Princess Grand Ships Need More Than Just Dry-docks ..They Need a Complete Reconfigure

[ABoatNerd]

Princess does not have to follow the lead of any other cruise line - they have the ability to create a specific product that meets their target market.

 

I agree Hank, Celebrity has significantly downgraded their previous product - their "modern luxury" label is bull. Particularly now they are engaging ship design to distract their customers into spending more $ aboard and to "look inside", ie more like RCL every day. I believe that their desire to fill their ships with young hippsters is driving the design, the techno music etc. This of course is fine.

 

Princess has always had an appeal of enjoyment of the sea and interesting itineraries.

 

It is actually Princess and HAL who currently have the higher pressure to confirm what is their particular product offering and adjust their physical ships accordingly. I enjoy Oceania now. A thought though is that HAL and Princess could position themselves as the "larger ship" premium experience - ie for customers who want really good food and service but on a larger ship with more entertainment etc. That would appeal to me, I will not sail Princess or HAL due to food/service standards but I love the size of the ships and entertainment. This model would raise the P & H rates a tad but less than Oceania/Azamara - this model could drain away customers from O and A and Viking.

Under this model, like on O and A, everyone, everyone, on the ship would enjoy the same higher food and service standards.

 

There are alot of baby boomers out there as well as younger folk who enjoy a classy cruise experience with interesting itineraries. Not everyone is a so wished Celebrity hippster.

 

Before Princess updates their fleet, they need to confirm their position in the cruise hierarchy.

 

Ultimately, consumers can pick and choose (I sure do) what cruise lines meet their requirements at the time. Hopefully there will be lots to choose from.

[AF-1]

If I may chime in; I have been on one Princess Cruise last year; it was on Emerald to Alaska. My family had a great time and the ship was beautiful. I am going on Caribbean Princess next February and plan to have a wonderful time. I chose to sail with Princess again because I want to have a nice relaxing vacation without the waterslides, and go carts, and rockclimbing. You get my picture; For me Celebrity is too formal and stuffy; my best friend is my travel agent and even he can't convince me to sail Celebrity. So for now I will stick with Princess. Have fun out there

[Tapi]

In my humble opinion, any “revolutionary” redesign is taken in order to pinpoint space that can be repurposed and where revenue can be maximized. More staterooms, less lounge or open space in favor of more “revenue producing” venues. The end result is more people with less space.

 

Seems like all cruise lines are experimenting with this approach on their older ships, some more successfully than others. Take for example when Carnival took an already crowded ship, the Destiny, and reimagined it to become the Sunshine. They packed more cabins, reduced common areas in favor of specialty restaurants, relocated the adults only “Serenity” deck to overlook the main pool area (which on Carnival is very crowded and loud) and even eliminated an entire deck from the main theater in order to add staterooms in its place, and then turned the downsized theater into a multi purpose venue with removable chairs that doubles as a night club.

 

To add insult to injury, they advertised Sunshine with a “NEW!” banner on their website. The end botched result was so unpopular that Carnival abandoned plans to “Sunshine” other ships in this class and dropped the rights for the new names that they had already selected.

 

In my opinion, some tweaks are fine and necessary in order to maintain a ship youthful, but overly hyped “revolutionary” reconfigurations are not in favor of the passenger’s best interests, but in favor of those of the shareholders.

 

 

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[Hlitner]

If I may chime in; I have been on one Princess Cruise last year; it was on Emerald to Alaska. My family had a great time and the ship was beautiful. I am going on Caribbean Princess next February and plan to have a wonderful time. I chose to sail with Princess again because I want to have a nice relaxing vacation without the waterslides, and go carts, and rockclimbing. You get my picture; For me Celebrity is too formal and stuffy; my best friend is my travel agent and even he can't convince me to sail Celebrity. So for now I will stick with Princess. Have fun out there

 

Trust me that Celebrity has been recently shedding its "stuffy" imagine in favor of "no image." The CEO (Lisa Lutoff-Perlo) comes from the RCI side where she was involved in turning RCI into the floating County Carnival that it's become. She seems to be downgrading the entire Celebrity product so its more attractive to younger RCI cruisers. That being said, we really love the design of the Celebrity Solstice Class ships and hope that their management team quickly realizes the error of their ways.

 

Hank

[EMS8]

I fully agree with you on this Hank! What a disappointment Celebrity has become.

[ABoatNerd]

I also fully agree that Celebrity has become a disappointment.

 

The gimmicks, shrilling for sales and the in your face class segmentation are turnoffs. However, other cruisers don't mind - different boats for different folks.

 

I also concur with the poster who notes that "repurpose" = more revenue generating space.

 

Princess needs to figure out their future product and renovate the fleet accordingly.

[Woobstr112G]

Other lines are reinventing some their older ships, Celebrity is calling it a 'Revolution".

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/Travel_Advisory_Panel_8.5x11_flyer.pdf

 

 

I mean can it be the difficult to hire a couple high profile designers and get the ships into the 21st century.

 

New paint and carpet just ain't gonna cut it anymore.

 

IMHO, adding cabins on either the M class or Solstice class ships, no matter how much public areas are refreshed or reimagined will make ships more crowded. This would be the same for Grand/Super Grand (Sapphire-Diamond)/and Crown Class ships. Look what they are doing to the Sky by adding those extra cabins. Remember also what they did to the Island as well. Just my two cents as other opinions will differ.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Woobstr112G]

I also fully agree that Celebrity has become a disappointment.

 

The gimmicks, shrilling for sales and the in your face class segmentation are turnoffs. However, other cruisers don't mind - different boats for different folks.

 

I also concur with the poster who notes that "repurpose" = more revenue generating space.

 

Princess needs to figure out their future product and renovate the fleet accordingly.

 

While I've been working, I've always wanted to try a Celebrity cruise in one of their higher end suites. I even booked a few but came to the realization that even with plentiful overtime at work, I just could not justify the $$$$$ cost of a Celebrity suite versus the cost of a Princess suite. Now that I will be retiring next year, I will most likely stick with Princess unless I fall into the deal of a lifetime.....:):):)

 

Bob

[nukesubsailor]

I am sure that everyone who has sailed on multiple ships and cruise lines could compile a list of features they would like to see on a new ship. I consider it an entertaining exercise to mentally design a ship with the features I like. Then I ask myself if I would like to pay a fare that would make such a ship profitable to its owners. That is when I realize that I like Princess just the way it is now.

[PrincessLuver]

Exactly! (y)

 

Princess promoted the Royal class of ships as evolutionary and not revolutionary which for me has overall resulted in more improvements than downgrades. While that won’t be true for everyone, if the changes being made to Celebrity are improvements to the OP then that’s where they should cruise. I’ve considered Celebrity & other cruise lines however Princess continues to provide our best overall cruise experience for the price we’re paying.

 

Sure I think that some things could improve but as you wrote “they can’t all be perfect for each of us”.

 

We prefer the Royal class ships even though we pretty much like all Princess ships. Some people are just afraid of change but we are glad to see that Princess is not.

[Anubi]

Those of us that rack up larger numbers of Princess cruises (I have 40+) do that because we like Princess just fine the way it has been. We don't want to see Princess mimicking what other cruise lines are doing, because things like those so-called active entertainment amenities is stuff we are NOT interested in. We LIKE the laid back atmosphere, quiet corners to relax in, low key classy decor, great service, great itineraries, etc, etc ,etc. Princess has no problem filling ships with passengers who like things just fine the way they are!!

 

Those that are not satisfied with Princess the way it is need to move on over to the cruise lines that offer that other stuff that they think Princess needs, instead of looking to Princess to change it's identity.

 

[Cruise Raider]

Other lines are reinventing some their older ships, Celebrity is calling it a 'Revolution".

 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/Travel_Advisory_Panel_8.5x11_flyer.pdf

 

 

I mean can it be the difficult to hire a couple high profile designers and get the ships into the 21st century.

 

New paint and carpet just ain't gonna cut it anymore.

 

 

It may not be a popular opinion based on the reviews I've read on this thread but I agree with you 100%! I supposed we can all agree to disagree! I sailed on the Explorer of the Seas a little over a year ago! It WOW'ed me .... the ship itself, that is, not so the really long lines, spotty service or the mediocre food. (EOS built in 2000, Grand built in 1998, Golden in 2001, Star in 2002) -- all about the same age.

The Grand Class ships could definitely learn a thing or two from RCCL corp.

And, another less than popular opinion ... we think Celebrity is fantastic! It is by far our favorite cruise line and sailed on them as recently as 6 months ago. While I do really like Princess a lot and there are some itineraries that can't be beat (having ships home ported on the West Coast, particularly in SF), I can envision some improvements for her Grand Class ships that would make them much more appealing to a frequent cruiser.

[darstamp]

Agreed. I don't really think they need more bars either. Counting Vines I visited 16 bars on Emerald Princess. Surely that is enough for anybody! (Given that we were on the ship for 28 days it seemed only fair to visit all 16 venues. ;p)

 

HaHa.

 

I am on the Emerald for 10 days in September. Which bars should I skip? Can't afford to do them all.

[reedprincess]

we've been on Regal and Royal..and while we enjoy Alfredo's, we do miss the adult aft pool with Outriggers bar overlooking the wake.

Perhaps you missed the aft - albeit small - pool on Regal? Or Outriggers on bith Royal and Regal? It's definitely there, with lots of comfy seating and same stunning wake views...

[Road Pirate]

Just in the planing stage for our cruise next year to Hawaii on the Grand Princess. I agree that Princess should stop trying to be everything to everyone and concentrate on what has made Princess one of the top affordable cruise lines and just improve upon that. Sure every business has to evolve to meet the times, but wouldn't you rather sail on a ship that keeps a"like new" condition and just improves on what the original design was? I would, and from a re-sale point of view, when that actually happens, knowing that I will be buying a cruise ship kept to the highest standards is like getting a move in ready house rather than a total fixer upper.

[pathi]

we've been on Regal and Royal..and while we enjoy Alfredo's, we do miss the adult aft pool with Outriggers bar overlooking the wake.

 

Best spot on the ship. :)

[voljeep]

Perhaps you missed the aft - albeit small - pool on Regal? Or Outriggers on bith Royal and Regal? It's definitely there, with lots of comfy seating and same stunning wake views...

 

definitely did not miss Outriggers - ate there most mornings when the wind wasn't blowing sideways..;p

 

and no comparison of the 'retreat' pool on the regal to the crown, etc.

[villauk]

It may not be a popular opinion based on the reviews I've read on this thread but I agree with you 100%! I supposed we can all agree to disagree! I sailed on the Explorer of the Seas a little over a year ago! It WOW'ed me .... the ship itself, that is, not so the really long lines, spotty service or the mediocre food. (EOS built in 2000, Grand built in 1998, Golden in 2001, Star in 2002) -- all about the same age.

The Grand Class ships could definitely learn a thing or two from RCCL corp.

And, another less than popular opinion ... we think Celebrity is fantastic! It is by far our favorite cruise line and sailed on them as recently as 6 months ago. While I do really like Princess a lot and there are some itineraries that can't be beat (having ships home ported on the West Coast, particularly in SF), I can envision some improvements for her Grand Class ships that would make them much more appealing to a frequent cruiser.

 

The prices on X next year in the Med during high season are eye watering. We had a less than stellar sailing last year on Reflection which prompted us to try Princess this summer.

 

The extra deck of cabins was most noticeable on Reflection. The lawn was covered, inch to inch, in bodies as there was not a lounger in sight on sea days. First time we've also experienced drunks behaving not so appropriately on a cruise - just not the X we are used to. By comparison, we went on Eclipse over the Christmas holidays and it was a totally different experience. Lately, that's been the problem, too much inconsistency from one sailing to another. I do think, since LLP has been in control, it's becoming more like Royal and that's one reason we turned to X in the first place.

[nbsjcruiser]

I'm happy with Princess as is to be honest. Their ships dont have the water slides and the bumper cars, nor do I want them. We were on the NCL Getaway a few years ago and while there was a lot I liked about it, the pool deck area was like a day at Six Flags. Water slides, booming TVs and music, rinky dink pools that looked to be just an afterthought. You couldn't find a decent place to think for crying out loud. Sometimes its nice just to relax a bit on deck, in the sun with a book, have a dip now and again. Good luck doing that on the Getaway unless you wanted to pay extra for a Haven Suite. I find that many lines are trying to provide everything for everyone and they just end of half assing it. Princess seems to have found that good middle ground for me.

[brucedodge]

As has been pointed out numerous times, different cruise lines and/or different ships appeal to people across the spectrum. Some like lots of activities and bigger ships; others not so much. Though we can be happy on a big ship, our preference happens to be smaller ships.

 

Years ago we were sailing Celebrity more than Princess. Then Celebrity got rid of the three Century Class ships, and started to go to bigger and bigger ships.

 

So we haven't been on Celebrity after trying three Solstice Class ships, and now we mostly go on Princess, but the Grand Class is as big as suits us. The smaller Princess ships are what we seek, and we've crossed Island Princess off our list after the "upgrade" bastardization.

 

FWIW, Bruce

[DrivesLikeMario]

I've been on the Summit twice recently and believe me, the cabins really NEED the upgrade. IMO, Princess' don't need that kind of extensive upgrade, even on the older ships. Celebrity has always had a different MO on ship design than Princess.

[Cruise Raider]

The prices on X next year in the Med during high season are eye watering. We had a less than stellar sailing last year on Reflection which prompted us to try Princess this summer.

 

The extra deck of cabins was most noticeable on Reflection. The lawn was covered, inch to inch, in bodies as there was not a lounger in sight on sea days. First time we've also experienced drunks behaving not so appropriately on a cruise - just not the X we are used to. By comparison, we went on Eclipse over the Christmas holidays and it was a totally different experience. Lately, that's been the problem, too much inconsistency from one sailing to another. I do think, since LLP has been in control, it's becoming more like Royal and that's one reason we turned to X in the first place.

 

That’s unfortunate! We only book sailings where we can find a bargain and the itinerary is actually an after thought. Our flexibility has often lent itself to doing this. I realize it is not so easy for others, though. Our next two cruises we have booked are actually on the Grand as the pricing was not only awesome but the itineraries also looked greaT to us.

I would certainly love to see some other cruise lines (besides carnival with their older ships) sail out of LA or SF. I think HAL might sail out of San Diego, but again, if they are just offering us their older ships, why would I not sail on the Grand, since it sails out of my home port. I see the Eclipse is coming to the west coast for a few sailing ship next fall and the Royal Princess is offering some Mexican Rivera itineraries next spring ... would love to try either of those, but it does all depend on the pricing for us.

[cruisequeen4ever]

The Grand class ships are still mighty grand to me! I love the Royal and Regal, but I still feel like I’m coming home on the Grand class and wouldn’t want anything changed on them other than a bigger buffet. Celebrity is very upcharge minded, so their new ships/revitalized ships don’t mean bells and whistles to me; they mean $$$$. Have fun on Celebrity, OP; you can have them!

 

 

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[XBGuy]

Needs2cruisesoon is becoming one of my favorite Cruise Critic participants. He always poses provocative questions which get numerous responses that are, for the most part, well thought out.

 

I'm going to jump on the prevailing bandwagon, here. I think it is good that different cruise lines appeal to different demographics. If I thought that Princess should be more like Celebrity, why wouldn't I just cruise on Celebrity?

 

I'm now going to get off the bandwagon and offer some opinions that will probably not be universally praised.

 

I do wish the specialty restaurant menus would be a bit more adventurous. Heck, even if they just updated them regularly or added inserts with "specials," that would be fine.

 

I'm OK with the shower curtains. Wouldn't doors on the showers take up more space? In our usual balcony cabin, adding more space in the bathroom means there would be less space in the rest of the cabin. My guess is that space would come from the closet. Alternatively, I suppose, Princess could just configure fewer cabins on their ships. Anybody want to take bets on that?

[darstamp]

The only line that I have experienced with glass shower doors is Norwegian and I love them. No mess on the floor, no plastic curtain flying around and lots of room. In most cases we have been in a balcony room but I also have travelled on Norwegian in an Oceanview and the size of each room was always adequate. Whatever space might be lost to the shower, it is well worth it.