New O ship coming

[PaulMCO]

One of the best things about this whole deal is the cost -- the purchase is a reported $82 Million, and the refit is reported to be scheduled at $40 Million, a total of $122 Million. Considering that Marina and Riviera were each in the neighborhood of $500 Million, a little over $178,000 per passenger capacity ($122M/684) compared to $400,000 per passenger capacity ($500M/1250). That makes small ships economically viable.

 

 

That is a good deal considering they paid approx $400 million for the original 3 from Cruiseinvest in 2006.

[bitob]

Thanks here also, Don. As someone who was booked on a 62 day cruise in April 2015 on Ocean Princess (Singapore to Dover) the sale to Oceania is good news. It demonstrates that NCL realizes that many cruisers value these small ships – smart move for them. When we heard about the proposed sale a few months ago, and read interviews with Princess indicating that their future focus was on larger ships, we started thinking…. Cast flirtatious glances at Oceania’s many many promotional emails - upshot was we cancelled the Ocean Princess cruise and booked two Oceania cruises, one on Nautica in 2015 and one on Insignia in 2016. Total of 90 something days overall on the lovely R ships. We have done a 35 day cruise on Nautica and a shorter cruise on Pacific Princess so we know we like this size ship.

As for future itineraries….well I think a ship like this is ideally suited for cruises around Japan; a safe, exotic and beautiful destination. We recently spent eighteen days on a Diamond Princess cruise around Japan. Interesting itinerary (ship too large for us). Lots of small ports, and overnight stays in some would allow exploration inland as well.

 

We would love an all Japan (or mostly Japan) cruise!! Let's hope the new ship makes that a possibility.

[LadyCruisers]

Thrilled with the acquisition of this additional R ship. I feel real positive of Oceania's future direction. I think a lot of the initial worry re the NCL purchase perhaps (and hopefully) will turn out to be unwarranted. I believe NCL is acutely aware of this little gem they have purchased as well as it's loyal following, magnificent small ship's that have been beautifully refurbished that so many of us love. And now with this new addition to the fleet adding the possibility of so many more itineraries and destinations. Wow. I am excited as to what lies ahead. Can't wait for the rest of 2016 to be released in March. Oceania, hope you are listening. All (or mostly) Japan. Please consider it. You have the perfect vessels for this itinerary. Would jump on it in a heartbeat. We have wanted to do it, but refuse to do the big ship's for it as well as having to also include Vietnam or extensive amount of time in China which we do not care to do. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

 

Barbara & Jim

[Floridiana]

We would love an all Japan (or mostly Japan) cruise!! Let's hope the new ship makes that a possibility.

 

Ponant's L'Austral does this. One of these cruise is chartered or semi-chartered by Tauck... if you want a more Americanized experience.

[Emma Chisit]

Yes - Oceania please consider Japan cruises.....Our recent Diamond Princess cruise was our third visit to Japan (the first was our honeymoon in 1966). We also did an independent land tour about four years ago. It is very easy to get around by train, and we used the awesome luggage forwarding system (takuhaibin) to send heavier bags ahead and took only carry-on bags on the trains. Did the same thing this year pre-cruise. So much to see in Japan, and bitob and LadyCruisers are absolutely correct - a cruise only in Japan (or mostly) is the go. The Princess cruise we did was actually two nine day cruises B2B. Each short cruise had a foreign port (Jeju, South Korea and Korsakov, Russia) for the usual reasons. With such a large ship (2,600 passengers), the mandatory immigration formalities entering/leaving Japan each time were time-consuming and trying. Not so with the small R ships.

 

Now, another suggestion….Both Princess and P & O Australia have started cruises to Papua New Guinea. Of course some more upmarket lines like National Geographic Orion have been going there for years. Having lived in PNG for many years in the 1960s and 1970s I can attest to the fact that it is both beautiful and exotic, plus there is the World War 2 connection. Not as safe as Japan, but no less safe than many countries nowadays visited by cruise ships.

Floridiana – just recently Ponant has started targeting the Australian market quite heavily. Will likely have many takers - lots of us are looking for destinations closer to home which are less familiar than the commonly offered New Zealand or Vanuatu and New Caledonia itineraries. Ponant is also offering a Tasmania cruise, which amusingly the Travelers’ Century Club counts as a separate country to Australia.

[Floridiana]

Ponant is also offering a Tasmania cruise, which amusingly the Travelers’ Century Club counts as a separate country to Australia.

 

Very funny! :D

[Emma Chisit]

Very funny! :D

 

Sometimes we mainlanders do think it is a different country....:D

[Mura]

Lyn, I'm not sure if we're on the same track.

 

R1-R5 with Renaissance had the Deck 8 larger veranda cabins. But R6-R8 did not. (I never understood why Ren eliminated the larger veranda cabins on Deck 8 since they didn't really get more passenger capacity by doing so.)

 

As I recall, when Azamara took their two ships (not sure which two those were), they reconfigured half of Deck 8 to have larger cabins. I'm not sure how they compare to the original PH (as O calls them) or "B" (as Ren called them).

 

And I'm not sure what Princess or the others did with their "R" ships.

 

Mura

[LHT28]

Lyn, I'm not sure if we're on the same track.

 

R1-R5 with Renaissance had the Deck 8 larger veranda cabins. But R6-R8 did not. (I never understood why Ren eliminated the larger veranda cabins on Deck 8 since they didn't really get more passenger capacity by doing so.)

 

As I recall, when Azamara took their two ships (not sure which two those were), they reconfigured half of Deck 8 to have larger cabins. I'm not sure how they compare to the original PH (as O calls them) or "B" (as Ren called them).

 

And I'm not sure what Princess or the others did with their "R" ships.

 

Mura

 

???

The Azamara ships did add the larger cabins to Deck 8 well the aft part of deck 8

You can check the deck plans

 

Looking at the deck plans

Ocean Princess & Pacific Princess have the same or very similar layout to Oceania ships

 

Adonia (P & O) looks like the Azamara ships before they were renovated

[Mura]

???

The Azamara ships did add the larger cabins to Deck 8 well the aft part of deck 8

You can check the deck plans

 

Looking at the deck plans

Ocean Princess & Pacific Princess have the same or very similar layout to Oceania ships

 

Adonia (P & O) looks like the Azamara ships before they were renovated

 

Lyn, I think we are having a failure to communicate! I was aware that Azamara altered part of Deck 8 to have larger cabins. (And I did indicate this in my last message.) But as you say, originally the R6-8 did not have what Oceania calls Penthouse cabins.

 

But I also wasn't sure if Princess had done that kind of alteration.

 

Not that this question is so crucial that we need to continue the discussion!

 

:D

 

Mura

[hondorner]

...But I also wasn't sure if Princess had done that kind of alteration...

The Tahitian Princess and Ocean Princess (soon to be Sirena) are the R3 and R4, which were constructed the same as R1, R2 and R5 (Regatta, Insignia and Nautica), and have the larger suites on Deck 8. The former Royal Princess (one of many ships to carry that name), now P&O Adonia, is the R8, so it had -- and still has -- the standard cabins on Dec 8. Royal Caribbean acquired the R6 and R7 through their purchase of Pulmantour, and converted the aft half of Deck 8 to Sky Suites. The forward half is still standard verandas.

 

Princess has changed Deck 5 considerably, with space for photographs and art. P&O has removed the casino on Adonia. I don't know what they may have done to the library.

Edited November 28, 2014 by hondorner

[Mura]

Thanks, Don. I'm glad that's cleared up!

 

Mura

[computerworks]

Wall Street analyst Tim Conder, of Wells Fargo Securities, speculated that Norwegian might be in the market for Pacific Princess and Adonia to further grow Oceania over the next six to 18 months.

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/cruises/cruise-news-multi-million-oceania-expansion-4700810

[MVPinBoynton]

The Tahitian Princess and Ocean Princess (soon to be Sirena) are the R3 and R4, which were constructed the same as R1, R2 and R5 (Regatta, Insignia and Nautica), and have the larger suites on Deck 8. The former Royal Princess (one of many ships to carry that name), now P&O Adonia, is the R8, so it had -- and still has -- the standard cabins on Dec 8. Royal Caribbean acquired the R6 and R7 through their purchase of Pulmantour, and converted the aft half of Deck 8 to Sky Suites. The forward half is still standard verandas.

 

Princess has changed Deck 5 considerably, with space for photographs and art. P&O has removed the casino on Adonia. I don't know what they may have done to the library.

 

 

Hi Don,

I hate to be a nitpicker; but what do you expect from a CPA, that was my job? :D The Ocean Princess, R4, was the Tahitian Princess. The R3 is the Pacific Princess. With so many R's it can be confusing.

[hondorner]

Hi Don,

I hate to be a nitpicker; but what do you expect from a CPA, that was my job? :D The Ocean Princess, R4, was the Tahitian Princess. The R3 is the Pacific Princess. With so many R's it can be confusing.

You are absolutely correct. I got it right on my earlier post about the R ships, except that I shortcutted the list to the last known name and skipped over previous names. R4 was indeed Tahitian Princess before it was Ocean Princess, and Insignia was Regatta for a short time before switching names when R2 was added to the fleet.

 

The error in my last post was what I get from trying to do it from memory, which is not as sharp since I had a small stroke in 2010.

 

I'm a nitpicker, too :D:cool::rolleyes:.

[MVPinBoynton]

You are absolutely correct. I got it right on my earlier post about the R ships, except that I shortcutted the list to the last known name and skipped over previous names. R4 was indeed Tahitian Princess before it was Ocean Princess, and Insignia was Regatta for a short time before switching names when R2 was added to the fleet.

 

The error in my last post was what I get from trying to do it from memory, which is not as sharp since I had a small stroke in 2010.

 

I'm a nitpicker, too :D:cool::rolleyes:.

 

I normally wouldn't have even bothered checking into it; but since we had been on the Tahitian Princess years ago, I had checked it to see if the Ocean Princess was the one we had been on. Thanks for all the other info on the R's.