New Princess Sphere class ships?

[skynight]

On 6/17/2022 at 12:55 AM, Astro Flyer said:

I looked on their VP of Sales FB page who conducts those webinars but nothing is there…another missed deadline with no update on when the information will be provided.

 

If this is a real image of what the new sphere class will be then I don't see anything positive for more passenger enjoyment. The image is just like the Royal class ships that lack many of the things, like a promenade, larger balconies and so on with additional passenger load. 

[5:00_Somewhere]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

I believe Sky Suites on Celebrity have access to Luminae for all three meals. they also have the Retreat, Retreat host, and the Retreat lounge

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/staterooms/suite-class/sky-suite

 

Beat me to it. We've sailed in Sky Suites on Celebrity a few times (with 3 more booked), and have always had access to Luminae for all 3 meals, as well as other Retreat access and perks; Oh, except for assistance of the Shoreside Concierge pre-cruise, which is only available to Celebrity Suites and above. 

 

54 minutes ago, skynight said:

If this is a real image of what the new sphere class will be then I don't see anything positive for more passenger enjoyment. The image is just like the Royal class ships that lack many of the things, like a promenade, larger balconies and so on with additional passenger load. 

 

I do think that's probably just a placeholder image. You're correct that it looks like a very slightly modified Royal Class ship, but I highly doubt that's what we'll see in the end. At least I hope not. 

Edited June 25, 2022 by 5:00_Somewhere

[CruizinSusan70]

7 hours ago, 5:00_Somewhere said:

 

I do think that's probably just a placeholder image. You're correct that it looks like a very slightly modified Royal Class ship, but I highly doubt that's what we'll see in the end. At least I hope not. 

The Excel Class on Carnival has become a real game changer for them in raising the bar.  I am hoping that the Sphere Class does the same for Princess.  Of course there are many that pine for the older, smaller ships of yesteryear, just like there are factions that still like the Fantasy Class rust buckets on Carnival.  That's why they make vanilla and chocolate.

[KhaiLW]

Taking a closer look at the very few photos available… it would appear the Sphere class do NOT have a complete Promenade deck, and instead have platforms like on the Royal Class. Additionally, the lifeboats seem to overhang beneath these platforms, meaning they are out of sight of balconies unlike on the Royal class. It would also appear that the ships will either have the ‘cove’ style balconies featured on Carnival ships/Excel class beneath the lifeboats, or there are some very big windows on the lower decks! 

I’m thankful this design is completely new and Princess haven’t adopted the Excel class which is very poor. Having been on Iona and seen the ‘Carnivalisation’ that has ruined P&O, it is reassuring to see Princess in its own category with the autonomy to design its own ships. I just hope the deck plans are released soon! 
 

Hopefully going forward, once this class have rolled out, Princess shift back toward their smaller ships. Only Island and Coral can go through the historic locks of the Panama Canal and now they’re mostly used for world cruises, those itineraries are few and far between. I fear Princess will lose their loyal passengers if these mega ships are the future of the line.

Edited July 13, 2022 by KhaiLW

[AtlantaCruiser72]

4 hours ago, KhaiLW said:

Hopefully going forward, once this class have rolled out, Princess shift back toward their smaller ships. Only Island and Coral can go through the historic locks of the Panama Canal and now they’re mostly used for world cruises, those itineraries are few and far between.

 

Carnival Corp has made it VERY clear they have no intent of building small to mid-sized ships going forward. Nothing on order for Seabourn (and rumor of the line being up for sale) The last 3 HAL ships have “just” squeaked in under 100K GRT.  Princess has not ordered a ship under 100K GRT in 20 years. The new Queen Anne for Cunard will be over 110K GRT.  
 

The numbers speak for themselves. 
 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Ok, so I’m starting to think Carnival corp are considering fitting out the first Sphere Class vessel for another brand (P&O, Aida or Costa perhaps) rather than Princess. With planned launch in less than 18 months and ZERO information (not even a vessel name or homeport) it does leave one to wonder.  

[CruizinSusan70]

13 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Ok, so I’m starting to think Carnival corp are considering fitting out the first Sphere Class vessel for another brand (P&O, Aida or Costa perhaps) rather than Princess. With planned launch in less than 18 months and ZERO information (not even a vessel name or homeport) it does leave one to wonder.  

Each of those three lines have two ships that are at 180 K tons, which would be the Sphere Class size.  Costa (Toscana/Smeralda) Aida (Nova/Cosma) P&O (Iona/Arvia).   Aida and Costa have been shedding ships, so I can't see why they would be adding a third mega ship. 

It would be nice if Carnival Corp would make up their mind and communicate what the exact holdup is regarding the Sphere Class.  If it's pushed back to 2024, then let us know already.

[Fairsky84]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Each of those three lines have two ships that are at 180 K tons, which would be the Sphere Class size.  Costa (Toscana/Smeralda) Aida (Nova/Cosma) P&O (Iona/Arvia).   Aida and Costa have been shedding ships, so I can't see why they would be adding a third mega ship. 

It would be nice if Carnival Corp would make up their mind and communicate what the exact holdup is regarding the Sphere Class.  If it's pushed back to 2024, then let us know already.

I hope you're wrong, but with the industry in so much turmoil right now I suppose anything is possible. Still, the fact that Royal Caribbean has also not released any info about Icon of the Seas makes me think both companies know July/Aug is a terrible time to launch any marketing effort. With summer vacations most people are not focused on booking their next trip. Even outside of the cruise industry, few products are launched this time of year. Hopefully, both RCI and Princess are just waiting for the Fall to unveil their new ships.

[cruisingrob21]

24 minutes ago, Fairsky84 said:

I hope you're wrong, but with the industry in so much turmoil right now I suppose anything is possible. Still, the fact that Royal Caribbean has also not released any info about Icon of the Seas makes me think both companies know July/Aug is a terrible time to launch any marketing effort. With summer vacations most people are not focused on booking their next trip. Even outside of the cruise industry, few products are launched this time of year. Hopefully, both RCI and Princess are just waiting for the Fall to unveil their new ships.

It's been mentioned before - they will likely reveal info (if any) when they release new itineraries which sounds like not until the fall at the earliest.

[Fairsky84]

Are there any shipyard photos of the construction available? It seems like we get many photos of ships being built from other yards but not Fincantieri’s site in Monfalcone.
 

With sphere only about 1 year from its debut, I imagine a lot of the hull is built. I’d love to see how it’s coming together and what clues we can determine about the design.

[cruisingrob21]

4 hours ago, Fairsky84 said:

Are there any shipyard photos of the construction available? It seems like we get many photos of ships being built from other yards but not Fincantieri’s site in Monfalcone.
 

With sphere only about 1 year from its debut, I imagine a lot of the hull is built. I’d love to see how it’s coming together and what clues we can determine about the design.

In the past, I've had luck looking on flickr or even the google maps page of the shipyard and seeing photos of the ships under construction that staff at the shipyard have posted.  There is part of a hull in the current google maps satellite photo, but it could be a year old and it could be a different ship as well.

 

I think the sphere class will be delayed, but I have no evidence to support that hypothesis other than the financial situation at CCL.

Edited August 19, 2022 by cruisingrob21

[LACruiser88]

From today's news:

 

 

Princess to Introduce Two LNG-Powered Ships by 2025

After the debut of the Discovery Princess earlier this year, Princess Cruises is set to take delivery of two additional cruise ships by 2025, with the new ships joining the fleet in 2023 and 2025.

 

Part of a new class, the newbuilds will be the largest of the fleet and also the company’s first LNG-powered ships. 

 

Here are the details:

 

Ship: Sphere Class I
Debut Date: Q4 2023
Capacity: 4,300 guests
Tonnage: 175,000
Status: Under construction in Italy

 

In late 2023, Princess Cruises will take delivery of the first newbuild in a new series of next-generation cruise ships known as the Sphere Class.

 

Set to become the fleet’s largest, the 4,300-guest vessel is currently under construction at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Italy. At 175,000 gross tons, it will also be the biggest cruise ship ever built at the European country and Princess’ first LNG powered vessel.

 

Ship: Sphere Class II

Debut Date: Spring 2025
Capacity: 4,300 guests
Tonnage: 175,000
Status: Planned

 

A second Sphere Class vessel is set to be delivered to Princess Cruises in early 2025. Also using LNG as its primary fuel, the ship will be built at the Fincantieri Shipyard in Italy.

 

Ordered in 2018, the 175,000-ton vessel will have capacity for 4,300 guests and uses, what Princess called at the time a “next-generation platform design.”

Cruise Industry Ne

[Fairsky84]

11 minutes ago, cruisingrob21 said:

I think the sphere class will be delayed, but I have no evidence to support that hypothesis other than the financial situation at CCL.

Sphere 2 may be delayed or canceled, but I don’t think anything can be done by CCL to delay Sphere 1. Its already under construction and the shipyard needs that ship completed and moved from the dock to maintain their other orders. There would be massive financial penalties to CCL if they deferred Sphere 1 at this point.

 

Instead, I think they’d take delivery of the new ship because it’s probably designed to be very profitable and they can charge higher fares for the latest/greatest ship in the fleet. To save costs they could then sell/retire/layup older ships in the fleet that are less profitable.

[1emerald1]

1 hour ago, Fairsky84 said:

Sphere 2 may be delayed or canceled, but I don’t think anything can be done by CCL to delay Sphere 1. Its already under construction and the shipyard needs that ship completed and moved from the dock to maintain their other orders. There would be massive financial penalties to CCL if they deferred Sphere 1 at this point.

 

Instead, I think they’d take delivery of the new ship because it’s probably designed to be very profitable and they can charge higher fares for the latest/greatest ship in the fleet. To save costs they could then sell/retire/layup older ships in the fleet that are less profitable.

I love your handle!  My first Sitmar cruise was on the Fairsky in 1985 with many more to follow!  One of a kind, those were the days!

[JF - retired RRT]

On 7/20/2022 at 11:44 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

Each of those three lines have two ships that are at 180 K tons, which would be the Sphere Class size.  Costa (Toscana/Smeralda) Aida (Nova/Cosma) P&O (Iona/Arvia).   Aida and Costa have been shedding ships, so I can't see why they would be adding a third mega ship. 

It would be nice if Carnival Corp would make up their mind and communicate what the exact holdup is regarding the Sphere Class.  If it's pushed back to 2024, then let us know already.

$$$$$

[CruizinSusan70]

38 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

$$$$$

You would think that if the Sphere was indeed going to premiere in 14-18 months, a definitive date with bookings to open would be nice.  But Princess drug their feet with the fall/winter 23-24 schedule so they are just doing the same here.   I don't put all of my eggs in one basket with booking cruises and I usually book as soon as bookings open in order to hopefully save money.  At this point I am already into April of 2024 with my bookings.  Will possibly look into a western TA from Europe to Fort Lauderdale in the fall of 2024.

[Fairsky84]

4 hours ago, 1emerald1 said:

I love your handle!  My first Sitmar cruise was on the Fairsky in 1985 with many more to follow!  One of a kind, those were the days!

I sailed Sitmar many times and Fairsky twice… 1984 inaugural season to Alaska and 1985 to Mexican Riviera. She was a special ship and Sitmar was an incredible line. The industry hasn’t been the same since.

[1emerald1]

15 minutes ago, Fairsky84 said:

I sailed Sitmar many times and Fairsky twice… 1984 inaugural season to Alaska and 1985 to Mexican Riviera. She was a special ship and Sitmar was an incredible line. The industry hasn’t been the same since.

Couldn't agree with you more!  By chance on your Mexican Riviera cruise, could that have been a 10 day in May?  That's the one I was on.

[Thrak]

I think going to LNG is probably a good thing but it's sad that the ships just keep getting bigger and bigger. Now places like Bora Bora won't let them visit. I thought the Grand Class was plenty big enough. I don't even mind the larger ones with the Rivera Deck but the Royal Class and now the Sphere Class are just too dang big. We regret that we never sailed on Pacific Princess. Sea Princess was our first ship and we thought she was absolutely huge!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Given the recent deployment announcement for the  Americas, which would have been the PERFECT time to announce the Sphere Class debut, I personally feel construction is behind and she will now debut in Europe sometime in Q2 of 2024, just when is anyone's guess though.  I now expect an announcement concurrent with, or just before, the 2024 summer Europe season is released later this year/early next year.

[cr8tiv1]

5 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

You would think that if the Sphere was indeed going to premiere in 14-18 months, a definitive date with bookings to open would be nice.  But Princess drug their feet with the fall/winter 23-24 schedule so they are just doing the same here.   I don't put all of my eggs in one basket with booking cruises and I usually book as soon as bookings open in order to hopefully save money.  At this point I am already into April of 2024 with my bookings.  Will possibly look into a western TA from Europe to Fort Lauderdale in the fall of 2024.

 

If memory serves me (and I don't count on my memory to always be reliable), I do not recall many new ships making their inaugural voyage on time.  Maybe someone has the data.  Princess is missing many deadlines that would be beneficial.  I like to book way in advance.  I like to know what my options are two years from now.  I can't be the only one.  

 

In recent memory, Princess missed the opportunity to "book" Pier 92  in San Pedro for her inaugural voyage.  The first alternative was horrible.  Her turn around was almost as bad.  A person can't book at the last minute and get a premium seat.  

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I like to know what my options are two years from now.  I can't be the only one.  

We're the exact same way, have 2023 booked with 12 cruises and another 4 in early 2024.

[dog]

Not for me. Too large, too many people.

[Fairsky84]

Ok, this is getting ridiculous. When will we get any news, images, or itineraries for the new Princess ship?

Construction on the ship began a year ago and a lot of it must already be assembled in the dry dock at Fincantieri. Why aren't we seeing any photos? We get tons from other shipyards in France, Germany, and Finland. I'm eager for anything about this new class. 

[Roatanfans]

On 4/30/2022 at 2:34 PM, chengkp75 said:

I believe that the Port Canaveral terminal will only be a storage facility, not a liquifaction plant that would take the natural gas from the pipeline and liquify it for the ships.  I think there will be more tankers shuttling from Savannah to PC to fill the storage tanks, and then fuel the ships from the facility.

Wish they would consider sailing in and out of Savannah!