littlesteelo

Your kids will be able to get pizza on the pool deck, plus there likely will be pasta in the buffet and dining rooms for lunch and dinner.

The cruise you are on is the first of the school summer break in the UK, and therefore will be packed with teens for yours to hang out with. I think there were around 1000 under 18's on my cruise on Ventura in summer 2011, and of that 1000, about half were teenagers.

The P&O Cruises ship Ventura had a similar fracture a few months before its dry dock last year. However the aluminium deck was not pushed up in any way like on Grandeur, just a few inches apart. They just covered it up and bolted some plates on to stop the two sides spreading so much. They then properly repaired it in the refit.

This won't be the case with Grandeur considering how much the deck is warped. I would imagine they will fix this during service. Cut out any deformed sections and weld new bits in, then get Bolidt in to put new deck surface down.

So The Grande is formal all the time? This I find confusing. Are scheduled formal nights going to cease to exist, and formal dress be simply for those who want to dine there? That seems like a bad idea, having a complete mix of casual and formal wear every single night.

I've seen pictures that show locked barriers that prevent passengers from walking behind the boats along that 'Promenade'. Have a look here; select Promenade deck form the list, then scroll down the page to the bottom of the boats and click on the little camera icon on the left/hand side.

 

The only spaces that are accessible are the more open areas.

I know that on Regal Princess they are going to be allowing passengers to walk behind the lifeboats, so they may perhaps do the same on Britannia.

Not only is there no promenade deck, there appears to be very little open deck space.

I don't really get that argument. Looking at this:

It seems it has just as much deck space as similar sized ships. Having sailed on Independence of the Seas, which had 4300 passengers and a similar amount of space, yes it is true that on a sea day you can't get a lounger unless you are out before 12.

That however is going to be the same on any ship. I can't think of a cruise ship out there which has enough open deck space for its entire passenger set. There simply isn't the space for it all. Passengers want both outdoor amenities (pools, bars, sports courts etc.) and open decks, and you simply cannot have both. There isn't the space for it at all.

There are sections of the lifeboat deck midships and aft which are accessible. On Royal Princess they have loungers and comfortable seating in those areas.

For those mindlessly writing off the ship because of the lack of promenade, remember that it is no longer possible to have the classic style of promenade deck, and there is nothing P&O could have done about it.

This is due to the way lifeboats must now be configured. The lifeboats must be ready to board without lowering them to deck level, so they have to be now sat on the deck.

This means to have a promenade deck as before, they must actually add it in as a feature. Before, the promenade deck was a secondary purpose, its primary function being for loading the lifeboats. To add such a deck in would require them eliminating an entire deck of balconies, which doesn't make sense to the cruise line.

The thing is, there are still areas on that deck where you can go out and see the ocean, and spend all day reading a book on a lounger. You just can't walk all the way around. This will be the same for every single cruise ship built from now on. This is the aft area on Royal Princess:

I would imagine the ship is being slowed down not by the lack of pod operation, but to avoid any more damage to the pod itself. Seeing as the dry dock is only 10 days away, they will likely not be removing the propeller blades from the faulty pod. Travelling at a higher speed with the blades still attached but not moving can cause damage to the pod itself.

I think that this is the case due to the fact that Independence of the Seas went for nearly 2 years without her fixed pod working. They simply removed the propeller blades and carried on without it. It didn't affect the ships speed at all.

Okay just read through the brochure and it is 18 for cruises out of Southampton :)

Right I think i'm gonna ring up Princess, i'm very confused now :confused:

The Princess website says 'The legal drinking age of 21 years is always observed onboard all ships, 18 years on Grand Princess Mediterranean itineraries, and proof of age may be required.' That is outdated since Grand no longer sails out of the UK. I would assume the same will apply to Emerald sailings.

Hi all, apologies if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find the answer by searching. I am booked on a cruise on Emerald Princess sailing out of Southampton this summer, and am wondering whether my 20 year old will be able to purchase alcoholic drinks on the ship? I know Royal Caribbean have a lower age limit of 18 for European cruises, and was wondering whether this is the same on Princess.

Just had a look at some of the interior pictures of the ship and everything seems to be white, grey and beige, even the dining room. anyone else seen that. I remember people didn't like Arcadia because her decor was bland.

Dunno what pictures you were looking at, but the three dining rooms have the following colour schemes:

Meridian: Blue/Gold

Oriental: White/Crimson

Peninsular: White/Orange

While the Meridian's decor I don't really like, the other two look really nice, not bland at all. Don't get where your beige/grey idea comes from:

Thought I would mention something regarding the lack of photos. Turns out I didn't manage to get a spot on the trip to Meyer, but a friend of mine did and just got back. He said while they were taken down into the building dock as opposed to just viewing through the window, they weren't allowed to take any photos at all. The one photo they got was one from the front of the dock looking at the bow of the ship, so nothing new.

Thanks! You're saying that the view from the gym is unchanged, right, littlesteelo? I do recall it being somewhat obstructed, but you could see out if you were on a machine to the side. Really, I was just hoping they didn't totally close the gym in with no windows at all. Thanks again.

 

 

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Yes the view has been unchanged. It is the spa on the deck above which has lost windows.

I'm still a little confused by the layout. When you're in the gym on a treadmil (deck 11, I believe), can you still look out over the ship and ocean, or are the new rooms now blocking the view? I think the new rooms are above the gym and spa, but wanted to make sure. Thanks!

 

 

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The new rooms are above the gym, but the view forward from the gym on the Voyager Class ships is mostly obstructed by the bridge viewing area.

AIS shows her as being in Dominica currently.

I'm too waiting for the schedules to be released for Anthem of the Seas, hope to do a short sailing in the May or October school holidays.

When RCI were talking about sending Quantum to Europe I heard that only some ports are big enough for her to dock, e.g. Southampton, Barcelona, Le Harve, so will be interesting to see the itineraries for a full European season.

Norway may also be a problem as the Ffords are small ports.

I'd also heard that these large ships struggle to tender due to large numbers of people.

 

May all be nonsense so will wait and see unless any one can enlighten me further!

 

Thanks, Gillian

Anthem won't be much bigger than Independence, at least not enough to make her unable to visit the same ports that Indy does. I would imagine the itineraries will be very similar to the ones which Independence does.

Also I have been to one port where Independence had to tender (Villefranche) and it worked fine with nearly 4500 passengers onboard.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

While we have you on the line ... er ... in the thread, when is your tour to Meyer Werft happening? You're going at a good time, what with the build almost half built!

That's a good question. It was supposed to be run by my university department, but I keep asking for information and I haven't received a reply so i'm guessing it might have fallen through. I was however talking to a Meyer Werft rep at a recent careers fair and he seemed to acknowledge the trips existence. It's all very confusing and frustrating since I was really looking forward to it.

I think the problem with Two70 vs the Viking Crown Lounge is that Two70 is going to be a huge venue, and will likely be quite noisy when filled with people. While it provides better views of the ocean, it will lack the atmosphere of the intimate cocktail lounge which I always liked about the VCL. Plus you will lose the view forward over the upper decks, which is a unique viewpoint of the ship.

The correct term for that 'bit of metal' is a skeg, which is just an extension of the keel further aft. In terms of marine dynamics it increases the directional stability of the ship, which is the ability for it to stay on a predefined course without rudder correction, and it also helps with providing good unbroken flow to the propellers, which increases their efficiency.

HAHAHAHAHAHA oh god whoever came up with this idea must have been drunk. They always rant on about heritage, and yet there is nothing more traditional than the yellow P&O funnels. It really does cheapen the look of the ships. I'm all for the rising sun logo being plastered everywhere. It's a nice simple logo and looks good.

And for the hull art, there are no words really. It looks horrendous, and there is simply no need for it. Whatever happened to elegance and subtlety? Britannia was a very smart, stylish looking ship, and it now looks like something that has come out of NCL's design studio, although Breakaway and Getaway look better than this does. The ship I would compare it to is the ghastly looking Pride Of America.

What I don't understand is why they have decided to do this. It is pretty well known that hull art always gets a mixed, mostly negative reception, even on the lines which have it on all their ships already. To do this on a cruise line which has pretty mixed reception as it is, is a bit of a stupid idea.

Another point to add is that in that video, the P&O Cruises name on the hull towards the aft is way too big. The one they have on the current ships and on the previous rendering is the perfect size.

I'm not liking the new management at all, they don't really seem to have a clue what they are doing with P&O.

Just seen the new Princess marketing campaign, and it got me thinking about how uninspiring P&O's latest ad was. It didn't inspire me to go book at all.

Have a look at some of the new Princess ads here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlU6a22dDWM

Even the tagline makes sense. I think they are right in saying that going on a cruise for the first time changes you.

Surely P&O can come up with something a bit better than this, which seems to have very little relation to cruising at all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyzGevk23Og

Yes, that is correct. The Independence does not have the Coke Freestyle machines because the ship is based in Southampton, England for part of the year. The UK does not have the machines & it would be difficult for RCI to get supplies for them.

Actually this isn't true. There are locations in the UK which have the Freestyle machines. I don't see why RCI don't simply import the supplies, since they do that with a lot of things already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBJB3T8UxEg&feature=youtu.be

I must say, it looks lovely. Very modern interior, and the open decks look great.

That is a picture of the cabins that were added on a good few years back now at the aft of the ship. The new cabins this time are forward.

I don't understand why you are already slamming a ship of which we know very few details about yet.