Princess just beat HAL - Congrats HAL!

[InTheWASide]

While I've never had an issue with the way Rotterdam's hull changed after the 2009 (2010?) refit that added the Retreat, etc... Veendam was a total train wreck. The overhangs of the new aft rooms, the ducktail, the fact that the added weight of the aft rooms majorly cracked the dining room windows straight out of dry dock... Veendam will never win any beauty contests and we all know it.

 

HOWEVER...

 

Apparently Princess took that as a challenge and recently decided to extensively overhaul Island Princess. This involved getting rid of a secondary show lounge entirely, moving the gym to an inside space amongst staterooms, shrinking the casino by adding more rooms there as well (approx 200 new passengers max capacity), changing the promenade so it is no longer all the way around, getting rid of nearly every aft facing public deck and venue on the ship, etc.

 

But regardless of the changes, they took a ship that was never my favorite, but pleasant looking enough and perhaps should have considered re-naming the ship "Island Bridge Troll"... It's NOT pretty

 

Here's a quick before/after:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46614536&postcount=493

 

And here's more views if you like:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46604884&postcount=450

 

You can obviously read the whole thread if you want to know what the deck plan changes were, etc... but it's bad. Really, really bad...

 

So congrats HAL, Veendam is no longer at the bottom as far as dramatic hull changes go... Princess beat you. And I'm happy for that! :D

Edited May 27, 2015 by InTheWASide

[3rdGenCunarder]

Sorry, but I disagree. These two are runners-up. Have you ever seen NCL's Epic???

 

What is that large area without windows at the back of Island Princess?

Edited May 27, 2015 by 3rdGenCunarder

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the links.

She certainly does have one ugly back end now.

[zerbot]

Sorry, but I disagree. These two are runners-up. Have you ever seen NCL's Epic???

 

Wow. I just had a google, and that is one *fugly* ship.

[cruz chic]

Weird. Gym on the inside really sucks. It's nice to look at a view when I exercise. The more distractions the better. Thx for the thread.

[sammiedawg]

I don't think the exterior looks that bad but I'm sad that they've torn about the interior on this marvelous ship. We are Princess fans and love this ship. The Island and twin sister Coral are the nicest mass market ships we've ever experienced. We just got off Coral and my love for it was reinforced. Great layout, spacious and beautifully appointed. These ships are widely recommended by Travel agents as best in fleet.

I'll be awaiting reviews.

The Veendam is not a nice ship period.

Edited May 27, 2015 by sammiedawg

[qsuzi]

I don't think the exterior looks that bad but I'm sad that they've torn about the interior on this marvelous ship. We are Princess fans and love this ship. The Island and twin sister Coral are the nicest mass market ships we've ever experienced. We just got off Coral and my love for it was reinforced. Great layout, spacious and beautifully appointed. These ships are widely recommended by Travel agents as best in fleet.

I'll be awaiting reviews.

The Veendam is not a nice ship period.

 

While I have not been on the Island or the Coral I am seen many reviews and comments on the Princess board saying these two ships are the nicest of all Princess ships. While the Veendam has it's issues, I found some "nice" areas that I enjoyed; the Crows Nest for one.

[sppunk]

Island/Coral are the best designed "medium-to-large" cruise ships I've ever been on. They are, errr were, wonderful ships.

 

Seeing this makes my head hurt. :(

[OCruisers]

We loved Island Princess.

So sad to see what they have done to one of our (past) favorite ships. :(

 

Actually, we also liked Veendam ... but not so much after her changes were made. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

[sail7seas]

:D :D This is a riot. We'll happily hand over the 'honor' to Princess.

 

An interior gym amongst cabins doesn't sound like a great idea.

 

MORE guests; no additional public space = more crowded. :(

 

[sail7seas]

We loved Island Princess.

So sad to see what they have done to one of our (past) favorite ships. :(

 

Actually, we also liked Veendam ... but not so much after her changes were made. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

 

 

We have loved the "S" ships since when Statendam joined the fleet and had some fantastic cruises on Veendam. When we last sailed her (summer 2013) she had such a fantastic crew who provided such a wonderful cruise we had to 'forgive' her sad sack 'back'. :eek: Her aft really is pretty ugly but still a nice ship.

 

[cruz chic]

While I wouldn't rush to book the Veendam but I've had 2 perfectly acceptable cruises on her. The Statendam is a hot mess to me.

[Bostonjetset]

I don't think the exterior looks that bad but I'm sad that they've torn about the interior on this marvelous ship. We are Princess fans and love this ship. The Island and twin sister Coral are the nicest mass market ships we've ever experienced. We just got off Coral and my love for it was reinforced. Great layout, spacious and beautifully appointed. These ships are widely recommended by Travel agents as best in fleet.

I'll be awaiting reviews.

The Veendam is not a nice ship period.

 

Uh oh, more Veendam bashing :(

I really liked the Veendam and found her to be a lovely ship. She has some great artwork on board and her flow was very passenger-friendly. The "new" stern certainly isn't as pretty as the old one but I don't think it is THAT bad. I may be biased because I much prefer hot tubs than another crowded pool that is not conducive to swimming anyway. The Island Princess looks FAR worse with that windowless flat wall [and I agree with the previous poster that Norwegian Epic has to be just about the ugliest ship I've ever seen!].

[silvercruiser]

I had one of the new aft cabins on VOV in 2013 and it was wonderful.

[3rdGenCunarder]

:D :D This is a riot. We'll happily hand over the 'honor' to Princess.

 

An interior gym amongst cabins doesn't sound like a great idea.

 

MORE guests; no additional public space = more crowded. :(

 

I agree!

 

Our Princess cruise was about 5 years ago. On that cruise we met a couple who had sailed with Princess for many years. He said exactly what you did. The older ships had a nice ratio of passengers and public space. But his feeling was that Princess kept finding ways to add cabins without adding public space or at the expense of public space. He was about ready to give up on Princess, despite his high past-passenger status.

[innlady1]

Uh oh, more Veendam bashing :(

I really liked the Veendam and found her to be a lovely ship. She has some great artwork on board and her flow was very passenger-friendly. The "new" stern certainly isn't as pretty as the old one but I don't think it is THAT bad. I may be biased because I much prefer hot tubs than another crowded pool that is not conducive to swimming anyway. The Island Princess looks FAR worse with that windowless flat wall [and I agree with the previous poster that Norwegian Epic has to be just about the ugliest ship I've ever seen!].

 

It could be worse, I suppose, but people used to the classic "S" class ships now what a drastic change it was to the Veendam's stern. Cruises on the Maasdam and Ryndam are so much more pleasant with the Sea View Pool.

 

I loved the former Ryndam Caribbean itinerary which is now being taken over by Veendam, and would love to book this winter, but am concerned about it being hot with no air flowing because the hot tubs block any air there is.

 

We've done both Maasdam and Ryndam in the itinerary and on very hot days, the Sea View pool is the place to be.

 

To the OP, this Princess "make over" looks like a disaster...makes the Veendam's stern look award-winning! ;)

[paluni]

The Island Princess was my favorite of the 6 Princess ships I have been on. I was worried what they might do to it. Well, taking away an all-the-way-around promenade deck is a huge loss to me! So sad. Glad I experienced her the way she was.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Princess has succeeded in making the Island as unattractive as their newbuilds, the Regal and Royal :(. I have never sailed on the Coral, but hope to before they decide to "renovate" her also.

Edited May 28, 2015 by SoCal Cruiser78
spelling

[InTheWASide]

To the OP, this Princess "make over" looks like a disaster...makes the Veendam's stern look award-winning! ;)

 

 

Precisely my point. And to the person that said uh oh more Veendam bashing it was just hastily put together. Rotterdan still has a great look about her.

[rkacruiser]

While I wouldn't rush to book the Veendam but I've had 2 perfectly acceptable cruises on her. The Statendam is a hot mess to me.

 

I am interested to know more about your opinion of the Statendam. Other than the alterations that were done some time ago in the Crow's Nest and the Main Theater on all of the S-Class ships, I thought that the Statendam is pretty much the same as she was when she was built.

[KruzPrincess]

The Island/Coral are two of my favorite ships. I'm sad that they are making the changes to them, but I'm sure you can probably have a good cruise experience on the Island. I sailed on the Coral after they reduced the casino and added some extra cabins and the International Café. They remodeled the Horizon Court at the same time. I still loved it. Now, obviously the changes to the Island are more drastic. It won't be the same, but I'd sail on her again. I don't care for the visual, but it's more about the cruise experience for me. Hopefully, the extra 400 people won't have a huge effect. I'd pick the Island or Coral over the Veendam in a heartbeat. That said, I just booked a cruise on the Statendam. Hoping I enjoy it.

[Himself]

Why do they do these stupid makeovers?

[KruzPrincess]

Why do they do these stupid makeovers?

 

For the Island Princess, I think the idea came about because Venice was going to only let smaller ships sail into the city. Princess decided to use the Island for that purpose in the Med. They decided to add more passenger cabins so they could make more money on each sailing. So, the simple answer is MONEY. The ship needed to be refurbished anyway, so they decided to make it into a bigger moneymaker. I wonder about when the cost of the changes pays off in terms of income.

[sammiedawg]

For the Island Princess, I think the idea came about because Venice was going to only let smaller ships sail into the city. Princess decided to use the Island for that purpose in the Med. They decided to add more passenger cabins so they could make more money on each sailing. So, the simple answer is MONEY. The ship needed to be refurbished anyway, so they decided to make it into a bigger moneymaker. I wonder about when the cost of the changes pays off in terms of income.

 

Yes, the Island will become the Princess ship to sail in and out of Venice. Venice cannot seem to decide what size ship will be allowed but Princess is ready with the Island.

Princess also sold the Ocean to Oceania and will probably sell the Pacific Princess. Coral and Island will be moved out of Alaska and the Panama Canal to sail more international itineraries. Of course the expanded Panama Canal will accomodate very wide ships whenever it opens.

[rkacruiser]

Why do they do these stupid makeovers?

 

Father,

 

In my humble opinion, such actions are done because of the attempt to increase the bottom line. And, those who propose such actions are doing so in order to justify their jobs within the Company.

 

My question is: how do such recommendations get through Senior Management's approval?