latest Princess Cruises news from Cruise Critic:

 

Princess Cruises to Tweak Regal Princess Design

[Pia1913]

This is going to make a lot of people happy. I didn't miss the Promenade access on the Royal, but so many others did.

[bdjam]

Congratulations to Princess for reacting to passenger feedback.

[BuzzBuzzen]

agree with you bdjam :)

[Happy2cruise]

Princess is listening;)

[Sanibel*Gal]

Yes, sounds like some changes are a coming - look forward to sailing on her next December!!

[Cruiserkenn]

Check out the latest Princess Cruises news from Cruise Critic:

 

Princess Cruises to Tweak Regal Princess Design

 

This is just the best news:) Thanks so very much:)

 

I should say thanks to Laura and Princess, as well as all of the Cruise Critic members who expressed the real concerns so eloquently.

[Jimmy Geegitz]

Will they enlarge the tiny balconies?

[cruze610]

I love that the Promenade will be "walkable" for the entire length of the ship and I love that they are adding an aft pool. but for me to sail Royal again or Regal at all I would need a larger balcony.

[OCruisers]

At least some of the issues folks don't like about Royal Princess are being addressed. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~

[sunsetbeachgal]

Like!

[JimmyVWine]

A big THANK YOU to Princess for making these changes. People who doubt the importance of the opinions voiced on this board, (whether or not the one complaining has been on the ship), are crazy. This is the single most important website for CRITIC-izing the industry and the industry pays attention and reacts. Sorry if the complaints and opinions of members here have come off as "whining". But when you order your cocktail at the aft bar and lounge in the aft pool, and then stroll the Promenade after dinner, you can raise your glass to the whiners. And while it may be too late for Regal, I'll bet you never see another ship without a cental staircase, thanks to the whiners.

Edited November 21, 2013 by JimmyVWine

[need2cruisesoon]

A big THANK YOU to Princess for making these changes. People who doubt the importance of the opinions voiced on this board, (whether or not the one complaining has been on the ship), are crazy. This is the single most important website for CRITIC-izing the industry and the industry pays attention and reacts. Sorry if the complaints and opinions of members here have come off as "whining". But when you order your cocktail at the aft bar and lounge in the aft pool, and then stroll the Promenade after dinner, you can raise your glass to the whiners. And while it may be too late for Regal, I'll bet you never see another ship without a cental staircase, thanks to the whiners.

 

I'll drink to that!

[L454S]

I am glad to hear this news. For DW and I a legit balcony is a must though, it is one of our favorite parts of cruising.

 

Not sure if I would book or not even with the coming changes. It would have to be priced right(read low), or no other ship with similar itinerary.

 

Would like to thank all who post, both pro and con, after cruising the Royal.

[snowbird1]

After just returning from the Royal I just kept asking myself this question. Why on earth don't they run designs by seasoned Princess cruisers to get their take before they build it. Guarantee you if they did with say 50 of their top cruisers they would have know the customers aren't going to like this and made changes accordingly.

 

Btw, I did like a lot of things about the ship but like so many there are about 5 things that I did not like. I am shocked we are not hearing more complaints about the airline seats in the show lounge. Honestly they crammed every seat they could in there. The seats really have the same space between has seats on Southwest with not much legroom and no place to put a drink but on the floor. I have no idea how why they expect people to buy drinks in there.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[KruzPrincess]

I think it's awesome that Princess listens to people and acts on that. That said, I don't think these changes will get me on the these ships any faster. The balcony size issue is still the biggest think for me. I'm glad this makes so many people happy, though.

[bdjam]

Why on earth don't they run designs by seasoned Princess cruisers to get their take before they build it. Guarantee you if they did with say 50 of their top cruisers they would have know the customers aren't going to like this and made changes accordingly.

 

I heard that according to Princess, they did.

[John99]

I'm glad that Princess is listening to CC members. This is great news -- adding a Aft pool and Promenade deck.

 

Relative to the Promenade Deck, I would like a little more detail on what they mean by the "length of the ship". Does that mean we can make a complete loop on the outside of the ship like the Crown or Ruby? Has anyone seen a new layout of the Promenade Deck?

 

John

[Woobstr112G]

A big THANK YOU to Princess for making these changes. People who doubt the importance of the opinions voiced on this board, (whether or not the one complaining has been on the ship), are crazy. This is the single most important website for CRITIC-izing the industry and the industry pays attention and reacts. Sorry if the complaints and opinions of members here have come off as "whining". But when you order your cocktail at the aft bar and lounge in the aft pool, and then stroll the Promenade after dinner, you can raise your glass to the whiners. And while it may be too late for Regal, I'll bet you never see another ship without a cental staircase, thanks to the whiners.

 

Well said sir.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

I'm glad that Princess is listening to CC members. This is great news -- adding a Aft pool and Promenade deck.

 

Relative to the Promenade Deck, I would like a little more detail on what they mean by the "length of the ship". Does that mean we can make a complete loop on the outside of the ship like the Crown or Ruby? Has anyone seen a new layout of the Promenade Deck?

 

John

 

The "promenade" deck that's already there is not really much of a promenade. I thought it was quite narrow and what kind of view will there be other than the side of the lifeboats and lifeboat related launching equipment.....:confused::confused::confused:

Bob

[Bimmer09]

Well said sir.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

Bob, quoting Jimmy V and I agree with the always well-reasoned Jimmy.

 

I am glad that Princess is in the process of wising-up but if they had given more thought during the design process of the Royal, before blueprints were drawn laboriously and sent to the shipyard this remodeling could have been avoided.

Lord knows the cost and how it might delay the inaugural sailing and what other egregious gaffes await? I imagine them (PCL) to be in panic mode as the Royal hasn't taken the world by storm in her first 5 months and people (such as I) have canceled a cruise on her-in my case it was before I had really seen the ship outside the shipyard but when I did I was relieved I had canceled and have no interest in sailing on her now as I don't get many chances to cruise and she is not a compelling vessel to sail on to me.

 

I know- there are plenty of other fine ships out there and I'll get to them one by one. Maybe the Regal?

 

I will be interested to see the changes they can accomplish with the Regal, this far along in the building process.

 

Norris

in Chicago

[kendon]

Will they enlarge the tiny balconies?

 

Good point. Tiny balconies and the lack of a Promenade deck are deal breakers for us. Glad to hear of the Promenade deck though!

[nasa1974]

Interesting to hear that Princess is tweaking the Regal.

 

Careful what you ask for.

 

The DW and I just did a B2B recently and found the Royal beautiful.

 

Here is my observation.

 

Yes, we found the balcony smaller than other ships we have cruised on. However, we enjoyed the balcony none the less. Unless you are expecting to throw a large party out there what do you really need? So you sit at a slight angle. You can still enjoy the sounds, sun and wind. Or just gaze off to the horizon and day dream. How much space do you really need?

 

This was the first ship that we could not walk around the Promenade Deck. Because of the new lifeboats and the davits that support them there were areas on the Promenade that were very narrow. However, the areas just outside Crooners and Facets was very popular. I think they could have used a few more chairs and table to be honest. The information in the CC report says, "Princess also will make the Deck 7 promenade accessible to passengers on Regal so they can walk the length of the ship". The "length" not around the Promenade.

 

I'm not sure what an aft pool will bring to the enjoyment of sailing on the Regal or the Royal. All three (Retreat, Fountain, & Plunge) got cozy at times but so does any pool on any ship. So what will a 4th pool bring? There were plenty of deck chairs between the Lido and Sun Decks. Maybe just a little more shady spots vs. sunny areas. It will be interesting to see where the aft pool will be located and if I had to guess not very large. More like the plunge pool on the Royal. Just a guess.

 

Now as far as a central staircase. Really!! Now I have to say we had a cabin on the Riviera Deck and almost as for forward as you can get. So we used the forward and aft elevators to get anywhere. Mostly the stairs and I can honestly say not too many people used those stairs. So does a central staircase from deck 7 to deck 15 mean that much when most people will not use the stairs. There were 6 elevators in that area, six. There where stairs there but for the crew and in case of an emergency the stairs were open for use.

 

Folks, why do you cruise? Because of large balconies, a central staircase, an aft pool or a Promenade Deck you can walk around. We cruise for vacation, the itinerary, the ship (a new experience) relaxation, or any number of reasons. Do we really want cookie cutter ships that all look the same, feel the same and offer all the same things? Or do we want an adventure?

 

Now that Princess is going to tweak the Regal are we going to be happy? Or just complain because the changed or took away something else we liked.

 

Just my experience and observations.

 

 

Marty

[rdsqrl]

I just wish they had also listened to the whining (albeit from fewer people) about no oceanview cabins. If you can't even afford to get on the ship in the first place, adding extra pool space and a promenade deck, while keenly important for the generations of ships to come, still is just theoretical improvement. If only we OCV cruisers could speak up as loudly, so that in future newbuilds, we're not completely shut out.

 

[Cruiserkenn]

A big THANK YOU to Princess for making these changes. People who doubt the importance of the opinions voiced on this board, (whether or not the one complaining has been on the ship), are crazy. This is the single most important website for CRITIC-izing the industry and the industry pays attention and reacts. Sorry if the complaints and opinions of members here have come off as "whining". But when you order your cocktail at the aft bar and lounge in the aft pool, and then stroll the Promenade after dinner, you can raise your glass to the whiners. And while it may be too late for Regal, I'll bet you never see another ship without a cental staircase, thanks to the whiners.

 

Special thanks to you, JimmyVWine, for leading the way with eloquence and in defense of free speech. Thanks so much.