LA Times Article..No New Cruise Ships for Princess

[CruzVinnieCruz]

Please accept my apology cuzvinniecruz. I must take greater care in reading.

 

Please do not worry about it. Misunderstandings happen.

[Shogun]

Hi All,

 

New drawings/ ideas for new Princess ship being going around for most of this year, appears the central area of the ship will be expanded, more shops, more space at international cafe etc , just have to wait and see.

 

Apart from that standard Ruby class ship

 

yours Shogun

[AlaskaGolden]

Hi All,

 

New drawings/ ideas for new Princess ship being going around for most of this year, appears the central area of the ship will be expanded, more shops, more space at international cafe etc , just have to wait and see.

 

Apart from that standard Ruby class ship

 

yours Shogun

 

This appears to be in direct competition with the newer RCL ships which have HUGE central areas for shopping, dining, drinking and entertainment.

[spongerob]

The atrium area definitely could stand some additional room. It's a bit tight in its current format and then they bring out those darned tables...plus, some room below decks would make it possible to add more crew, which really was a serioius oversight when Caribbean Princess was introduced.

[m steve]

should improve the size of the balcony cabins like those on HAL and reduce the number of minis. Also design the ships so there are no bottle necks at the dining room as on the Emerald. They should keep the ships to the current size as the mega ships are not for Princess people.

[cruisemom42]

This appears to be in direct competition with the newer RCL ships which have HUGE central areas for shopping, dining, drinking and entertainment.

 

Yes because, heaven knows, when we are sailing the beautiful seas what we really want to do is to spend time indoors in a mall-like environment shopping......:rolleyes:

[G'ma]

I'd say it's the economy.

 

Until things turn around and improve, wise cruise companies will not contract for future ships.

 

Carnival Corp is, indeed, wise.....and remains profitable.

 

Others aren't so lucky.

[Atomica]

This appears to be in direct competition with the newer RCL ships which have HUGE central areas for shopping, dining, drinking and entertainment.

 

I don't think it's so much about competing against RCI as it is about Princess being a victim of their own success: the atrium area on the Crown, Emerald and Ruby Princess is so popular that seating at the best of times there is at a premium. By expanding this international cafe/piazza/Vines arrangement, they can capitalize on that popularity.

 

As for newbuilds - remember: the ships are built at European shipyards, meaning the contracts are all negotiated in Euros. That quickly adds up. Princess will have newbuilds again, but you have to remember: they've built more new ships in the last decade than in the entire history of the line. It's tough to keep that sort of aggressive newbuild program up - just ask NCL ;)

[cruiserbryce]

times are tough...bookings are down...and Princess has a very nice fleet at the moment. Lines like RC have some aging ships that have been getting shuffled to other lines over the past couple years.

[michigan tim]

It really doesn't make sense to add beds to any line that is currently requiring heavy discounting in order to fill ships. :confused:

[bswakema]

I found this article on the subject today.

 

http://www.cruisebusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=683:cruise-business-exclusive-president-a-ceo-alan-buckelew-we-discuss-with-all-major-yards-on-the-next-princess-newbuilding-order&catid=48:top-headlines-category&Itemid=116

[Pam in CA]

It really doesn't make sense to add beds to any line that is currently requiring heavy discounting in order to fill ships. :confused:

Huh? They did this summer because there were too many ships/berths in Alaska but most Princess cruises are not only not discounted but overbooked and waitlisted. Not sure where you got the idea that Princess is desperate and has to discount heavily to fill their ships. That's just not the case.

[Colo Cruiser]

You are right, most Princess cruise are nowhere near being heavily discounted.

[landnsea]

A modern cruise ship takes about 18 months to build. You'll notice that the list does not show 2011 releases. I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing soon about a Princess new-build that will debut in 2011... :cool:

 

 

Lets see here, first, decide on which shipyard is going to build your ship, second, place your build order, then depending on how many builds are in front of your build order, final delivery could take as long as four years per build order.

 

John

Seattle,Wa.

[septrack]

"Has anyone been on all of the Princess ships yet?"

 

 

IMO if you've been on a grand class ship, you've been on all of them (small ships excluded) . I would love a major redesign for the next generation of ships. I think Princess would do well to make each ship distinctive. Don't get me wrong, I love Princess, but major differences between ships would be a big attraction. As it is, the loyalty benefits is the main reason we come back. After many cruises on basically the same ship. BORING!

[c-legs]

I don't know what you are talking about CruzVinnieCruz. Carnival Corporation does not own RCL or Celebrity.

Nor is she/he even implying it does....She/he's comparing RCL's method of financing newbuilds for its brands to CCL's way of doing it for its brands... Heavy leverage VS maximum dependency on available liquid ressources..

The point made is quite valid....and a very slow recovery of the economic conditions could hurt RCL in the medium term, when interest rates ( read: cost of long term debts.....) start climbing and RCL finds itself still carrying heavy long term financing for the likes of OASIS and ALLURE....as well as 4 ''S'' class vessels......a ''challenge'' CCL won't have to face to the same extent ( another reason for that: no more major newbuilds on the horizon )

 

Let's all keep smiling

Cheers

[RickEk]

Lets see here, first, decide on which shipyard is going to build your ship, second, place your build order, then depending on how many builds are in front of your build order, final delivery could take as long as four years per build order.

 

John

Seattle,Wa.

 

Well, the 18 months I was speaking about is from the laying of the keel to hand-over. I also think that Princess is much further along on this curve than they are letting on... As I said, 2011 (or early 2012) is the timeframe for the delivery of a new ship for Princess. And as Buckelew said in that interview (and he made a point of saying it!), they are also speaking with Mitsubishi... I don't think their shipyards are backed up... :rolleyes:

[aussiecruiser275]

Well, the 18 months I was speaking about is from the laying of the keel to hand-over. I also think that Princess is much further along on this curve than they are letting on... As I said, 2011 (or early 2012) is the timeframe for the delivery of a new ship for Princess. And as Buckelew said in that interview (and he made a point of saying it!), they are also speaking with Mitsubishi... I don't think their shipyards are backed up... :rolleyes:

 

Also noted the smaller R class Ships will not undergo anysignficant refurbs. So anything on those i guess would just be soft refurbs if anything at all.

[cacy6893076]

Princess already has a newbuild being built now taken from a sister line.

yup

correct

princess has also gone to a two year(as opposed to 3 year)) drydock system for the ships in the fleet......newbuilds are backed up and costly.They are invesitng $ in the "older" ships like the Golden which was delivered frm fincatieri in 2001...as you saw...did it right.

[Grego]

This becomes a very involved equation that I'm sure Princess is paying someone or a team a lot of money to figure out along with a crystal ball. There is conditions of market size, location desires, market cost expectations, ship capacities, port capacities, exchange rates, cost to build vs. cost to refurbish, competition information, fuel costs, employee market.......etc.

[5:00_Somewhere]

When the Ruby came out, we were on the maiden voyage. The captain announced that there would be no new ships until the whole fleet was brought up to the standards of the Ruby.

 

And during our Ultimate Ship Tour of the Ruby a few weeks later, one of the Ship's Officers (possibly the Chief Engineer? Can't recall) told us essentially the same thing.

 

Colo Cruiser,

Where did you see the new build for Princess (taken from a sister line). I did not see this on some of the future boards.

 

Thank you

 

There was a tread on this a few weeks ago. If memory serves, it was a discussion about a P&O ship in progress that might be coming to Princess? I could be wrong about that.

 

*EDIT* I just attempted a search for this thread, but didn't come up with anything. I might have been part of a thread on a different or related topic.

 

......Has anyone been on all of the Princess ships yet?

 

Not yet, but we're giving it the ol' college try (see below.) ;)

 

Guess we need to stop booking the Caribbean, though, if we're gonna make it anytime soon.

 

We have been on each of the different classes and sub-classes of Princess ships, with the exception of the "modified Sun Class" (I think that's what they call them) Coral and Island. Gotta get to work on that.

[RickEk]

 

We have been on each of the different classes and sub-classes of Princess ships, with the exception of the "modified Sun Class" (I think that's what they call them) Coral and Island. Gotta get to work on that.

 

Yes, you'll be pleasantly surprised...

[TorontoTL]

I found this article on the subject today.

 

http://www.cruisebusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=683:cruise-business-exclusive-president-a-ceo-alan-buckelew-we-discuss-with-all-major-yards-on-the-next-princess-newbuilding-order&catid=48:top-headlines-category&Itemid=116

 

Thanks for the link to that article, I had not read that before. That is good news and that fits with what Colo Cruiser has posted in this thread.

[imsulin]

I never eluded that Carnival owns RCL or Celebrity. I stated RC Corp owns them and due partly to the fact they heavily financed their latest builds for both RC and Celebrity they are in financial trouble. Add on top of that finding financing for their ships still in the shipyards they (RC Corp) are posting losses.

 

Here is an article where Mickey Arison the CEO of Carnival explains the thinking behind no new ships and it looks like Princess will not have the possibilty of a new ship before 2013.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?ak=68499568.blog&type=blog

 

alluded.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

alluded.

 

In a hurry also have trouble with effect and affect.