Is there a major design flaw in the new Royal Class ships

[Moray Firth Cruiser]

I have been watching several reviews about the ‘Royal Princess’ and there appears to be a recurring theme cropping up time and time again.

 

The problem is to do with the number and position of the stairwells. This may sound like a trifling problem but believe me waiting on lifts which at peak times are always full or have no apparent logic is a nightmare which makes passengers flaming mad and having to revert to the stairs. There are also passengers who do not like lifts.

 

On virtually all 2000 and 3000 plus passenger cruise ships there are normally at least three stairwells located forward, mid-ships and aft. On some ships like the MSC Fantasia class ships there are four stairwells.

 

I am sure that some bright spark will happily inform us that the mega monsters of Royal Caribbean and NCL only have two stairwells. However, they have a totally different layout, having a horizontal atrium or central promenade and all their stairwells are positioned much more centrally.

 

Your views on this and your experience of stair and lift usage, on-board the ‘Royal Princess’, specifically at peak times would be of great interest.

 

However a word of caution:

 

A post such as this will inevitably divide into two camps.

 

1. Those with rational experience of stair and lift usage on-board the ‘Royal Princess’.

2. Those who use sarcasm to answer posts and who have not sailed on this ship. To what end they put their oar in I do not know.

 

Back to reality:

 

The movement of people or in technical speak; ‘Passenger Transit’ throughout a ship is one of the most important design considerations in the design of passenger ships.

 

Threads like this are important to cruise lines in monitoring changes to transit layout. The complaints of passengers, their constructive comments and their views and opinions do matter.

 

A reply, such as just take the lifts, is a ‘non-answer’. Unless a lift system has a computer controlled logic, which few have,a user can find themselves going up and down several times at peak times to reach their destination. This becomes frustrating and annoying.

 

There are also many who do have a claustrophobic fear of lifts and for them stairs, no matter how long it takes to negotiate them, is the only solution.

 

Cabin location does have some bearing, but it can sometimes be a difficult decision to juggle cabin facilities likes and dislikes, with location.

 

I hope that this thread can develop into a practical and constructive debate.

[SwissDave]

Sorry, but this has been discussed ad nauseum on the Princess board.

 

I have seen your thread on P&O board, you will not get different answers here.

 

Simply, some will not have a problem with no central stairs (I don't), and some will.

 

I have sailed on Grand Princess many times (original grand calss ship), and it does not have central stairs either. It waasnt a problem for me then , and it0s not a proboem for me now.

[skf]

Good morning, Moray...

We will set sail in Royal on 27 April. We have been in Grand Princess several times, which has the same two-stairs feature. The worst that has happened is to start up the central stairs only to be reminded when we hit the road-block. Since we usually take a cabin on or near E-Deck it is far from a big issue. We do not mind a walk fore & aft; although I can no longer climb long flights of stairs I can handle three or four.

Steve & Pete

[JPEvans]

This topic is starting to be like beating a dead horse. It serves no

Purpose to keep bringing it up. Yes we know some people will never

Sail Princess ever again because Royal has no central stairs. I'm tired

Of people starting new post about it. Let it go. Choose another ship

Out there that has two stairwells if you don't want to sail Royal, Regal

Or Britannia. I've sailed Royal and it's a wonderful ship.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We are just off the Royal Princess. Ours was a mid-ship balcony, booked fully aware of the colossal design flaw with no mid-ship guest stairwell. It was our intention to just walk forward or aft depending on where we were going. In reality, our destination was often directly above or below near mid-ship.

 

So we found ourselves with extended waiting times for an elevator over and over again. It was a source of great frustration for us as well as other guests. Chatter at the elevator banks was constantly about how small the elevators are, how difficult it was to find one with any space, how frustrating it was to have no stairs when you are going only a deck or two. Everyone learned that you get on any elevator with space regardless of where it was headed, knowing at least you are on board and eventually you will get where you need to be.

 

IMHO Princess should convert at least part of the crew stairwell for guest access.

 

For us, this was a significant issue and will be a factor in our future cruise decisions.

[chamima]

We are just off the Royal Princess. Ours was a mid-ship balcony, booked fully aware of the colossal design flaw with no mid-ship guest stairwell. It was our intention to just walk forward or aft depending on where we were going. In reality, our destination was often directly above or below near mid-ship.

 

So we found ourselves with extended waiting times for an elevator over and over again. It was a source of great frustration for us as well as other guests. Chatter at the elevator banks was constantly about how small the elevators are, how difficult it was to find one with any space, how frustrating it was to have no stairs when you are going only a deck or two. Everyone learned that you get on any elevator with space regardless of where it was headed, knowing at least you are on board and eventually you will get where you need to be.

 

IMHO Princess should convert at least part of the crew stairwell for guest access.

 

For us, this was a significant issue and will be a factor in our future cruise decisions.

 

 

I would also think it would be a major frustration for those in mid-ship cabins.

 

We had an aft cabin and usually had no problems whatsoever with using the elevators , but then we DID always have the option of the stairs.

 

We did notice that the elevators were NOT coordinated - sometimes missed the floor you had pressed and very often stopped at floors where no one was waiting because the 4 elevators weren't connected and you had to push 2 sets of buttons to get them all to light up.

 

The only solution I see is to get an aft or forward cabin which is NOT great for those that get seasick. (But I also noticed that this ship was the smoothest we've ever sailed on, even in the far aft!)

Edited April 22, 2014 by chamima

[Moray Firth Cruiser]

Thank you GLC and Karen for you constructive comments.

 

It would appear that topics such as this bore some members, ‘ad nauseam’, (sorry about correcting your spelling SD :eek:) or is it that some folk have blinkered views and care little about the welfare of other people. :rolleyes:

 

I said at the start that I was looking for constructive views and opinions from those who have sailed on this class of ship, especially the 'Royal Princess'.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Thank you GLC and Karen for you constructive comments.

 

It would appear that topics such as this bore some members, ‘ad nauseam’, (sorry about correcting your spelling SD :eek:) or is it that some folk have blinkered views and care little about the welfare of other people. :rolleyes:

 

I said at the start that I was looking for constructive views and opinions from those who have sailed on this class of ship, especially the 'Royal Princess'.

 

I'm puzzled by the folks who jump onto a thread only to state that it's not important to them, therefore it shouldn't be important to others...along with those who only want to state that the topic has already been discussed implying that further discussion is not valid. I suggest that they simply move onto another thread that does interest them.

[SwissDave]

I'm puzzled by the folks who jump onto a thread only to state that it's not important to them, therefore it shouldn't be important to others...along with those who only want to state that the topic has already been discussed implying that further discussion is not valid. I suggest that they simply move onto another thread that does interest them.

 

I am equally puzzled as to why people jump onto a thread to say it's a complete mess, and caused them huge issues. Fine, but their views and the views of those who say it is not a problem for them are equally valid.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We are just off the Royal Princess. Ours was a mid-ship balcony, booked fully aware of the colossal design flaw with no mid-ship guest stairwell. It was our intention to just walk forward or aft depending on where we were going. In reality, our destination was often directly above or below near mid-ship.

 

So we found ourselves with extended waiting times for an elevator over and over again. It was a source of great frustration for us as well as other guests. Chatter at the elevator banks was constantly about how small the elevators are, how difficult it was to find one with any space, how frustrating it was to have no stairs when you are going only a deck or two. Everyone learned that you get on any elevator with space regardless of where it was headed, knowing at least you are on board and eventually you will get where you need to be.

 

IMHO Princess should convert at least part of the crew stairwell for guest access.

 

For us, this was a significant issue and will be a factor in our future cruise decisions.

We were going to do 21 days on here in Jan, But We cancelled and changed ships ..

[SwissDave]

Thank you GLC and Karen for you constructive comments.

 

It would appear that topics such as this bore some members, ‘ad nauseam’, (sorry about correcting your spelling SD :eek:) or is it that some folk have blinkered views and care little about the welfare of other people. :rolleyes:

 

I said at the start that I was looking for constructive views and opinions from those who have sailed on this class of ship, especially the 'Royal Princess'.

 

I didn't say it was a bore, I said it 'it has been discussed many many times'. I don't see the need to discuss it again, it does not look like it is going to change any time soon, Princess (and I expect P&O) are aware of the 'issue' and if they think it is causing people not to book in as far as the ship does not sail full, then I am sure they will look again at how they might be able to open up the stairs.

 

I don't have blinkered views, I have sailed on Royal Princess - on the maiden cruise, and pointed out the things I like and didn't like, and what issues there were, and what worked well at the time. I acknowledged that lack of center stairs is an issue for some people, but equally it is not for others. For me, it was not an issue as I only book aft or fwd rooms anyway. Again, I acknowledge for some people who book mid ships it can be a problem, however there are only a certain number of cabins from where the 'mid point' is further away from the fwd or aft stairs. The majority of cabins are nearer stairs than not.

 

Same as outside promenade not going the length of the ship, or wrapping round. Personally I don't care if it doesn't, the areas available were great for sitting out, and there was the advantage that you didn't get joggers going past every few minutes scattering people out of their way as they thumped along the deck. Again, I acknowledge that some people refuse to book the ship simply on that point as walking along the outside promenade near the water is very important to them. In my opinion, they are missing out on a lot of the very good things.

 

Royal, Regal, and I suspect Britannia, has far more new positives for me than negatives, and I would sail on any of them without hesitation.

 

I will say that I have sailed on Sea, Grand, Caribbean, Crown and Royal, and by far the worst ship in terms of being crowded, in seemingly relatively poor shape (my opinion), worst food (for me) was the Caribbean - but I don't go on every thread about CB saying how bad I thought the ship was because there is no point. Some people love the CB, I didn't.

[Iamcruzin]

I usually book mid ship either on the Emerald deck or the Dolphin deck for the purpose of having quick and easy access to the mid ship stairs. I like that I can run down to the IC for coffee and snack and at night we have easy access to our cabin to use the restrooms. DW doesn't like to stand in line waiting for the public restroom. So for us while not a deal breaker for a special itinerary it is a deal breaker for a Caribbean itinerary when there are other ships in the fleet that do have a central stairs. Also since the focus on this ship seems to be the Piazza it is even more important for us to have easy access without being crammed into an elevator. It doesn't make sense to pay for a prime location only to have to do a 360 to get to your room if you want to walk a flight or two up. With the soot issue aft and the lack of a central stairs, forward is likely to command a higher price in the future.

[GottaLuvCruising]

...I don't see the need to discuss it again...

 

So DON'T - nobody is twisting your arm to participate! I just got off the Royal two days ago and this gives me a place to share and discuss my own personal experience, hear about others who might have made it work for them. I'm sure there are CC members who aren't aware of what many see as a challenge. I make the choice to read threads that interest me and skip over those that don't.

[GottaLuvCruising]

We were going to do 21 days on here in Jan' date=' But We cancelled and changed ships ..[/quote']

 

Interesting... Looks like you may have also changed cruise lines (for January 2015)? I hope you made your concerns known to the powers-that-be. It appears that they have not corrected the design flaw in the upcoming Regal.

[spyro1952]

Thank you GLC and Karen for you constructive comments.

 

It would appear that topics such as this bore some members, ‘ad nauseam’, (sorry about correcting your spelling SD :eek:) or is it that some folk have blinkered views and care little about the welfare of other people. :rolleyes:

 

I said at the start that I was looking for constructive views and opinions from those who have sailed on this class of ship, especially the 'Royal Princess'.

 

I'm puzzled by the folks who jump onto a thread only to state that it's not important to them, therefore it shouldn't be important to others...along with those who only want to state that the topic has already been discussed implying that further discussion is not valid. I suggest that they simply move onto another thread that does interest them.

 

Like Swiss Dave said, the pro's and con's of the Royal have been beaten to death here. I am sailing on the Royal on Sunday for 26 days - I'll let you know if it's such a big deal for me. Don't hold you breath though. Like Dave, I love the Grand and can't wait to get on the Royal.

Royal bashing seems to be the default thread when someone just has to post something.

[GottaLuvCruising]

Like Swiss Dave said, the pro's and con's of the Royal have been beaten to death here. I am sailing on the Royal on Sunday for 26 days - I'll let you know if it's such a big deal for me. Don't hold you breath though. Like Dave, I love the Grand and can't wait to get on the Royal.

Royal bashing seems to be the default thread when someone just has to post something.

 

It was a very nice ship and we loved much about it. But until I experienced it, I really had no appreciation for how enormously inconvenient our mid-ship location / elevators / missing stairs would be. And I'm one of the folks who HAS read recent threads about it.

 

I hope you have a great cruise. I'm envious of your 26 days and look forward to hearing your first hand feedback.

[SwissDave]

So DON'T - nobody is twisting your arm to participate! I just got off the Royal two days ago and this gives me a place to share and discuss my own personal experience, hear about others who might have made it work for them. I'm sure there are CC members who aren't aware of what many see as a challenge. I make the choice to read threads that interest me and skip over those that don't.

 

As someone who has also sailed on the Royal, I can also share my views and experience of the ship. My views are equally as valid as yours.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I...I don't see the need to discuss it again...

 

As someone who has also sailed on the Royal, I can also share my views and experience of the ship. My views are equally as valid as yours.

 

But NOBODY questioned YOUR right to YOUR opinion. YOU are the one who said YOU see no need to discuss it, but you keep coming back to discuss it.

[Colo Cruiser]

So DON'T - nobody is twisting your arm to participate! I just got off the Royal two days ago and this gives me a place to share and discuss my own personal experience, hear about others who might have made it work for them. I'm sure there are CC members who aren't aware of what many see as a challenge. I make the choice to read threads that interest me and skip over those that don't.

 

I agree, I didn't know there was a limit to how many times something can be discussed. If its old news don't read it. :cool:

[CI66774]

I sailed Royal in December and really had a good time. I wrote a review and labeled the elevators as "tiny tubes of terror." However, I booked a cabin at the bow and could easily walk up and down the forward stairs. I do think it's a problem - but not a deal breaker for me who never books a cabin in the mid part of the ship.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I sailed Royal in December and really had a good time. I wrote a review and labeled the elevators as "tiny tubes of terror." However, I booked a cabin at the bow and could easily walk up and down the forward stairs. I do think it's a problem - but not a deal breaker for me who never books a cabin in the mid part of the ship.

 

I love your "tiny tubes of terror!" We enjoyed the ship and our cruise very much, but if we were to do it again, never mid-ship! We'd opt for forward and a bigger balcony so we have our own shade at least part of each day.

[CI66774]

I love your "tiny tubes of terror!" We enjoyed the ship and our cruise very much, but if we were to do it again, never mid-ship! We'd opt for forward and a bigger balcony so we have our own shade at least part of each day.

 

I think those forward cabins are the place to be. So quiet and a few of them have much larger balconies (the mini-suites up front). That seems to be a premium location on this ship.

[RickEk]

I would dispute that it is a "design flaw". It is more of a design choice. The stairs are there. The choice was made to not finish them and to leave them for the crew's use. I would expect that the decision to not finish them was not made in a vacuum... in retrospect, probably a poor decision.

[GottaLuvCruising]

I think those forward cabins are the place to be. So quiet and a few of them have much larger balconies (the mini-suites up front). That seems to be a premium location on this ship.

 

But are those the mini-suites whose balconies can't be used while ship is at sea?

[Moray Firth Cruiser]

Thanks for all your comments and please keep them coming.

 

No one is trying to bash the Royal or any other ship. Can you not see that, for some it may be an important factor in selecting their cruise ship?

 

Do you think that ‘Carnival’ bury their head in the sand as some CC members appear to do. They don’t!! Feedback is the life blood of the cruise industry. If someone changes their cruise plans due to an on-board factor on a particular ship, then they want to know why and hopefully address the problem.

 

What does not help is the, I’m all right Jack attitude.