littlesteelo

I don't get this at all. They aren't circus performers, they are ships officers. I am sure they have better things to be doing with their time, doing their jobs and making sure everything is running smoothly.

To say shame on them for not coming to your m&m is pretty offensive in my opinion, considering the hard work these people put in behind the scenes to make sure you have a good time.

The Royal and the NCL Breakaway are the fist two large ships to be built since the new SOLAS requirements went into effect. The Breakaway has her lifeboats on deck 7 the same as the Royal but they added The Waterfront to deck 8. From photos I have seen of The Waterfront, the boardwalk portion appears to be uncovered and has no deck chairs. It will be interesting to see the final designs of other new builds like the Quantum of the Seas.

This is correct. Any future cruise ships which have 'promenade decks' will be either completely uncovered as an extra add-on (Norwegian Breakaway), or nonexistent. A promenade deck is now something which is not required, as lifeboats are loaded directly from internal public areas, not an outdoor space.

I never saw the point in silver service, the veg they served never seemed to go with the dishes, which always had sufficient veg on them anyway. What is a better idea is to do what RCI do, and have the extra items available on the menu on request.

I'll be off to Meyer Werft in January for a tour as part of my Naval Architecture degree, so i'll try and get some photos of Quantum! It is a facilities tour by the technical director so I would imagine this will include the building docks.

There is a lot of glass to be added to the Getaway!

 

It always amazes me how thin the steel is for the floors! I kind of wish RCI went with square edges on the doors/windows instead of having the curved edges although its really not that big of a deal.

All the balconies start off like that. They will be standard square doors once they are fitted out.

Shame they decided to go with square windows and not the round ones like on previous ships. I always liked the look of those, just something extra that made RCI ships special :)

Loyal, thanks for sharing. The screws and rudder assembly display the older style drive lines that have been replaced with azipods on the newer ships. Also found the grind marks on the side where the ducktail will be attached fascinating. They must have used some sort of automated machinery, or someone had some very tired and sore arms:eek:;)

 

Regardless, nice to see the 'ol girl' getting a redo - we enjoyed our time on her in Alaska a few years back.

They use pressure washers to take the paint off, either manual ones, or remote control ones which move along the hull.

Is there any photos yet from onboard the uprighted wreck? I would love to see inside.

The number 13 is not a problem for the Italians because their supersticious number is 17, hence no deck 17 on their ships.

Then how come the Grand class (built at Fincantieri) have no deck 13, but still have a deck 17?

I think the rumour of a water slide simulator is ludicrous. Why not just have a cruise ship simulator and do away with it all? Would be cheaper...

Plus they have already ruined the look of the ship with the giant crane arm, so I don't think adding a water slide would do much more damage to it.

Is anyone surprised? Rccl really could care less about slides.

Could care less? So you are saying they do care?

Okay, just worked out it will cost more to do a 14 night on Eclipse than to do the 17 night on Azura. This is going to be a difficult decision to make I think.

I am debating whether to go Celebrity for my summer cruise next year, having done Ventura and 3 on Independence of the Seas. I would prefer to do RCI, but I don't want to go on Independence again, or Adventure, and Brilliance is doing Scandinavia next summer, and we prefer hot destinations.

My options are basically as follows:

Emerald Princess to the Med

Celebrity Eclipse to the Med

Azura to the Canaries

Potentially Azura 17 night Med, it may clash with things at home though

Ventura b2b fly-cruise

I really do want to do Celebrity, but the price pp works out at several hundred pounds more than P&O and Princess. Yes you get the drinks package included, but the cost of the cruise plus drinks would be less than that on P&O.

Is Celebrity worth paying around £1000 more (4 of us) over P&O?

The OP may find that some new ships on other cruise lines also do not have a complete promenade deck & may be limited to older ships. I've read posts saying there are some new regulations about lifeboat placement that limits the designs. Whether that's true or not (I have seen photos of other new builds with similar designs) I cannot think of any one issue that would change my cruise preference.

Pretty much every new cruise ship built post-2010 does not have a full promenade. I think the lifeboats must have something to do with this, otherwise we would see more variation in design. Royal Princess, Celebrity's Solstice Class, Norwegian Breakaway and Quantum of the Seas all share this design.

I also think maximising the number of balconies will have had some influence as well.

What I really don't understand is why you would cancel a cruise over the lack of it. Even if the Royal could be built with a full promenade, it would likely be of the Carnival Dream style (which isn't a full one itself), and therefore open to the sun.

If being able to walk around a promenade deck is more important than all the other new things Royal Princess offers, then why bother booking in the first place? I do not believe you will ever be able to sail on a new ship in the future, since this seems to be the way things are evolving.

It looks like Lone is hovering just beyond M30 (good abb Micki) with the blister aboard ready to move in when Vincenzo Consentino has finished her work.

On a different tack, Giglio News is reporting that Greenpeace is going to stage some kind of demo on 16th protesting about the time the recovery is taking. Well that should speed it up a bit.

Perhaps Greenpeace should use their extensive knowledge and skill in engineering and ship recovery to do it faster...

I'm hoping there is a quiet bar with sea views somewhere on this ship. On all the other ships, the Viking Crown Lounge served that purpose, but there is no equivalent on Quantum. You might argue Two70 is similar, but the venue is huge, and when filled with however many people chatting there is no way it will have the same atmosphere.

I stand corrected. I never did like that Naval Architecture class.

The weight of the ship itself would be the lightship tonnage, and the displacement is the lightship + deadweight.

I quite enjoy my Naval Architecture module :)

i have to agree, if Anthem does replace Indy where do you think Indy will be deployed too?

Independence is very popular out of the UK, so I expect she will stay for the summer as is the case now, and will move to Florida for the winter.

I feel Adventure has been brought over temporarily, since Independence sails full during the summer, and one ship is simply not enough. I'm sure they would prefer to have two Freedom class ships here, but that isn't possible.

Once Anthem is built, Adventure will go elsewhere.

Hopefully Southampton, as has been rumoured. Sick of the US getting all the new ships.

It is pretty obvious if you look at the deck plans what the situation is. MDR will be decks 3 and 4 aft of the elevators. Surprising it is only 2 decks high.

On decks 4 and 5 between the two elevator lobbies will be the Royal Promenade equivalent. It appears there will be a large two deck high atrium level, and a long two deck high retail area, going past the Music Hall to the theater, a la Solstice class.

I believe that on deck 5 aft of the elevators, will be a speciality dining 'district' which leads to Two70 at the rear of the ship. This will be the restaurants, with the more casual dining areas (Cafe Promenade, Sorrento's, Cupcake Cupboard etc.) situated in the 'main' bit.

The hourglass shaped areas on 6 and 7 will just be crew areas, with the square bit being the exhausts going up to the funnels. The reason I think this is that the shape doesn't correspond with any of the walkways below. It would be like sticking the box shaped promenade from Freedom on top of the promenade on Oasis. They are completely different shapes, and it wouldn't make sense.

I do not believe there will be any outdoor elements to the venues. The lifeboats are sat on deck 5, and the two bits port and starboard which are clear are outside the aft elevator lobby, so that rules out that area being used for any sort of venue.

Another point to note is the 'more to come' areas up top. On deck 14, chances are the one in the solarium will be the Park Cafe, the one next to the H2O Zone will be the Boardwalk Dog House, and the one in the Windjammer I can't say, it could be any dining venue really.

What intrigues me is the one just aft of the SeaPlex on deck 15...

When I read Shogun's post about the guy that was screaming about the suite he booked and being conned, etc., I thought to myself, "Wow, what a jerk." Now after seeing that suite balcony, I think I very easily would have been "that jerk"!!! Simply unbelievable. The ONLY way I would book on the Royal would be if it was an itinerary where I could live with an inside stateroom.

The guy is still a jerk. Shouting at the guest services staff does nothing, and is an incredibly obnoxious thing to do. They didn't design the ship.

I think the issue stems from the design of the ship itself, and it may be something Princess had very little control over.

IMO regulations now state that lifeboats cannot be 'embedded' in the side of the ship, as they are with the Grand class, and most other cruise ships pre-2009.

To get around this, there are two methods. One is to have the lifeboats hanging off the side. This allows the superstructure to be the same breadth as the hull. Two examples of this are Oasis of the Seas, and Carnival Dream. Carnival had to do this since the Dream class is modified from the Conquest class, which has embedded lifeboats. I am not sure whether this type of setup is permitted any more, since no new designs seem to use it.

The other option, and the one most lines are taking, is to simply have a narrower superstructure above the lifeboat deck, and then an overhang to give the desired width for the lido. This is the case on the Solstice class, the Norwegian Breakaway, and the Royal class. The new Quantum class for RCI has this design also.

The issue with this can be that the amount of space left for cabins is less, because you need space running down the center for crew areas, elevators/stairwells and machinery spaces. Now obviously the cabin space cannot be reduced, so the space is shaved off the balcony.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that the Royal class is simply a modified Grand class design. If you look at the deck plans, the layout is very similar. If that is the case, the reduced width isn't going to help with balcony sizes at all.

What they should have done is had the lifeboats half suspended over the water rather than fully sat on the deck as they are now, which would have allowed for extra width in the superstructure.

I agree that it's only sensible that P&O try to attract younger cruisers. However, I would imagine that the World Cruises, for example have many older passengers on them as do some of the cruises to places like the Fjords. The company cannot afford to alienate all the older cruisers by, for example getting rid of formal evenings and making it Smart and Casual only. We would not continue to cruise with P&O were they to do this. It will be very difficult to attract a new set of cruisers and still keep their loyal older cruisers. I don't think they would want to make the older cruisers - the ones who have the money to cruise more - to look to another cruise line.

 

Some of the ideas I have read on this thread seem to be saying, forget about the older cruisers, let's get rid of the formal dress and appeal to the youngsters. I would hope there is room for both older and younger people who like cruising. On our last cruise I was chatting with a young couple - early 30s I would think, and they loved the opportunity to dress up, the wife said it was the only chance to do this that she had and she loved it. The husband even said he thought he looked quite good in a James Bond sort of way!

 

I hope P&O will find a way ahead that doesn't alienate any particular age range.

I perfectly agree with this. Royal Caribbean have the right idea if you have ever sailed with them. They have formal nights, a good mix of activities for old and young, and a variety of itineraries around the world.

The only thing which is limiting P&O from doing the same is the number of ships they have.

I know people may not want to think about it but if an emergency happens...

 

Which is one of the reasons I choose high deck with balcony.

 

I figure I can jump/dive off a lot easier. Plus flooding would normally start below the waterline and work up which would affect higher decks last.

You could seriously hurt yourself jumping off a balcony at that height. The ship will not sink fast enough for you not to be able to get to the lifeboat deck.

As others have said, ships have insides on higher decks. On Independence I have stayed inside on deck 9 and 10, and have a deck 9 inside booked for July.

We always stay in an inside cabin. The reason is cost, being that cruising during the summer in the med, with 4 people is not cheap, and upgrading to a balcony adds a good few thousand pounds onto the cost. Even an oceanview cabin slaps a large amount extra on.

The thing is though, we don't mind it. We spend very little time at all in our cabin, and use it for sleeping and getting ready for dinner. During the day we will be out on the pool deck sunbathing, doing other activities or exploring when in port, and on a night we will be at dinner, then in the theater or in a bar/lounge. We don't feel the need to pay for a balcony we wouldn't use all that much.