Princess Names New Ship - CROWN PRINCESS!!

[spongerob]

Interesting, Ernie. Kind of makes it tough to keep track of all the zigs and zags, isn't it? If Crown Princess is sailing only 7-day Caribbean itineraries, it's still going to be lumped in with the rest of that commodity-priced market. I don't know if it's going to be possible to create a niche by creating a higher-quality offering, but I hope they try. It might work.

[bdjam]

Interesting, Ernie. Kind of makes it tough to keep track of all the zigs and zags, isn't it? If Crown Princess is sailing only 7-day Caribbean itineraries, it's still going to be lumped in with the rest of that commodity-priced market. I don't know if it's going to be possible to create a niche by creating a higher-quality offering, but I hope they try. It might work.

It’s shocking to think that quality might be important and Princess might be realizing that, isn’t it? Sort of like the old days – well, sort of...there's still a long way to go – for us old farts.

[stoneharborlady]

Well certainly Crown Princess will be a step up from Caribbean, so in that case I see your logic – that she might appeal to the passenger with more than one cruise under their belt. I can see this with the rest of the Grand Class as well – a less populated ship still with the amenities – we won’t go down the MUTS retrofit path, I promise – would be more attractive as well. To me, anyway.

 

 

Makes sense! You’re a smart guy! ;) [/quote

 

 

Why is everyone assuming that this will be a less populated ship? I read the announcement on the Princess website. No mention of total passengers was made. We dont really know if this ship will or will not have the extra deck that the Caribbean Princess has. :confused:

[Coral]

Why is everyone assuming that this will be a less populated ship? I read the announcement on the Princess website. No mention of total passengers was made. We dont really know if this ship will or will not have the extra deck that the Caribbean Princess has. :confused:

 

I believe it will - the Crown Princess and Caribbean Princess have the same tonnage (113,000). If it didn't have the extra deck - I would think it would be 109,000 like the Grand, Golden and Star.

 

The Diamond and Sapphire have 116,000 but they are a slightly different design also.

[eroller]

 

 

Why is everyone assuming that this will be a less populated ship? I read the announcement on the Princess website. No mention of total passengers was made. We dont really know if this ship will or will not have the extra deck that the Caribbean Princess has. :confused:

 

 

 

No assumptions .... CROWN PRINCESS will most certainly have the extra deck of cabins. In that aspect she will be like CARIBBEAN PRINCESS. The difference is that Princess seems to be going the extra mile to better design CROWN PRINCESS to handle those extra passengers. Were not just talking cosmetic changes here but a total redesign of the passenger public areas. They will be more like DIAMOND and SAPPHIRE PRINCESS .... and even take those designs to the next level. CARIBBEAN PRINCESS had some relatively minor alterations to lounge layouts, but the overalll layout is identical to that of GRAND PRINCESS ..... but with 500+ more passengers. This has always been my issue with CARIBBEAN PRINCESS.

 

I'm thinking that Princess has had time to study passenger flow patterns on both CARIBBEAN and DIAMOND PRINCESS and was able to incorporate the best of both into the new CROWN PRINCESS. Maybe I'm giving Princess too much credit ... but I like to believe this is the case. Personally, I'm pleased Princess continues to refine the Grand Class with each new ship (except for that extra deck of cabins!). They seem to look at the past newbuilds and incorporate changes mostly for the better. I do think it's time for Princess to introduce a completely new design (the GRAND PRINCESS design does date back several years now) and I think we will see this after CROWN PRINCESS.

 

Ernie

 

ps - I also think when it's all said and done, that CROWN PRINCESS might come in at slightly larger than 113,000 gt. She would probably be even larger than 116,000 gt *if* she had the glass enclosed pool. :(

[stoneharborlady]

Whatever her tonnage, she will be exciting and NEW!!! Since the Caribbean Princess was my first cruise ship, she was totally wonderful to me. I never saw a single problem with anything. But I will get in line with everyone else to give the Crown a try. I wish they would do some Southern Caribbean islands during the summer months, as we cannot cruise in the fall, and prefer to leave from Florida.

[PaperSniper4]

The original name for the Caribbean Princess was "Crown Princess" and then they later changed it to Caribbean Princess.

 

I was on the Grand when the new (what became the Caribbean Princess) ship was announced and the Captain said its name would be called Crown. Glad they are using that name.

Hmmmmmmmmm. My wife and I cruised on what I thought was the "Crown Princess" back in maybe 1990. Later I tried to determine exactly when but could not find any info on her...........so they did a name change, eh? Major bad mojo! <g>

 

Wonder why they changed from the crown and now decided to try that name again, or have I got this all confused?:o

[spongerob]

Princess re-uses their ship names. The old Crown Princess, which is now sailing for the German line A'Rosa as A'Rosa Blu, is a sister ship to Regal Princess. Since Princess no longer has a Crown Princess in service, that name is due to be recycled. I guess there just aren't that many names that go with Princess.

 

Ocean and (soon) Royal are also available for newbuilds.

[mbw1024]

Draft Ale is a big bonus :)

[argosy]

Draft Ale is a big bonus :)

 

DraftAle Princess just doesn't fit in with the rest of the fleet, though.

[eroller]

Princess re-uses their ship names. The old Crown Princess, which is now sailing for the German line A'Rosa as A'Rosa Blu, is a sister ship to Regal Princess. Since Princess no longer has a Crown Princess in service, that name is due to be recycled. I guess there just aren't that many names that go with Princess.

 

Ocean and (soon) Royal are also available for newbuilds.

 

 

spongerob,

I was just looking at your past cruises and I noticed you have sailed multiple times on Grand Class ships. I also see you have sailed on CARIBBEAN PRINCESS. It appears you have a great deal of experience, so I was wondering how your experience on CARIBBEAN PRINCESS compared with the other Grand Class ships. I'm talking specifically about the 500+ additional passengers. Was it something you noticed, or did the ship absorb the passengers with ease? Would you sail on CARIBBEAN PRINCESS again or do you prefer to stick with the lower capacity Grand Class ships?

 

Sorry if you have discussed this before as I missed it. I see your posts often so I'm curious what you think (especially having had first hand experience).

 

Thanks,

Ernie

[Tak8]

No mention of an arcade. I hope Princess puts this on the Crown. It's great for down time for the kids. I'd like to see the Crown do the Southern caribbean. It would be great to have Princess year round in the Southern region.

[ahracer]

No mention of an arcade. I hope Princess puts this on the Crown. It's great for down time for the kids. I'd like to see the Crown do the Southern caribbean. It would be great to have Princess year round in the Southern region.

 

As someone who has kids I hope they DO NOT put in an arcade. MY kids find enough ways to spend money without an arcade to help!

 

Scott

[Deloresgardella]

Thanks Druke1 I can never get those straight. :rolleyes: Even though I am getting ready for my 11 cruise.:cool:

Delores

[spongerob]

Ernie, we were on the inaugural cruise of Caribbean Princess. In terms of design and layout, I think Princess did a good job incorporating changes to help with the extra passengers. My only suggestion would be to move the photo gallery from the aft promenade deck to the location occupied by the art gallery. That single change would greatly relieve congestion near the aft elevators, Club Fusion, and Palm dining room. In fact, it would be an improvement for all of the Grand-class ships.

 

I noted some service problems during that cruise, but originally attributed them to the presence of many VIP's and Princess staffers who happened to be on the cruise. In short, our cruise on Caribbean Princess never felt like the Princess we know and love. Had we not sailed on the Golden Princess immediately afterward, I would have come home with a very negative impression. It was a night-and-day difference between the two ships.

 

The staffing levels on Caribbean Princess are not adequate for the increased passenger load. The passenger crew ratio is about 2.7, versus 2.2 on the older Grand-class ships. It is the most serious flaw in the design. Those who don't pay much attention to standards of service or who have sailed on Carnival and RCI's megas probably won't notice the difference. When you know what Princess can do, even in the 7-day Caribbean market space with its commodity pricing, the difference is noticeable. From me, that's a strong statement, because I am not by nature difficult to please.

 

As to your question whether or not we would return to the Caribbean Princess, it's a bit of a moot point. We are going to try and focus on longer cruises in the future.

[bdjam]

Why is everyone assuming that this will be a less populated ship? I read the announcement on the Princess website. No mention of total passengers was made. We dont really know if this ship will or will not have the extra deck that the Caribbean Princess has. :confused:

My mention of less populated ships referred to the rest of the Grand Class, not Caribbean Princess. Given the GRT mentioned, I would assume the extra deck will be there. The additional venues on board will also allow for a better passenger distribution.

[eroller]

 

The staffing levels on Caribbean Princess are not adequate for the increased passenger load. The passenger crew ratio is about 2.7, versus 2.2 on the older Grand-class ships. It is the most serious flaw in the design. Those who don't pay much attention to standards of service or who have sailed on Carnival and RCI's megas probably won't notice the difference. When you know what Princess can do, even in the 7-day Caribbean market space with its commodity pricing, the difference is noticeable. From me, that's a strong statement, because I am not by nature difficult to please.

 

 

 

Thanks for your assessment. I appreciate it. It seems the biggest problem with CARIBBEAN PRINCESS is the reduced crew/pax ratio. Princess added a deck of passenger cabins and I think they felt they could get away with the same crew compliment as the previous Grand Class ships. Maybe they can, as you mentioned those that have never cruised on other Princess ships are unlikely to see a problem.

 

I'm hoping Princess can dig up some space for additional crew cabins on CROWN PRINCESS. This is unlikely and not easy to do, as every inch of space on cruise ships today is maximized. There is no such thing as "wasted space" as space = money. The only way is to increase the dimensions of the ship (length and width) which is not happening on CROWN PRINCESS. Maybe since so many other areas are being redesigned the crew areas are as well? We can hope.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts and enjoy those longer voyages.

 

Ernie

[bdjam]

I'm hoping Princess can dig up some space for additional crew cabins on CROWN PRINCESS. This is unlikely and not easy to do, as every inch of space on cruise ships today is maximized. There is no such thing as "wasted space" as space = money. The only way is to increase the dimensions of the ship (length and width) which is not happening on CROWN PRINCESS. Maybe since so many other areas are being redesigned the crew areas are as well? We can hope.

Or do you think that the redesign of the passenger areas will allow for disbursal of passengers in such a way that the same number of crew members as on a Grand Class ship will be able to do the job? Still, it seems to keep up a consistent level of service in the staterooms, there would need to be an increase in the number of crew handling those rooms, which would trade off the number available for other areas.

One story from the head waiter on Regal Princess was that the galley of that ship took twice as many crew members to run as did the galley on a Grand Class ship because of design improvements. Don’t know how true that is…but it makes you wonder if behind-the-scenes improvements justify to Princess the need not to add additional crew.

OK – I’m rambling… :rolleyes:

[spongerob]

There will always be room for process improvements, but there is a point where too much is being asked of too few for too little. I think the problem with staffing levels on Caribbean Princess might be rooted in the following incorrect assumption. If 1200 crew can handle an absolutely full load of 3100 passengers on the Grand Princess during peak seasons, the same number of crew should be able to service the Caribbean Princess at the nominal passenger load of 3100 passengers on a consistent basis. You can't put people under that kind of stress day in and day out. When the Caribbean Princess is filled with 3rd and 4th berth passengers, the system breaks down.

[Opinions]

Why does everything have to be bigger and newer...Is this the only way cruise lines can attract passengers?...Are the days over when great food and service,enjoyable entertainment and just being on a cruise ship at sea were enough?

[LARGIN]

Why does everything have to be bigger and newer...Is this the only way cruise lines can attract passengers?...Are the days over when great food and service,enjoyable entertainment and just being on a cruise ship at sea were enough?

I do not think those days are over. Princess, as well as other lines do have smaller ships with varied itineries that cater to those that want to the enjoy this type of service..

[PaperSniper4]

...The old Crown Princess, which is now sailing for the German line A'Rosa as A'Rosa Blu, is a sister ship to Regal Princess. .....

Wow. The Crown wasn't in service long! I thought when we sailed on her in about 1990 she was 1-2 years old. Of course, maybe I have the ship's name wrong, but I didn't think so.

 

Thanks for the information on her. Interesting.

[LARGIN]

Wow. The Crown wasn't in service long! I thought when we sailed on her in about 1990 she was 1-2 years old. Of course, maybe I have the ship's name wrong, but I didn't think so.

 

Thanks for the information on her. Interesting.

The Crown Princess entered service July 1990.

[BirmanCrazy]

Can't wait to sail on this new and improved ship! When will she be open for bookings? Has anyone heard of her itinerary? :)

[jsea]

Well, for the first time since Grand I am mildly excited about a Princess newbuild. I am very happy to read that they will be rethinking the whole ship to give it a unique identity, including the atrium amongst other areas.

 

Celebrity really did this well with their Century Class (more for quality, than out of necessity, however).