Two more Royal-class ships ordered for Princess Cruises

[dmwnc1959]

Maybe they will send these to Asia and bring back the Diamond and Sapphire.

 

 

Just out of curiosity, and realistically speaking, is is feasible for Diamond Princess to 'come back' without undoing all of the $30 million worth of extensive modifications that were made specifically to prepare her for the Japanese market? And with that said, will she never come back because of this?

 

:confused:

[Astro Flyer]

Hi Frank,

 

Thank you for continuing to carry the torch. As with the Majestic Princess there won't be new threads from me on Royal #4 and #5. I'll just sit back and wait for the christening ceremonies.

 

I look forward to the construction of the two new ships since they'll most likely be built specifically for traditional cruise markets. It'll be interesting to see what redeployment plans Princess Cruises will pull out of the magician's hat.

 

:D

One interesting point from the CCL press release is the Costa and P&O ships will be about 9% smaller yet carry 18% more passengers than the Royal-class ships. If I calculated correctly that's a passenger space ratio of 40 for Princess and only 32 for the Costa and P&O ships. :eek:

 

"The new ships for both Costa Asia and P&O Cruises Australia are expected to be 135,500-ton vessels with the capacity to carry 4,200 passengers. The 143,700-ton, 3,560-passenger ships for Princess Cruises will be the brand's fourth and fifth Royal-class vessels".

Edited April 2, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[dmwnc1959]

One interesting point from the CCL press release is the Costa and P&O ships will be about 9% smaller yet carry 18% more passengers than the Royal-class ships. If I calculated correctly that's a passenger space ratio of 40 for Princess and only 32 for the Costa and P&O ships. :eek:

 

"The new ships for both Costa Asia and P&O Cruises Australia are expected to be 135,500-ton vessels with the capacity to carry 4,200 passengers. The 143,700-ton, 3,560-passenger ships for Princess Cruises will be the brand's fourth and fifth Royal-class vessels".

 

 

It didn't mention or hint at which class (platform) these two ships for Costa Asia and P&O Australia would be built from. I guess it might be possible to guess that from the reported tonnage?

Edited April 2, 2016 by dmwnc1959

[IECalCruiser]

One interesting point from the CCL press release is the Costa and P&O ships will be about 9% smaller yet carry 18% more passengers than the Royal-class ships. If I calculated correctly that's a passenger space ratio of 40 for Princess and only 32 for the Costa and P&O ships. :eek:

 

"The new ships for both Costa Asia and P&O Cruises Australia are expected to be 135,500-ton vessels with the capacity to carry 4,200 passengers. The 143,700-ton, 3,560-passenger ships for Princess Cruises will be the brand's fourth and fifth Royal-class vessels".

I wonder if the Costa ships and the P&O ship will be modifications to the current Costa flagship, the 132,500-ton Costa Diadema (Dream)?

 

Tonnage is just a measure of volume. The Royal and Regal are 141,000-ton while the Majestic is 143,000-ton and the new builds will be 143,700-ton. At least part of the 2,000-ton increase in volume on the Majestic is the addition of 60 mini-suites on Emerald deck that extend over the Promenade deck about 9-10 feet. Looks like the will be a little more space added to the new builds somewhere.

Edited April 2, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[riclop]

I saw this coming a couple of years ago when I said there'd be at least five of them built:

 

"Carnival Corporation today announced that it has finalized contracts with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri S.p.A. to build five new cruise ships as part of a memorandum of agreement announced in 2015.

 

The five new ships include two that will be built for Costa Asia for deployment in China, two ships for Princess Cruises and one designated for P&O Cruises Australia, with deliveries expected in 2019 and 2020.

 

The contracts were formalized during a signing ceremony held today as part of the official handover ceremony for Holland America Line's ms Koningsdam at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera, Italy, attended by Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Graziano Delrio, Carnival Corporation Chairman Micky Arison, Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and Fincantieri CEO Giuseppe Bono.

 

Also in attendance were Stein Kruse, CEO of Holland America Group, which includes the company's Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises Australia and Seabourn brands; Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Group, which includes AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises and Costa Asia; Neil Palomba, president of Costa Cruises; and Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line.

 

The new ships for both Costa Asia and P&O Cruises Australia are expected to be 135,500-ton vessels with the capacity to carry 4,200 passengers. The 143,700-ton, 3,560-passenger ships for Princess Cruises will be the brand's fourth and fifth Royal-class vessels, featuring the design platform used on Royal Princess, Regal Princess and the new Majestic Princess coming in 2017.

 

"Today has been especially exciting for our company, our partners and our guests, as we celebrated the arrival of our amazing ms Koningsdam ship and officially signed agreements with Fincantieri to build five new cruise ships for the future," said Arnold Donald. "Supporting our goal to exceed guest expectations on every cruise, these new ships will create a whole new level of excitement and opportunity to deliver experiences that our guests will not only remember for the rest of their lives, but will also share with others. Using our strategic fleet enhancement plan to delight our guests is an important part of our measured growth strategy, which includes replacing less efficient ships with newer, larger and more efficient vessels over a very specific period of time."

 

"We are extremely proud of the strong commitment between Carnival Corporation and Fincantieri over the years, which signifies our dedication to excellence in product diversification and quality," said Giuseppe Bono. "Today, we further strengthen the relationship with our friends at Carnival Corporation, a partnership that has enabled both groups to grow over the years and which is further reinforced by an unprecedented strategic agreement. Thanks to our strategic partnership, we look forward to the future, and the potential to develop new projects while working together to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that the market will present us."

 

Source: Cruise Industry News

 

:D

Thanks Dave for the news and it's very nice to hear from you. Best to you!!!!

[arctickitty]

thanks for posting this update

[ar1950]

Thanks Dave for the update. Always nice to see you posting around here. As far as the new ships being a continuation of the Royal and Regal, fine by us as we totally enjoyed the Regal, and, for different reasons than why we have enjoyed the other Princess Ships that we have been on.

 

Look forward to seeing posts from you in the future when you again have more time for cruising. :cool:

[Guest arowe6]

This means two new great threads from you Dave ;)

 

-Andrew

[shredie]

Just out of curiosity, and realistically speaking, is is feasible for Diamond Princess to 'come back' without undoing all of the $30 million worth of extensive modifications that were made specifically to prepare her for the Japanese market? And with that said, will she never come back because of this?

 

:confused:

 

That's a good question. I was on the Diamond earlier this month (NZ) and while I did notice the Japanese influence, I don't think it detracted too much from what was essentially a Princess cruise. I guess the obvious changes were the auto-potties (which looked pretty scary!), the sushi restaurant, the two higher-end boutiques and the signs here and there in Japanese. If Princess is going to keep sending ships to Asia, seems they will need to bring some back to the US to balance things out.

[CruiseAdict218]

I wonder if the Costa ships and the P&O ship will be modifications to the current Costa flagship, the 132,500-ton Costa Diadema (Dream)?

 

No, completely new design, based off of LNG power. Not sure if the P&O one will be LNG or traditional power.

 

Tonnage is just a measure of volume. The Royal and Regal are 141,000-ton while the Majestic is 143,000-ton and the new builds will be 143,700-ton. At least part of the 2,000-ton increase in volume on the Majestic is the addition of 60 mini-suites on Emerald deck that extend over the Promenade deck about 9-10 feet. Looks like the will be a little more space added to the new builds somewhere.

 

Loved the Regal Princess, but I did miss a few things, the lack of that center stairwell I believe was one of the big issues with these sisters, will it be corrected on the Majestic? Subsequently, #4 & #5 as well?

 

Would also like to see 1 based on the East Coast and bring over the Golden/Diamond/Sapphire. Would like to sail on them.

[Clarea]

Thanks for sharing this.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing this.

 

keith

[crochetcruise]

I personally hope at least 1 Handicapped Accessible Vista Suite-the lowest classification, has been included on each of the new ships.

 

I have seen the deck plan of the Majestic Princess, and my only Suite Option would be a Penthouse, which, travelling solo, is expensive and way out of my price range. :(

 

With an aging population, the need for Handicapped Accessible staterooms will only continue to increase.

 

Just my personal opinion, others may think differently.

[dmwnc1959]

This means two new great threads from you Dave ;)

 

-Andrew

 

 

I'm officially retired. lol I'll leave that in the hands of someone more capable. Any volunteers....Andrew? ;)

 

:D

[dmwnc1959]

That's a good question. I was on the Diamond earlier this month (NZ) and while I did notice the Japanese influence, I don't think it detracted too much from what was essentially a Princess cruise. I guess the obvious changes were the auto-potties (which looked pretty scary!), the sushi restaurant, the two higher-end boutiques and the signs here and there in Japanese. If Princess is going to keep sending ships to Asia, seems they will need to bring some back to the US to balance things out.

 

 

Wasn't there a fairly large unisex bath house or something also added?

 

:confused:

Edited April 3, 2016 by dmwnc1959

[Grego]

Definitely good news for all of us that love the Royal Class ships and are both shareholders and stakeholders in Princess Cruises.

 

Carnival is making a very strong marketing statement by contracting the build of this size and style of ship by saying the itinerary and style of ship to get you there is important and not making the ship the overall destination. The size of the ship is critical to be able to get to some unique locations without having to tender off 5,000 passengers at ports where the mega ships can't dock. Huge ships can be filled in the Caribbean and that's where they will play.

 

Those of us that love cruising to get to our favorite locations appreciate this rather than making the ship a floating bus theme park.

[Coral]

I honestly think it is sad that they keep with one class of ship with many ships with the same layout.

 

I liked it better when there was a choice of classes of ships - there were a few (old) Crown class, a few Sun Class, a few Coral class, a few Grand class and a few Diamond class. A variety that gave people choices.

 

Some of us really do like the Promenade deck.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Coral

[Pam in CA]

Looking forward to the new ships and assume the Royal and/or Regal will be repositioned to the West coast. Kind of figured that's what Princess would have to do after repositioning several ships that used to sail on the West coast to Japan and Australia.

 

I have no problems with the design of the Royal/Regal other than no oceanview cabins I'm on the Royal for ten days in just over a week in an inside for the first time in years.

[chamima]

Hi Dave!

 

Thanks so much for this good news.

We've sailed on the Royal three times and love her.

 

Happy to more sisters and I'm hoping that maybe now Princess will do some longer Caribbean cruises!

[MTdreaming]

I just hope they have more of a promenade deck!!! That is my biggest concern with these ships. I know they added a semi-promenade after the first one.. but more please!!

[shredie]

Wasn't there a fairly large unisex bath house or something also added?

 

:confused:

 

Oh yes. I forgot the Japanese bath. It's not particularly large, maybe like a bigger hot tub. It's on the spa level at the aft. I never saw anyone in it. If they were to reduce the daily charge for it, it would fill up faster used as a regular outdoor hot tub. Now what they did inside the spa, I don't really know.

[dmwnc1959]

Hi Dave!

 

Thanks so much for this good news.

We've sailed on the Royal three times and love her.

 

Happy to more sisters and I'm hoping that maybe now Princess will do some longer Caribbean cruises!

 

 

Hi Karen,

 

I'd love to do a true 14- or 20-night single-loop Caribbean sailing on one of these beauties.

 

:D

 

 

I just hope they have more of a promenade deck!!! That is my biggest concern with these ships. I know they added a semi-promenade after the first one.. but more please!!

 

 

The promenade deck will remain unchanged from what's offered on Regal Princess. They won't wrap it around the stern and it can't wrap around the bow. They also won't extend the width of it anymore than what's already in place on the current ships. The only change from Royal to Regal is that they opened up what's behind the lifeboats. It won't get any better than that.

 

:cool:

[IECalCruiser]

Wasn't there a fairly large unisex bath house or something also added?

 

:confused:

I believe that there are two sides to the bath, one for women and one for men and there is no clothing in the bath. The sides change throughout the day so men and women can be in either side. The outside pool is for all and swimwear is required.

[IECalCruiser]

...The promenade deck will remain unchanged from what's offered on Regal Princess. They won't wrap it around the stern and it can't wrap around the bow. They also won't extend the width of it anymore than what's already in place on the current ships. The only change from Royal to Regal is that they opened up what's behind the lifeboats. It won't get any better than that.

 

 

 

:cool:

There is a minor change on the Majestic. Mini-suites have been added forward and aft of the lifeboats. They extend out about 9-10 feet so there will be cover over the aft portion of the Promenade deck.

[dmwnc1959]

There is a minor change on the Majestic. Mini-suites have been added forward and aft of the lifeboats. They extend out about 9-10 feet so there will be cover over the aft portion of the Promenade deck.

 

 

Hi Brian,

 

I did see pictures from your thread back in December. Those mini-suite changes won't add to the physical size or dimensions of the promenade deck itself, just make it partially (?) covered aft. Not a real plus in my book, as I enjoyed sitting out there in near solitude (albeit on the 'shady side' of the ship) with nothing above me but sky.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=48600532&postcount=12

 

:D

Edited April 3, 2016 by dmwnc1959