littlesteelo

Shame they couldn't have taken the height up just another deck. The wow factor of the 4 deck high space on the Freedom/Voyager Class won't be matched I don't think.

I've always wondered why that pyramid was eliminated from every other Voyager/Freedom class ship. It acts as a skylight in the center of the Promenade.

Considering the size of the skylight and the distance from the RP to the pool deck, I would imagine there isn't much light that gets down there.

I don't like the ceiling in the Promenade, has the same appearance as precast concrete floor slabs...

With regards to all the tinfoil hat wearers thinking that RCI will be able to track you through the wristbands - The bands will likely be high-frequency RFID, not battery powered therefore only have a range of a couple of feet at the very best. They most certainly will not be able to pinpoint your position.

This means that even if they wanted to, and they don't really have any reason to at all, they would only be able to track you based on where you scanned the band, so for example when you buy a drink. The data they have is no different from using the SeaPass cards. They already use the SeaPass data to see how popular different venues are anyway. That is how they develop new ships, by studying passenger flow.

And besides, why would it matter even if they did have the ability to properly track you? It's a 300m long ship, if you have a problem with people knowing where you are you shouldn't be choosing a damn cruise for a holiday. By definition it is a very enclosed environment.

Another point to mention also is that the cards will have the RFID chips too. Having the old barcode type of cards would mean having two systems for everything, and that isn't going to happen.

Thanks for the info. I know Indy had a problem with the center pod a couple of years ago and ran with 2 pods for months.

It was more than a few months. It had the blades removed from the pod in June 2010, and didn't have them refitted until the dry dock in May 2013. I'm surprised this would affect Explorers itineraries, since we regularly made 21 knots even without the center pod. Most cruise ships don't go faster than that.

I do believe that Explorer has the same type of Azipod as Independence as well.

I read a thread yesterday that the Oasis will be replacing the Viking lounge during dry dock. Turning the entire area into the suite concierge lounge, suite dining and added suites. The current concierge lounge would become staterooms.

 

This is sad news if it's true.

They're replacing the Pinnacle Lounge and the Pinnacle Chapel, which are smaller rooms next to the VCL. The VCL will stay.

She should have been done

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentSitelet.do?pagename=revitalizations

True, but that was back in 2011. It's now getting near the time when she needs to go in again for a refit.

Every ship I have ever been on has had an observation point looking forward; usually outdoors and high up. I see no such place on Quantum. The Solarium, maybe? Anything out doors?

From the looks of it, you will be able to access the deck above the bridge wings from the Solarium.

One thing which drives me up the wall is that the windows on the front of the ship aren't symmetrical :mad:

The title of the room seems more adult like than teen. But, the way the Q info ahs been so secretive it could be anything from a cigar bar to a teen hangout.

All recent RCI ships have the teen lounge called 'The Living Room'. There is no question about what it is.

Princess do still count P&O. I was a gold captain's circle member on Emerald Princess despite never setting foot on a Princess ship before.

The QEII terminal is a disgrace, that place needs knocking down and rebuilding.

Ovation of the Seas is a logical follow up to Anthem of the Seas.

Personally I would like one to be called

Illumination of the Seas

or

Elegance of the Seas

I'm pretty sure you can get them to give you a separate key card for the other cabin. They won't however reprogram the cruise cards.

Richard Fain has stated in his blog during Oasis' construction that the hull is indeed a new marine paint that's pale blue. It increases fuel efficiency by cutting down on the drag in the water. Thus sayeth his highness Mr. Fain.

Just so everyone knows, this isn't true. The bright blue silicone paint below the waterline helps with reducing resistance yes, but that isn't what we are talking about.

I mean think about it, the pale blue paint above the waterline isn't even going to go through the water! It is most definitely an aesthetic thing, and it remains to be seen whether it looks the same as Oasis/Allure when in actual daylight, or if it is an even darker colour. The line on the bow makes it more obvious, something which Oasis doesn't have, as the entire bow looks to be in the blue colour.

Just changing the subject after looking at your photos, the decor In lots of RP reminds me of P&O but that of Britannia is going to be completely different, looking ate artists drawings of the finished interior.

/quote]

 

Having been on the Regal Princess this summer, we have a short trip booked on the Britannia because the Atrium /Piazza especially look very different in their finish and I was interested to see the Britannia 'in the flesh'. Although structurally they are similar, the interior of the Britannia looks very different and possibly more modern.

The balcony on the Regal was adequate, yes smaller but still servicable :).

 

Britannia will be more of a modern boutique hotel look compared with Royal/Regal. I haven't had the pleasure of sailing on Royal, but looking at pictures the decor looks stunning, such a leap ahead of the Grand Class.

As someone who has to push a wheelchair, I am glad to see they have dispensed with the "carpetting" and those awful metal strip edges on the sun decks. Just hope that Britannia is the same.

Kersh, I agree with you that Sharons photos make the balcony look bigger than some others, but it is still smaller than Azura/Ventura, and I do not believe that the cabins are any bigger as a result.

Britannia will be the same in that there will be no all-weather carpet on the decks. What is interesting is that on Ventura and Azura P&O put raised rubber edges on it, creating the issue you have with the wheelchair, whereas on the original Princess Grand class, the carpeting is embedded in the deck, so you don't notice walking across it.

They have tried to go for typical ITV reality tv-documentary trash, basically trying desperately to make it look like Butlins at sea when it really isn't. I could tell as soon as the tasteless 'love boat-esque' titles came up that it was going to be like that.

However, the cinematography in-between the rubbish was very well done, and really highlighted how good the ship is. I think with a ship as beautiful as Royal Princess you can't really go wrong with that aspect. It's just a shame that they couldn't be more serious about the whole thing. I think if perhaps Channel 4 did it they would do a better job.

I have a feeling that this barely scraped approval from Princess, in that the balance between tabloid-reader pandering and the excellent filler cinematography was just enough for them to allow it.

If I remember correctly, this is where the spools for the anchoring equipment goes, and other assorted equipment.

From what I have seen in pictures, the mooring deck is actually the deck below the open bow one. I have circled it (crudely) in this picture. Red shows the openings for the crew deck, and the deck below that is the hawsers and openings for the mooring deck:

I would put money on the lower area of the bow being a recreational area for the crew.

What I don't understand is why we don't have proper renderings of the areas like the royal promenade/whatever and the pool areas. I'm pretty sure with Oasis we knew what the places were going to look like before this point. I mean it's four months away and all they seem to think we are interested in is the dining and Two70!

We have seen the same problems with photographers on other cruise lines.

 

This is not unique to Princess.

Agreed, RCI do this as well. If the photographers are pushy and irritating on a cruise then I simply do not buy a single photo. Besides, I found the pictures on Princess to be weirdly edited, so they all looked very airbrushed and fake.

One thing I hate is dining room photos. I don't want my picture taken while i'm eating. I despise any sort of dining room interruption as a whole, I find it very awkward and offputting when you have singing waiters and parades and all sorts of other crap. They put in such a good effort all cruise to make the MDR a classy dining room, and then throw it away on the last night.

Was any explanation given for the late disembarkation?

We are on this cruise at the end of September and have a coach to meet so would not like being delayed.

Thanks

All they said over the ships announcements was that it was a delay due to 'terminal logistics'

I was on the same cruise, and overall thought it was brilliant. Being used to Royal Caribbean, the ship has pretty much zero wow factor beyond its large outside appearance, but that didn't really bother me. The service was excellent pretty much everywhere.

One thing which has put me off Princess though was the amount of miserable old people onboard. Compared with all my previous cruises, at certain times I definitely felt out of place. During the day though the pool areas were filled with younger people. I didn't think a summer cruise to the med would have such a high average age, but it seemed that on an evening everybody under the age of 50 disappeared! My son, who is very well behaved said he often got dirty looks from older people for no reason whatsoever, and we also did in the dining room from some people on a nearby table. I guess some passengers are just like that :(

Disembarkation was a disgrace, and Princess/ABP/whoever is responsible should be ashamed of themselves. To start, we had to disembark at the QEII terminal, rather than the nice Ocean Terminal which we boarded at. If I was the Queen I would want my name struck from that place, because quite frankly it is a dump! A run down converted warehouse is not a pleasant way to end a cruise. Most importantly though, was the ridiculous delays. We had a disembarkation time of 9:45, and we didn't leave the ship until nearly 11:30! :mad:

She was flying flags and received a fire boat salute upon leaving Giglio...so eerie to see some of her interior lights on. Almost like she was put on life support to be given a last dignified farewell.

Those aren't the original ships lights. They have installed a lot of extra stuff on the wreck, including lights and generators. As far as the ship is concerned now, it is cold and dead. None of that stuff will work again.