New Princess Sphere class ships?

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, MissP22 said:

That's exactly the point.

i.e.- The sanctuary space, cabana's around the retreat pool, Club Class dining, Specialty restaurants. It all takes away a little from everyone else.

I'm waiting for them to introduce different speeds of Wi-Fi= if they can even get the basic level working properly. 

The difference is that anyone can book the sanctuary, or specialty restaurants.  Club class impact has been minimal because it is the same menu (except for one additional item), even table spacing is pretty much the same and the rest of the main dining room.  So not much impact with Club Class.

 

With the changes you have space allocated that cannot be accessed ala carte. The new dining spaces will sold as an upgraded dining experience reserved for that class, so it will certainly have to be differentiated in a noticeable way from the standard dining room menu.  Two ways to do that 1. Elevate the food (expensive) or 2. reduce the quality of the MDR (cheap way)  with Celebrity it was a combination of both such that the overall food budget remained about the same.

[sloopsailor]

17 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Not yet, only after they start moving the concept to the existing fleet, not much of an issue if they only keep it to the new ships.

 

Based on Princess' press release, the changes will be introduced to older ships. The press release copied below states that the Club Class name will be changed. And the expectation is that the amenities and access to additional exclusive areas will also change to match the new concept on the ship. Otherwise, changing the name is pointless. Similar changes were done on the older ships of the other cruise lines that went to the ship-in-a-ship direction. 

 

Club Class accommodations aboard Sun Princess, and the rest of the fleet, will now be renamed The Reserve Collection. 

Edited September 17, 2022 by sloopsailor

[Guest ldtr]

3 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

 

Based on what happened to other cruise lines, the changes will be introduced to older ships, with areas repurposed for the exclusive use of the higher paying passengers. Even Princess' press release copied below states that the Club Class name will be changed. 

 

Club Class accommodations aboard Sun Princess, and the rest of the fleet, will now be renamed The Reserve Collection. These prime-location mini-suite staterooms will offer a new category, Reserve Collection Cabanas that offer a private balcony and cabana, an extra-large outdoor lounge space 

However, that is still somewhat minimal.  Will need to see what they do to Club Class dining in the older ships, might just be a renamed Club class in which case impact will be low. If they reallocate  space in the Sanctuary strictly for that group and dramatically change the existing Club Class dining then the impact might be more extensive.  Will wait and see on those.  Will be more interested to see what happens as each of the existing ships goes through dry dock going forward.  In the meantime we have 72 days booked over the next 12 months.

[Jemnibabe]

Any ideas where they might put the buffet? And what level since they have added more decks.

 

Judy from SW Florida

[HBCcruiser]

4 minutes ago, Jemnibabe said:

Any ideas where they might put the buffet? And what level since they have added more decks.

 

Judy from SW Florida

Not yet BUT when I look at this photo, the deck above appears to be some sort of restaurant with some outside seating. The buffet area? Don’t know yet. 
 

[Kay S]

12 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

 If you don't like it, then your only options are a lateral move to HAL or spend more and upgrade to Oceania.

That's the plan.

[Bgwest]

3 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

 

 

I take it then that you view it as a bad thing. Pity. Well, there's always Carnival.com

 

[sloopsailor]

Just now, Bgwest said:

I take it then that you view it as a bad thing. Pity. Well, there's always Carnival.com

 

 

Not Carnival, but perhaps HAL - unless you cruise with them as well. 

[Jemnibabe]

8 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Not yet BUT when I look at this photo, the deck above appears to be some sort of restaurant with some outside seating. The buffet area? Don’t know yet. 
 

And what deck might that be?

[Bobbiegentry]

1 minute ago, sloopsailor said:

 

Not Carnival, but perhaps HAL - unless you cruise with them as well. 

Not to worry.  I care about you!!!

Never mind what all the other meanies say!

 

I offered the perfect solution for you in an earlier post. Assuming you missed it, it’s reposted below:

How about this - one cabin class and size across the entire ship with each cabin priced exactly the same. 
 

Equal access for everyone to all shipboard restaurants, entertainment and all other amenities. 

This provides a completely democratic cruise experience. 
 

Problem solved! Simple, huh? 

[Bgwest]

7 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

 

Not Carnival, but perhaps HAL - unless you cruise with them as well. 

No, I think Carnival is a better fit for you. Certainly no disrespect intended. Just trying to be helpful. 

Enjoy your cruise!

[HBCcruiser]

8 minutes ago, Jemnibabe said:

And what deck might that be?

Total guess here but looking at the ship photo and deck plans my guess is that photo is on 9 aft? Deck 8 has the life boats. https://www.princess.com/deckPlans.do?shipCode=SU

Edited September 17, 2022 by HBCcruiser

[Jemnibabe]

2 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Total guess here but looking at the ship photo and deck plans my guess is that photo is on 9 aft? 

Wow, that is quite a guess, but I'll take it.  thanks  LOL

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, Jemnibabe said:

Wow, that is quite a guess, but I'll take it.  thanks  LOL

It truly is a guess. Process of elimination too. I doubt it is by the sphere up front. Looking at that ship photo the Sanctuary might be located there. The upper aft now has cabins (suites area) so that leaves one of the lower decks. 🤷‍♀️

[Jemnibabe]

1 minute ago, HBCcruiser said:

It truly is a guess. Process of elimination too. I doubt it is by the sphere up front. Looking at that ship photo the Sanctuary might be located there. The upper aft now has cabins (suites area) so that leaves one of the lower decks. 🤷‍♀️

You very well could be right since the after on deck 9 is vacant.  Also, the front half on a higher deck.  

[HBCcruiser]

7 minutes ago, Jemnibabe said:

You very well could be right since the after on deck 9 is vacant.  Also, the front half on a higher deck.  

And it kinda looks like a buffet area;

 

Decks 7-8 have that spiral staircase often seen in a multi-level restaurant. Having the buffet near a large main restaurant would be easier on kitchen and wait staff (I’d think). ;

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, HBCcruiser said:

It truly is a guess. Process of elimination too. I doubt it is by the sphere up front. Looking at that ship photo the Sanctuary might be located there. The upper aft now has cabins (suites area) so that leaves one of the lower decks. 🤷‍♀️

There is still the question of the space on deck 6, 7 and 8.  Deck 6 is where one of the NDR on current Princess ships.  Deck 7 is wear on of the public entertainment venues normal are.  If they moved the MDR to 7 and 8, then there is still the space on deck 6.  On this ship what was on deck 5 on the Royal class appears to have been moved to deck 6, so instead of most of the public areas being deck 5,6,7 they appear to be mostly on deck 6,7,8.

[Guest ldtr]

For those that do not like the use of the video screen up on the Lido Deck, not sure how you will like the large video screen in the Piazza area.  How they use it could get interesting.  Replacing some of the live entertainment with video?

[HBCcruiser]

2 minutes ago, ldtr said:

For those that do not like the use of the video screen up on the Lido Deck, not sure how you will like the large video screen in the Piazza area.  How they use it could get interesting.  Replacing some of the live entertainment with video?

This? I think it’s just like an art piece not used for showing entertainment.

 

[Guest ldtr]

11 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

This? I think it’s just like an art piece not used for showing entertainment.

 

One of the descriptions of the features of the Sun described a large video display in the new expanded Piazza area.

 

It actually says

 

An impressive LED screen is also showcased in the center of the Piazza that can be moved and configured to deliver live entertainment programming.

 

Maybe instead of MUTS, we will also get MITP (Movies in the Piazza) Certainly hope not.  Maybe they want to make better use of the investment HAL made in their BBC videos.

Edited September 17, 2022 by ldtr

[Fairsky84]

33 minutes ago, ldtr said:

One of the descriptions of the features of the Sun described a large video display in the new expanded Piazza area.

 

It actually says

 

An impressive LED screen is also showcased in the center of the Piazza that can be moved and configured to deliver live entertainment programming.

 

Maybe instead of MUTS, we will also get MITP (Movies in the Piazza) Certainly hope not.  Maybe they want to make better use of the investment HAL made in their BBC videos.

I suspect it will function like the large LED pieces in the atriums of other Carnival or NCL ships. It will display different images, themes, ect. Here's Carnival Horizon...

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, Fairsky84 said:

I suspect it will function like the large LED pieces in the atriums of other Carnival or NCL ships. It will display different images, themes, ect. Here's Carnival Horizon...

Except in this case it specifically says screen for live entertainment and certainly looks like more of a screen in the the pictures they have distributed, located at one end of the Piazza.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

Maybe instead of MUTS, we will also get MITP (Movies in the Piazza) Certainly hope not.  Maybe they want to make better use of the investment HAL made in their BBC videos.

 

Or NITP (Noise in the Piazza).

[eroller]

I wish I could say I was more excited.  I was truly hoping for a brand new design, but turns out this is just another Carnival Corp.  XL-Class platform modified for Princess.  It appears the overall capacity is lower which is a good thing, but just have a look at P&O IONA, Carnival MARDI GRAS, Costa's SMERALDA, and Aida's NOVA for the general idea.  Of course each line customized the platform for their brand as will Princess, but many traits are the same such as basic layout, the midship glass sided atrium, elevator/stair placement, interlocking cabin design, and hull balcony cabins.  Generally the XL Class are high density ships, but the Princess version is almost 1000 less pax so that is a positive.  SUN PRINCESS space ratio will be 40.8 which is respectable.  I guess I'll try to stay optimistic until more is released on the ship, but I admit I was hoping for something truly unique to Princess.    

Edited September 18, 2022 by eroller

[Steelers36]

19 hours ago, ldtr said:

There is still the question of the space on deck 6, 7 and 8.  Deck 6 is where one of the NDR on current Princess ships.  Deck 7 is wear on of the public entertainment venues normal are.  If they moved the MDR to 7 and 8, then there is still the space on deck 6.  On this ship what was on deck 5 on the Royal class appears to have been moved to deck 6, so instead of most of the public areas being deck 5,6,7 they appear to be mostly on deck 6,7,8.

You deck realignment idea makes sense as they probably needed additional below deck for more crew quarters.