Princess to Add 19th Ship to Fleet

[Brisbanelionsfan]

Send Royal or Regal down to Australia. The Princess ships down here are very tired looking and the Sea Princess is a disgrace at the moment.

Went on the Royal last year and loved it, would go again in a heartbeat and if we didn't have to fly for two days to get on a ship, that would be a huge bonus.

Cheers:)

[RickEk]

As far as I can tell, the ships are meeting their revenue goals. That's successful as far as the line goes.

 

Princess can and does read CC. But its bookings that control the line, and clearly the class is meeting profit expectations enough to invest eight hundred million dollars or so.

 

I would agree... Carnival Corp. would never have approved a new ship if the current new-builds weren't meeting expectations.

Edited July 31, 2014 by RickEk

[UpcountryTravelers]

We sailed Royal last year, and that didn't stop us from booking Regal next month. Beautiful ships, and thoroughly enjoyed the Royal. That said, the Island and Coral are still my favorites. Somehow, they seem to be just the right size. Just wish their buffet was as well laid out as the Royal.

[Colo Cruiser]

That said, the Island and Coral are still my favorites. Somehow, they seem to be just the right size.

 

 

Yes! They are just the right size. :D

[OzKiwiJJ]

But are the newer and bigger ships suitable for the Australian market, I wonder? Not just on whether the market could support them, but whether the smaller ports could handle the increased influx of passengers.

 

Cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland are OK but the smaller ports like Port Douglas, Bay of Islands, Dunedin, Tauranga etc, and the smaller South Pacific Islands.

 

One ship with 2000 passengers may be manageable, but 3500 passengers may not be. Then what happens when more than one ship is in port. 4000 passengers become 7000 passengers.

 

I was in Port Douglas, several years ago, when a cruise ship was in port. Can't remember what it was (possibly a P&O ship so no more than 2000 passengers at a guess) and the town was bursting at the seams. There were big queues at many of the restaurants for lunch. And that would have been just those passengers that didn't do excursions. I can't imagine what it would be like with a larger ship.

Edited July 31, 2014 by OzKiwiJJ

[Cruise Junky]

But are the newer and bigger ships suitable for the Australian market, I wonder? Not just on whether the market could support them, but whether the smaller ports could handle the increased influx of passengers.

 

Cities like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland are OK but the smaller ports like Port Douglas, Bay of Islands, Dunedin, Tauranga etc, and the smaller South Pacific Islands.

 

One ship with 2000 passengers may be manageable, but 3500 passengers may not be. Then what happens when more than one ship is in port. 4000 passengers become 7000 passengers.

 

I was in Port Douglas, several years ago, when a cruise ship was in port. Can't remember what it was (possibly a P&O ship so no more than 2000 passengers at a guess) and the town was bursting at the seams. There were big queues at many of the restaurants for lunch. And that would have been just those passengers that didn't do excursions. I can't imagine what it would be like with a larger ship.

 

 

Solstice is probably one of the biggest doing Queensland cruises and she's around 3,000 passengers. 500 more might be tough for some of the smaller ports

[Times Prince]

I guess it depends on what your priorities are. We have good friends that were in the Maiden TA and now avoid Regal and Royal when looking for itineraries. Not to say they wouldn't sail them again but I think they're at the bottom of the list

Exactly what we thought when booking our TA in 2015 - the Royal and Regal had interesting itineraries, but lack the multiple dancing venues that are a priority for us. So we booked Caribbean Princess for the 3rd consecutive time.

 

I would hope that Princess does not make just a cookie cutter copy of the 2 largest ships, but will make changes that will lead to the new ship being a distinctive experience that will attract more repeat cruisers by including different venues and features.

[Sea Day Cruiser]

I hope they go back to an Explorers Lounge instead of Princess Live. There were times when people were lined up for a show in Princess Live and many couldn't get in. It's just not big enough and the chairs are uncomfortable.

 

 

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[Geoffa30]

I'd like to know what Jan is smoking in thinking they're successful. Her bar must be set pretty damn low

 

Our Med cruise on the Regal in 30 days is just about sold out. Others cruises look the same. May be that's why she thinks they are successful?

 

This will be our first ever cruise. So glad that some of you long standing Princess Cruisers don't like the new ships as I do not think that I would enjoy meeting many of you.

Edited July 31, 2014 by Geoffa30

[nimiq]

I am also so happy to see Princess build a third ship to this amazing family.

I have been on the Royal and can't wait to try the Regal and then it's future sister.

After being on the royal we did a quick cruise on the Grand and trust me it did not feel them same as the newer ones. I did like the Grand class but the Royal surpassed it.

Yes it does have little things that are negative but in general it has lots more positive.

 

The Horizon Court/Bistro and the Atrium are just unbeatable compare to the other princess ships. What I could go without is the Water show and Princess live to me both are just ok to see once.

 

Sea ya

Eric

[caribill]

I hope they go back to an Explorers Lounge instead of Princess Live. There were times when people were lined up for a show in Princess Live and many couldn't get in. It's just not big enough and the chairs are uncomfortable.

 

Seating capacity is about the same in Princess Live as on the ships that have Explorers Lounge.

 

Now comfort and suitability for activities in Princess Live is another topic.

[A1A]

Count us among those that are a little disappointed that this new ship will feature the design platform introduced by sister ships Royal Princess in 2013 and Regal Princess which entered service this past May.

[dorisis]

But I like the old ships!:p

 

Ditto! IMO Princess should let RCI do the large ships and they should stick with mid to small.

 

But that is not economically wise.

[billco]

Agree with both posters....who says that the Royal and Regal designs are " successful" .

 

Clearly Princess doesn't read the CC comments about the smurf balconies, no OV, no aft pool to speak of and the non promenade promenade.

 

Just leaves more room for me on my favs the Ruby, Emerald, island and Coral. You can fight over the new ones without me!

If I were among the decision makers at Carnival and Princess with the data I would have available, I don't think I would be spending any time reading comments on Facebook or Cruise Critic.

[Commodore]

A 3rd giant horror, I d'ont know if it is good for passengers but I think that 3650 pax is too much for me

 

http://maritimematters.com/2014/07/princess-and-fincantieri-reteam-for-third-royal-class-ship/:mad:

[Colo Cruiser]

Already being discussed....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2079193

[azdmelani]

Having sailed on the Royal and sailing again in just over a month, I'd say that overall, the Royal felt far less crowded than the Grand-class ships I've been on. Once you've experienced the Horizon Court and Horizon Bistro, it's really, really hard to go back to the other Princess ships as they are so far much better.

 

Agree!! After being on the Royal in December, the Crown in January felt very crowded and outdated. I missed having the larger Horizon Court/pastry cafe and the better MUTS set up on the pool deck

[Wehwalt]

Wouldn't surprise me if this was kitted out for the Japanese market from day 1. That would be a big selling point ... let's say it does a few European cruises in 2017, a TA, a few Caribbean before a South America (I imagine it is too big for even the new locks of the Panama Canal) and a transpacific ... it could be there by spring 2018.

[skynight]

This is great news. I think that the GRT is larger for this ship than for either the Royal or Regal, which are 141,000 GRT. Hopefully there will be some interesting changes made to this new build.

They are advertised as the same. Royal/Regal 142,229, New ship 143,000. So I would not expect much difference in size.

[IECalCruiser]

Our Med cruise on the Regal in 30 days is just about sold out. Others cruises look the same. May be that's why she thinks they are successful?

 

This will be our first ever cruise. So glad that some of you long standing Princess Cruisers don't like the new ships as I do not think that I would enjoy meeting many of you.

We are on the cruise after that and it is almost sold out. Balconies are going for about $500+ more than Launch pricing. I have seen few posts with complaints about the Regal. The Royal was not like the Grand class ships and many Princess cruisers had issues with some of the changes. I am reserving my judgement until after we have sailed her. I have issues climbing stairs so will use the forward elevators near our cabin. We won't be able to experience the smaller balconies because of the cabin we selected. I'm sure I will manage the toilet paper location. Unfortunately, with our port intensive cruise, we won't have enough time to really experience the Regal to the fullest.

 

 

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[kimchee1212]

Wouldn't surprise me if this was kitted out for the Japanese market from day 1. That would be a big selling point ... let's say it does a few European cruises in 2017, a TA, a few Caribbean before a South America (I imagine it is too big for even the new locks of the Panama Canal) and a transpacific ... it could be there by spring 2018.

 

I don't think the Royal Class ships can fit in the widened Panama Canal, unfortunately :(

 

Wouldn't this ship have to do a South America re-positioning to get to the West Coast or to Asia?

[Wehwalt]

I don't think the Royal Class ships can fit in the widened Panama Canal, unfortunately :(

 

Wouldn't this ship have to do a South America re-positioning to get to the West Coast or to Asia?

 

Yeah, but so what? The Ruby's going around the cape (with me) next year. If they set it up for FLL-LA, it should prove popular.

[TorontoTL]

They are advertised as the same. Royal/Regal 142,229, New ship 143,000. So I would not expect much difference in size.

 

OK, when they started sailing the Royal, the reports were saying she was 141,000 GRT. So perhaps they have recalculated her size and now the third one might actually be exactly the same size, thanks.

[billco]

I don't think the Royal Class ships can fit in the widened Panama Canal, unfortunately :(

 

Wouldn't this ship have to do a South America re-positioning to get to the West Coast or to Asia?

I believe the Panama Canal expansion is scheduled to open in January 2016.

[RickEk]

I don't think the Royal Class ships can fit in the widened Panama Canal, unfortunately :(

 

Wouldn't this ship have to do a South America re-positioning to get to the West Coast or to Asia?

 

Royal-class ships will easily fit into the new canal. Heck, RCCL's Behemoth of the Seas-class will fit too... just barely. The bigger question is whether they can sail under the Bridge of the Americas...

Edited July 31, 2014 by RickEk