Change of use for Take 5?

[Cruise Puss]

Hi everyone,

 

I have heard that they are changing the use of Take 5 to an arcade!!

 

Does anyone know if this is true or not?

 

It would, frankly, be terrible news as we love Take 5.

 

Cheers.

CP

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

That will be the end of my Princess cruising if they do that. We spend most evenings in Take 5 after dinner.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Cruise Puss said:

Hi everyone,

 

I have heard that they are changing the use of Take 5 to an arcade!!

 

Does anyone know if this is true or not?

 

It would, frankly, be terrible news as we love Take 5.

 

Cheers.

CP

 

I wouldn’t be surprised.  On Enchanted 20 nights, it was used for private functions on some nights, but mostly empty for the cruise.

[MissP22]

We hardly use Take 5, but turning it into an amusement center would be awful. Sounds like something that RCL or Carnival would consider.

[lx200gps]

'fraid it's true. We're currently on the Discovery out of LA, and Take 5 is closed. According to the staff, it's being re-configured for a casino expansion. Someone on our roll call said it's also happening on at least one other ship as well. Huge disappointment, as it was our favorite quiet spot on sea days. Trying to find peace and quiet on this ship right now is hugely problematic.

[MissP22]

2 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

'fraid it's true. We're currently on the Discovery out of LA, and Take 5 is closed. According to the staff, it's being re-configured for a casino expansion. Someone on our roll call said it's also happening on at least one other ship as well. Huge disappointment, as it was our favorite quiet spot on sea days. Trying to find peace and quiet on this ship right now is hugely problematic.

Maybe it's not all bad after all it they make one of the casino locations a non- smoking section.  

[lx200gps]

1 minute ago, MissP22 said:

Maybe it's not all bad after all it they make one of the casino locations a non- smoking section.  

We never ever use a casino, so I would certainly prefer to keep Take 5 as is.

[PacnGoNow]

29 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

'fraid it's true. We're currently on the Discovery out of LA, and Take 5 is closed. According to the staff, it's being re-configured for a casino expansion. Someone on our roll call said it's also happening on at least one other ship as well. Huge disappointment, as it was our favorite quiet spot on sea days. Trying to find peace and quiet on this ship right now is hugely problematic.

Too bad.  Is this an arcade to attract teens, like rumors say on other ships to replace the Cigar bar with an arcade? 

 

 

 

[thera]

Ugh.  That's one of the reasons we booked Sky in November.  Hugely disappointing.

[phabric]

If you watch Princess tv advertisements, they are now showing all young people.  Maybe if they put in an arcade they hope it will bring in the young people and families. 

[lx200gps]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

Too bad.  Is this an arcade to attract teens, like rumors say on other ships to replace the Cigar bar with an arcade? 

 

 

 

All I could get out of a rather surly CSR at guest Services was that Take 5 was closed "...for the installation of slot machines". It's still possible to peer into a small section of Take 5 through the old glass door that used to lead into it from the casino, and as at right now, there is no evidence that any work is being done. The cynic in me says that they will completely gut Take 5, knock out the adjoining wall and expand the casino into the area now occupied by Take 5. Best case, though unlikely, is that perhaps they will maintain Take 5 as a separate venue but with gambling machines installed. No idea what will actually happen and the crew seem disinclined to talk about it

Edited October 9, 2023 by lx200gps

[calvin31]

We were on Discovery at the end of August and we loved it as a place to get away from It all and relax. The modern jukebox (for use when no live music was being played) was a very nice touch. VERY interested to hear what’s happening to this venue. I hope we keep getting “”live” updates from cruisers onboard. 

[jdacombe]

That is very sad news for me and the DW, as it was by far our favourite venue, and as we don't use the casino at all it just represents a loss of an excellent venue.

We were on Sky in April this year, and Take 5 was pretty packed all evening.

As somebody else has said I would probably reconsider my future cruising options.

 

[voljeep]

3 hours ago, lx200gps said:

We never ever use a casino, so I would certainly prefer to keep Take 5 as is.

We never used Take 5 - would have preferred a Crooners piano bar 

[Host CJSKIDS]

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

We never used Take 5 - would have preferred a Crooners piano bar 

 

That's the one thing I miss on the Sky is Crooners.  

[CruzeQueen2]

Currently on Majestic. The space beyond the Princess Theatre heading aft is indeed a small area called the Arcade, with a few machines. Beyond that, in the space on the port side is a quiet spaces called VIP Double Down Bar. I'm pretty sure that is where Take 5 would be on other Royal class ships. 

 

It is set up like a sports bar with multiple large screen tv screens. In May, there were some intimate style game activities scheduled here during the day. Last night a new piano player played some very nice music. She told us that this was her first contract and that she was a classically trained pianist. She may have a chance to perform in the main theatre at some point. Many servers circulate through this space and drinks can be obtained easily from the bar here.

 

That's what I see ...

[Torfamm]

5 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Maybe it's not all bad after all it they make one of the casino locations a non- smoking section.  

It does have doors.  They could make that the casino smoking section. I'll be sad to see Take 5 go though.  It's an area we use a lot in the evening.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

5 hours ago, lx200gps said:

'fraid it's true. We're currently on the Discovery out of LA, and Take 5 is closed. According to the staff, it's being re-configured for a casino expansion. Someone on our roll call said it's also happening on at least one other ship as well. Huge disappointment, as it was our favorite quiet spot on sea days. Trying to find peace and quiet on this ship right now is hugely problematic.

 

I wonder if this is a seasonal re-purpose, possibly for West coast sailings with Casino tournaments?  I know HAL did something similar on Konigsdam a while back on sailings from San Diego that they had a series of casino tournament cruises and re-purposed the Ocean Bar with additional slots, once tournaments were over it went back to original function as a lounge.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by AtlantaCruiser72

[MissP22]

14 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

It does have doors.  They could make that the casino smoking section. I'll be sad to see Take 5 go though.  It's an area we use a lot in the evening.

It could be just a trial to see how receptive the people are to it. 

[AstoriaPreppy]

10 hours ago, Cruise Puss said:

Hi everyone,

 

I have heard that they are changing the use of Take 5 to an arcade!!

 

Does anyone know if this is true or not?

 

It would, frankly, be terrible news as we love Take 5.

 

Cheers.

CP

 

 

This happened on Royal Princess on the first sailing back post-pandemic (Alaska 2022). We expected Club 6, and instead the nightclub had been gutted and some random slot machines plopped down in the space... and every time we walked by, it was completely abandoned. Sadly, there was no real replacement for the nightclub, other than the DJ playing music in the Vista lounge after the band wrapped up each night. 

[satxdiver]

2 hours ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

That's the one thing I miss on the Sky is Crooners.  

I did not realize that Sky did not have a Crooners.  I was under the impression they all did.  This means that we will never go on the Sky anytime soon.  We love Crooners and spend a lot of time there each night.  

[CruisinChris]

Wow this is incredibly disappointing.  Sky and Discovery don't have enough bars with music in the evening.  Plus this room was gorgeous.  Sigh.  Clearly revenue generation per sq foot is stronger with slot machines, so there you go.

[MissP22]

24 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

This happened on Royal Princess on the first sailing back post-pandemic (Alaska 2022). We expected Club 6, and instead the nightclub had been gutted and some random slot machines plopped down in the space... and every time we walked by, it was completely abandoned. Sadly, there was no real replacement for the nightclub, other than the DJ playing music in the Vista lounge after the band wrapped up each night. 

Did you happen to take notice if it was a non-smoking area?

[AstoriaPreppy]

18 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Did you happen to take notice if it was a non-smoking area?

 

I don't remember specifically. It did smell much better than the rest of the casino space, but I assume that this was because it was new (smoke hadn't permeated the carpet/walls yet).

[booklady26]

Speculation only, but I had read that Royal Caribbean was turning their little used jazz clubs into enclosed casino smoking areas. Maybe Princess is doing the same thing? I wouldn't mind that. I always find Princess casinos to be too smoky. Their casinos are too small to have designated smoking/non-smoking areas with no separation. The smoke just drifts all over.

 

I also find it interesting that a number of posters on this thread love Take Five. I have rarely seen more than a few people in there at any time, whether it's early or late in the evening.