New Princess Sphere class ships?

[Cruise Wonderland]

I just checked from the database of United States Patent and Trademark Office. Princess hasn't filed registration for any new names as trademarks.

 

Guess they may re-use the old names again, e.g. Sun / Dawn / Sea / Ocean / Pacific / Golden / Star...

 

"Pacific Princess" could be possible as it is the name of the original Love Boat.

Or perhaps "Sun Princess" because it is "Sphere" class?

[caribill]

15 hours ago, MissP22 said:

We also like the smaller ships but lets face it, there's more money to be made filling the larger ships. We just accepted it many years ago & today we don't even give it a second thought. 

 

13 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

Smaller ships mean more expensive, fewer facilities and amenities and fewer dining options.

 

 

Much depends on why you cruise. Is the ship the destination or is the itinerary the most important factor?

 

Displacement of the Seas type ships are usually the destination. But:

o They are limited in what ports can accommodate them, so the itineraries are not as varied as what is possible on smaller ships.

o They usually are in ports at the same time as other similar size ships. This makes for overcrowded ports, often with the number of cruise ship passengers outnumbering the local population.

 

Not everyone is the same, but we cruise for the itinerary, preferring to visit places we have never been at before or places where we want to explore the area more than we did on past visits. We do not mind cruising on older ships without all the modern wow factor venues if we can experience places and sites we have not been to before. (But we do enjoy the larger balconies and the wider Promenade deck on those older ships.)

 

A cruise which just goes to St. Thomas, St. Maarten and an overcrowded private island is not our cup of tea. We also have no need to visit "popular" ports such as Cozumel and Belize City ever again.

 

As one example of a Princess itinerary we liked was one on the Pacific Princess which was cancelled due to the sale of the ship & the pandemic. You will not see the following ports on many (any?) of the current Princess itineraries. A partial list of the ports on this cancelled cruise that started in Sydney, Australia and ended in Yokohama, Japan included 

o Townsville, Australia

o Alotau, Papa New Guinea

o Manila. Phillppines

o Hualien, Taiwan

o Ishigaki, Japan

o Kagoshima, Japan

 

That is just one example of the many unique itineraries that Princess used to offer when they had ships with less than 2000 passengers.

 

[MissP22]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

Is the ship the destination or is the itinerary the most important factor?

The ship is the only reason why we are still cruising. 

[Fairsky84]

I really hope they name the ship PACIFIC PRINCESS. (And they should name the 2nd Sphere-class ship ATLANTIC PRINCESS.)

 

They have a perfect marketing narrative with that name. "The NEW Pacific Princess...Fall in Love with Cruising All Over Again!" The original Love Boat revolutionized the cruise industry and introduced millions of people to cruise vacations. The new Pacific Princess could be pitched as the next revolution in cruising with innovative new features, clean LNG power, etc. It's also the image rehabilitation the cruise industry and the Princess brand need after Covid. 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

Much depends on why you cruise. Is the ship the destination or is the itinerary the most important factor?

 

Not everyone is the same, but we cruise for the itinerary, preferring to visit places we have never been at before or places where we want to explore the area more than we did on past visits. We do not mind cruising on older ships without all the modern wow factor venues if we can experience places and sites we have not been to before. (But we do enjoy the larger balconies and the wider Promenade deck on those older ships.)

 

All very well said and I agree with it all. At this point I am done with destinations for the most part and the ship has become more important.

 

But the discussion I think is the direction Princess is taking to stay competitive in their price point and attract the widest possible audience. Unfortunately I think Princess feels that to stay competitive they need to appeal to a younger, broader audience and that means ships built very differently than a generation ago and it means changes in dining, addition of things like WiFi and changes in dress on board.

 

I like some of the changes, others I don't, but I understand them.

 

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

The ship is the only reason why we are still cruising. 

 

Same here to a large extent.

[Sea Hag]

17 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Certainly would be nice to see larger balconies and a usable Promenade.  I'd even settle for one like NCL's Boardwalk, or whatever they call it.  Large.  Walkable. And multi-purpose.  

My favorite thing about cruising and the main reason I do it is walking laps on an outside deck and looking at the ocean. So, I've been a big fan of the Grand/Crown class ships, with the full wrap-around Promenade deck. Until a few weeks ago, I'd only sailed on the Royal and the Majestic, and I found the walking/jogging track on deck 18 to be a fairly good substitute although there were some flaws. A few weeks ago, we sailed on the Discovery, and I'm a complete convert. They've changed the track on deck 18 somewhat, removing choke points. It's mostly wide enough to get around the folks who insist on ambling around very slowly and four abreast. Don't mind the ambling slowly, but it's really frustrating to get behind them and not be able to get around them at all because they simply won't move into single file or even double. I don't move at lightning speed either these days, but I'll always move over for people to pass. On the Discovery, I think that deck 18 track is a thing of joy.

[richsea]

18 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Certainly would be nice to see larger balconies and a usable Promenade.  I'd even settle for one like NCL's Boardwalk, or whatever they call it.  Large.  Walkable. And multi-purpose.  

Love NCL’s Boardwalk. The problem is, it’s on NCL ships.

 

Celebrity’s M class are still my favorite sized ships.

Edited September 15, 2022 by richsea

[richsea]

18 hours ago, ldtr said:

 

For most ships the retreat pool is not much different than the old Grand class.  Then it was surrounded by the Spa and Gym, with top open. On the Royal class it is surrounded by cabins, but still with the top open.

The Retreat Pool on Royal & Regal is head & shoulders better that that of Sky & Enchanted & the cramped pool on Grand class.

[cruisingrob21]

8 hours ago, Cruise Wonderland said:

I just checked from the database of United States Patent and Trademark Office. Princess hasn't filed registration for any new names as trademarks.

 

Guess they may re-use the old names again, e.g. Sun / Dawn / Sea / Ocean / Pacific / Golden / Star...

 

"Pacific Princess" could be possible as it is the name of the original Love Boat.

Or perhaps "Sun Princess" because it is "Sphere" class?

Gotta hope its not the "sphere princess" (which I think we have deduced).  There is also the "Fair Princess" which was used with the first "Dawn Princess" (ex sitmar ships), but "Fair" isn't used as much as it was.  History aside, "Atlantic Princess" seems like a name that could be used.  But then again, PCL could go in a whole new direction as many cruise lines have recently.  NCL had similar ship names (Star, Gem, Dawn, Jewell etc) for a time, then went to ones with a different theme for their breakaway class ships, and now have steered to somewhat latin names (Prima, Viva).

[richsea]

17 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Or they could just put the deck chairs inside the stateroom in place of a desk, sofa and table. Then they could make the balconies even narrower! ✔️

Or, they could make them like Celebrity’s Edge class, & just have a window that opens half way down!

[richsea]

17 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Yep, a bad idea. There are so many reasons why this is going in the wrong direction! The metal bar, for instance, is right at eye level for most people. And the room A/C is disabled when the upper window is lowered, heating the entire room in hot climates. Dumb!!!

 

Celebrity used to be our favorite cruise line, but this new direction with all the gimmicks they are introducing, has pushed us towards other cruise lines, including Princess. 

 

Amen.

[suzyed]

17 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Yep, a bad idea. There are so many reasons why this is going in the wrong direction! The metal bar, for instance, is right at eye level for most people. And the room A/C is disabled when the upper window is lowered, heating the entire room in hot climates. Dumb!!!

 

Celebrity used to be our favorite cruise line, but this new direction with all the gimmicks they are introducing, has pushed us towards other cruise lines, including Princess. 

 

Good info....when we saw this we thought it looked like a great idea.

 

[suzyed]

15 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

To me, you have just described the Chuck-E-Cheez of cruising whereas I want the Capitol Grille. Both can exist in equipoise. Capitol Grille does not have to add Whack-A-Mole machines to compete or survive. 

My thoughts exactly!  I even wondered how old the poster was that found all those things to their liking?  Not judging but it sounds like a 30-something rather than an old timer like many of us.

[cruisingrob21]

2 minutes ago, suzyed said:

Good info....when we saw this we thought it looked like a great idea.

 

To be fair, the handrail for most princess balconies is very nearly at eye level for the majority of the population.

 

As to the AC issue being turned off when the upper window is opened - it makes sense to me, I don't leave the windows open at home when the AC is on.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

6 minutes ago, suzyed said:

My thoughts exactly!  I even wondered how old the poster was that found all those things to their liking?  Not judging but it sounds like a 30-something rather than an old timer like many of us.

 

My first ocean liner experience was on the SS Lurline in 1959 if that helps.....

[richsea]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

The ship is the only reason why we are still cruising. 

As it is for us. But I still don’t need the waterslides, bumper cars, skating rinks, etc. Just call me old!

[suzyed]

6 hours ago, MissP22 said:

The ship is the only reason why we are still cruising. 

Of course...for us too.  If there's no ship, it's not a cruise.  You can fly to any destination....we enjoy getting there by ship!

Edited September 15, 2022 by suzyed

[suzyed]

3 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

My first ocean liner experience was on the SS Lurline in 1959 if that helps.....

Yes, it helps...you're older than we are!  LOL! 

[SantaFeFan]

29 minutes ago, cruisingrob21 said:

To be fair, the handrail for most princess balconies is very nearly at eye level for the majority of the population.

 

As to the AC issue being turned off when the upper window is opened - it makes sense to me, I don't leave the windows open at home when the AC is on.

 

At least with standard balcony designs, you can close the door behind you and keep the A/C while out on the balcony. Plus, you aren't heating the room. 

[vjmatty]

20 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

I just hope that the new builds do not include "Magic Carpets" Go-Kart tracks or ice skating rinks.  Or Any fast causal food by Guy Fieri. Other than that, I am pretty flexible. 

 

I don't mind the ice skating rinks for the shows..... and they're at the bottom of the ship so they are easy to avoid.

[vjmatty]

19 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

 Don't turn the ship into a floating enclosed building.  that is not what sailing is about.  I can stay on land for that. 

 

 

 

Actually, if they limit the ships with lots of indoor areas to transatlantics.... and include lots of windows.... I don't mind making the ship more usable when the itinerary makes it too cold and windy to go outside.  Alaska excepted of course.

[caribill]

2 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

My favorite thing about cruising and the main reason I do it is walking laps on an outside deck and looking at the ocean. So, I've been a big fan of the Grand/Crown class ships, with the full wrap-around Promenade deck. Until a few weeks ago, I'd only sailed on the Royal and the Majestic, and I found the walking/jogging track on deck 18 to be a fairly good substitute although there were some flaws. A few weeks ago, we sailed on the Discovery, and I'm a complete convert.

 

A big advantage of the Grand/Crown class ships in this matter is that the entire deck is covered, so you can walk around the Promenade deck even if the weather is not perfect.

[vjmatty]

18 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Yep, a bad idea. There are so many reasons why this is going in the wrong direction! The metal bar, for instance, is right at eye level for most people. And the room A/C is disabled when the upper window is lowered, heating the entire room in hot climates. Dumb!!!

 

Celebrity used to be our favorite cruise line, but this new direction with all the gimmicks they are introducing, has pushed us towards other cruise lines, including Princess. 

 

 

I refuse to sail on E class ships for this very reason..... when I found out that even Aqua class is limited to these glorified windows I said no way.  S and M class for me

[cruisingrob21]

33 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

At least with standard balcony designs, you can close the door behind you and keep the A/C while out on the balcony. Plus, you aren't heating the room. 

Ah I see your point now.

 

The irony is I'm going to try a short X coastal cruise next spring on the Solstice to see if they are doing things better than PCL.  Not a fan of the Royal class ships, but I'm sure there are negatives to X as well.  Surprisingly, our HAL alaska cruise this year on the Eurodam was very similar past experiences on PCL grand class ships to Alaska.  We appreciated the more uptempo evening activities than HAL provided in the past, and the climate controlled top deck venues were essential on a rainy july alaska cruise (somewhat rare) - those being the crows nest/Explorations central and the Tamarind Bar.

[Sea Hag]

24 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

A big advantage of the Grand/Crown class ships in this matter is that the entire deck is covered, so you can walk around the Promenade deck even if the weather is not perfect.

Absolutely true!