runnerodb83

I did a Seattle to Vancouver, overnighted at a hotel, and boarded a different ship to Los Angeles the following day.

 

There were so many ships in port that several people were able to move over to a different ship headed south on the same day.

 

Cr8tiv1, we were with you on that wonderful pairing. Loved it, and met many wonderful CC folks. It appears this opportunity is not available for 2015 or 2016.

 

That's not entirely true. As a former Seattle resident, I always would look for these.

 

I've started putting together a calendar that I'll upload on my website soon. As you said, with Princess, its not possible in 2015 or 2016, however if combined with NCL or HAL, its possible 2 or 3 times.

I think two aspects play into a role - whether its really safe or not and the public perception of safety.

If bookings take a dive because of issues like this, you can be the cruise line will send to different destinations.

I can imagine PCL making early moves to send the ship to more stops in Baja.

We are headed that way at the end of the year - I would imagine if its bad either a stop in Ensenada, or hopefully Loreto or LaPaz in lieu of PV. Although PV is my favorite mexican west coast port.

I personally think Carnival will allow their brands to stay with their differences.

Each one attracts its own clientele whether it varies with youth or the older generation.For instance do you think for an instance regulars with Princess or Holland America would still stay with the Carnival brand if all ships were set to just like the Carnival ships by decor and programs ?

Donald Arnold has already said they will be doing the coordination of consumables across all brands.

I'm sure they will keep the images separate, perhaps the crew training programs too. I found crew on Carnival to be just as accommodating as Princess and HAL - besides, crew comes from a few large recruiters worldwide.

Carnival also own Cunard which does have those practices. It also owns Seabourn which is certainly not low price point.

 

Carnival has let each of its line run fairly independently with their own pretty much their own character. Creates a fair amount of variation within their owned lines.

I don't think it will stay that way forever...it doesnt make business sense from an operations point of view - lots of redundancy.

Thank you for your replies. She is out of sight right now but we will watch for her on her return to Vancouver.

lucky you - what a great view

I've put together a schedule with the bridge cams updating every day and shows the next 7 days of itinerary here:

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/ships/current-ship-locations

On both the Regal and the Royal, The Wheel House (one of DW and my favorite places on the ship)is no longer a separate room but is open to the hallway like Crooners. Did not like it and much prefer the Wheel House on the Grand class ships. Love the leather and elegance.

Well the wheelhouse on the Grand Golden and Star are different than the versions on the other Grand class ships...The former is more of a small intimate venue, while the latter is a similarly themed large venue area with a large dance floor and not very conducive flow to any organized event other than background musicians.

I agree. Some of the things they're changing won't affect me--such as the elimination of the Sanctuary pool since we could not use it. One of the reasons we like taking Princess cruises over HAL cruises is the variety of entertainment in the evening. Without the Universe Lounge, the Island and Coral will have a huge reduction in what can be offered. For instance, on our 2010 cruise on the Island, every night they usually had a production show in the theater, a comedian in the Universe Lounge, and the game show/nighttime trivias in Explorers Lounge, among other offerings.

The wheelhouse could be utilized better. It seems like it should be sized like the one on the grand/golden/star - downsized or at least partitioned.

i fear the worst The R and S class HAL ships were some of the best looking afloat in my opinion - and then they did terrible things to the stern of the Rotterdam and Veendam. Fortunately thats where they stopped.

Rotterdam - which attempted to fix the veendam's botched job

http://www.cruise-australia.net/HAL-R-Class-Rotterdam-stern.jpg

Veendam

http://images.cruisemates.com/cruise-ships/8/4/2/veendam_2009-09-10.jpg

Curious that the Veendam got the duck tail treatment and the Rotterdam didnt.

This certainly isn't a clear webcam image, but it shows her (left side of image) at the Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste...

 

 

May 6, 2015

2 more photos from the past week or two. One shows the transformation of the aft clearly.

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/ships/fleet-drydock-schedule/islandprincessdrydock

I am not sure who is the one totally lost here. Many of Princess ships are sold out.

The problem is, they are totally sold out because many of the cabins are sold at a loss and must re-coup the operating expenses from onboard sales - meaning nearly every crewmember must become a salesperson.

Cruising is still a novelty in Asia, and there are cruises there by Star cruises that are nothing more than floating casinos - and they do very well. Guests using slot machines arent complaining about chair hogs around the pool, food quality, excursion reservations, or need to be entertained. The US based cruise lines are learning this quick. And learning how to make money. And by virtue of being US companies, they are instantly popular.

If the middle class(and therefore target market) of china is only 1/4th the population, thats more than the total population of the united states. You can imagine why Carnival and RCCL have made waves to get to asia and china in particular and done vessel refits that have changed their ships to be more tailored to the market.

Moving the Sapphire and Diamond to asia was a smart move by princess where you can guarantee that a selling point (at least for the japanese market) is that the ships were constructed in Japan.

The North American carnival brands are in a tough spot. Carnival generally competes by itself, maybe a bit with NCL. RCCL is a bit between Carnival/NCL and PCL, HAL, and X compete over the same market. Unfortunately PCL and HAL are too similar for their own good and with their strong presence in Alaska and aspirations to be "Catch all's" providing their brand all over the world, the probably end up competing with each other more than other lines. While they are visually different, their onboard products are much more alike than they are different. I think as its been stated PCL is a bit lost. With Stein now running both brands, perhaps he's trying to differentiate a bit more, move HAL a bit more upscale and cosmopolitan and letting PCL slide a bit and compete more directly with RCCL (larger ships) but still providing more of the "adult" aspect rather than the ziplines and ice rinks that RCCL offers.

I could see PCL focusing more on the north american markets as well as asia and HAL staying where they are at with a nice portfolio worldwide.

To the OP, when did you last sale? I think it's undeniable that the standard of cruising from even a few years ago has slipped and become more of sales on board ala the low fare airline model. However, a lot of what you have said seems on par with things from the last year or two.

I read on the HAL boards and elsewhere that RCCL's business plan moving forward is to raise prices and sail with empty cabins. The "Carnival" method of sailing where the line must get bodies in the cabins and they will buy drinks etc to cover any losses on cabin discounts clearly doesn't work for all markets. I think that some of the upmarket lines are realizing that if you charge a bit more, its more likely to bring clientele that spend a bit more when they get on board. The net effect is more profit.

So the question is then whether the public will react favorably and continue to book cruises at the higher prices, or will they find other vacations?

Heading out on the Coral in a month. Currently in an interior IB guarantee. Received an upsell offer this evening for a move to an unobstructed oceanview for 129 per person, location not specified. Worth it?

Depends on your voyage, I'm guessing Alaska 7 days?

It's decent, but it may be indicative of additional upsell offers or upgrades. Sometimes I've gotten multiple upsell offers, each better than the previous.

By far, the cheapest is public transportation - the RapidRide coaches have a wider area in front for storing luggage. However, its not the easiest unless you have a sense where you are going and are mobile with your luggage.

https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/alaskacruisesinfo

I've done this before many times and would be happy to answer questions. But remember the warning that this method is probably the most difficult, yet the least expensive.

I found another photo of the Island - looks like the "turbines" have been removed (but they are just stylistic elements). Not sure if its permanent or what the point of removing them is - maybe to make the ship look more like the rest of the fleet?

Anyway, placed it on website https://sites.google.com/site/princesscruisesfaq/ships/fleet-drydock-schedule/islandprincessdrydock

It does not always appear to be online, but if you go here:

http://74.92.225.161:32610/advanced.web?s=0;#BZ1Z0Z11ODLZ7Z2U

It appears to not be working today when I just checked however.

Westerdam, Solstice, and Grand Princess in vancouver - that has got to be a crowded CanadaPlace.

I'm possibly the only fan of One5. I think the layout is superior, there's more room, it doesn't shake constantly, bar service is vastly faster, the access to the outside is better and the seating areas immediately aft are some of my favorite places on any Princess ship. You do lose the daytime views but I tend to prefer to be outside during the day.

I'll be the second fan, its a much more engaging venue. I wouldn't call it a nightclub per-se, but its a great place to hang out with a drink later at night. The outside seating is good anytime of the night or day!

I would say on this itinerary, with a few days of questionable weather, go with the grand, fewer passengers and a covered pool help take the buffet overloads.

It took about 4 hours for us to get off the Coral and clear of customs etc. It has us saying that we will not cruise through LA if it is disembarkation port none of the other US ports seem to have the problems that LA does.

Every port can have its problems. Cruised through LA several times, always been one of the speedier ports. Gone through Vancouver, Seattle, and SF several times also. I would rank Seattle next, followed by Vancouver, and then SF. Granted, all of those ports have had their disastrous embarkation/disembarkation experiences.

Incidentally, since yours was a trans canal voyage, it may have been subject to additional screening. There's been issues lately with crew (and some passengers) using ships to smuggle drugs into the US. This may have caused a delay.

Slightly off topic but when ships go to Puerto Vallarta it can be very confusing. A few miles north of town is a time zone boundary and the ship tends to stay in that time zone since its the same as Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas - so basically when you are in PV, you have to subtract an hour from any shoreside clock you see. However there is an added benefit that its pretty hard to be late and miss the ship if you totally forget that note.

runnerodb83 - have they posted an updated drydock picture? Just curious to see how it's coming along.

i've been keeping an eye out - found that photo on twitter - haven't seen any since.

Ok, I'll bite. How would they have done that?? What would they do with all of that inside space on all of those decks??:confused::cool::D

The original Royal Princess had no inside cabins...granted a much smaller ship.

Does anyone know specifics on the things that are being worked on? It is my first Princess cruise and I have read lots of information (good and bad) on the Grand. One common issue was descriptions of mold issues, moisture and leaks. Seems unlikely that those types of things could all be addressed over a week in wet dock - but maybe if they have crews working 24 x 7 anything is possible. ;) Maybe the ship will get a more thorough cleaning?

 

What is very odd if that when you go to look at the deck plans on the Princess website, there is an option to whether you are sailing before or after May. I looked at both and couldn't see anything obvious that is different. Also hard to imagine them making any significant infrastructure changes. Maybe they are changing a venue from one concept to another? Lots of guessing as to what will be different - if anything.

I was on in October, no problems with any of those things - or i didnt notice them, but i wasn't looking either.

As for changing the deck plan, they usually do that to recategorize cabins. But i can't tell a difference.

Thank you, Runnerrod. I see what you mean. The profits wouldn't be taken away from Carnival's income statement, but moved to another division that specializes in smaller ship cruising. That may make sense in that each division can focus completely on meeting the needs of their niche, but there are some costs, too, in that cruisers who enjoy cruising on different sizes of ships depending on itinerary may not build up a sense of loyalty to any one cruise line.

While I agree with what you say about loyalty, it's important to recognize that the cruise lines are quickly going the way of the airlines when it comes to loyalty, and treating it as nothing more than a 7 letter word..and part of that is to blame on us (the consumer) since loyalty is usually just a 7 letter word when price is concerned. Case and point, going on a HAL or Princess Alaska Cruise with the same itinerary at the same date - if the price is several hundred less for HAL, won't most cruisers choose HAL?

Is Princess planning to sell the Pacific Princess? That would be surprising based on a previous post that the ship is profitable. The smaller ships like the Pacific Princess can also cater to passengers seeking to visit niche ports like Geiranger, Norway, that larger ships cannot maneuver easily. I'm trying to understand the logic of why Princess would cede a profitable ship and market to another cruise line, particularly when there are so many cruisers who prefer the smaller ships.

Probably - the question you should ask is "Is carnival telling princess to change their target market" and the answer is probably yes. Go to this site: http://www.worldsleadingcruiselines.com/ - this is Carnival Corps new angle, basically specializing each cruise line with a target market. The ships and ports are reflections of that target market and market segmentation. It doesn't make sense to have competition within your same company between brands (although inevitable in some locales). But basically, the smaller princess ships always commanded a premium price, which was out of touch with the other ships in the fleet. Sure they may have made money, but if you are going to invest $100 in something that will make you 10, but notice you could invest $100 in something that will make you 15 - which would you choose?

Long story short, princess is aimed squarely at the premium mass market cruiser. The small ships are borderline luxury, and not mass market as they cannot offer the amenities that some other luxury lines charge. It's my bet that Carnival would rather have people who enjoy sailing on OCean or Pacific princess sail on the smaller HAL ships or Seaborn.