Where is the Royal going?

[easykruz]

I just noticed in the back of the Princess brochure that the Royal Princess does not have a schedule after April of 2011. Does anyone know why?

[Colo Cruiser]

I just noticed in the back of the Princess brochure that the Royal Princess does not have a schedule after April of 2011. Does anyone know why?

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1163534&highlight=royal+leaving

[RickEk]

I just noticed in the back of the Princess brochure that the Royal Princess does not have a schedule after April of 2011. Does anyone know why?

 

Yes, she is being transferred to P&O where she will become the Adonia.

[easykruz]

A great thanks to Colo Cruiser and RickEk.

 

Easykruz

[CruiserGus]

We did a week on the Royal in April. I had never done a cruise on a small ship. I really did not think that I would enjoy it. Some of my thoughts were:

 

What only one pool?

Traditional Dining Only!

Only a few night shows!

 

Afterwards my thoughts were:

 

I cannot believe how much fun this small ship was!

You really get to know the staff personnally!

I wish Princess had more small ships!!

 

It was great! Really gonna miss her when she goes to P & O.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

We did a week on the Royal in April. I had never done a cruise on a small ship. I really did not think that I would enjoy it. Some of my thoughts were:

What only one pool?Traditional Dining Only!Only a few night shows!Afterwards my thoughts were:

I cannot believe how much fun this small ship was!

You really get to know the staff personnally!

I wish Princess had more small ships!!

It was great! Really gonna miss her when she goes to P & O.

 

We still have Pacific and Ocean Princess .

I jut hope the prices dont move up too much on them so we can all enjoy what they have to offer.

[jotabecu]

I have been on the Royal and the Ocean and love them both.

Sorry to see Royal go.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We just sailed with a group of 8 on the Ocean, and we all echo the above comments. The small ships are simply wonderful. I hope Princess continues to feature small ship cruising-after the Royal goes to P&O the two left are both lovely, but are 10+ years old. I hope they have long-term plans to buy/build more. All the plans for new ships I see on the horizon seem to be the mega-ships

[RickEk]

We just sailed with a group of 8 on the Ocean, and we all echo the above comments. The small ships are simply wonderful. I hope Princess continues to feature small ship cruising-after the Royal goes to P&O the two left are both lovely, but are 10+ years old. I hope they have long-term plans to buy/build more. All the plans for new ships I see on the horizon seem to be the mega-ships

 

I recently read an interview with Princess CEO Alan Buckelew in an industry trade magazine and he said that Princess is committed to the smaller ships. He certainly seemed to imply that the decision to transfer the Royal Princess was a difficult one, but the impending sale of P&O's Artemis would have left a gap in the UK market. So Princess is basically taking one for the team by transferring the Royal Princessto P&O next year.

 

And, to play the devil's advocate, isn't Royal Princess the only "R" ship to not have any mini-suites? It seems to me that it makes sense to transfer her out of the fleet because of the lack of mini-suites and (my pet theory:p) to free up the name for one of the new-builds.

[Druke I]

Actually, 3 of the Renaissance ships were built without mini-suites: Royal Princess, and the two that went to Azamara. Azamara did convert their Deck 8 to minisuites.

 

Royal Princess probably would have been a better fit in the Princess fleet had she been converted also. In these days of modular cabins, it would have been a fairly easy job.

[RickEk]

Actually, 3 of the Renaissance ships were built without mini-suites: Royal Princess, and the two that went to Azamara. Azamara did convert their Deck 8 to minisuites.

 

Royal Princess probably would have been a better fit in the Princess fleet had she been converted also. In these days of modular cabins, it would have been a fairly easy job.

 

Yeah, I actually meant Princess' "R" ships... :)

[caribill]

And, to play the devil's advocate, isn't Royal Princess the only "R" ship to not have any mini-suites? It seems to me that it makes sense to transfer her out of the fleet because of the lack of mini-suites and (my pet theory:p) to free up the name for one of the new-builds.

 

Three small ships, one without mini-suites, is better than just two small ships which both have mini-suites.

[Coral]

Actually, 3 of the Renaissance ships were built without mini-suites: Royal Princess, and the two that went to Azamara. Azamara did convert their Deck 8 to minisuites.

 

Royal Princess probably would have been a better fit in the Princess fleet had she been converted also. In these days of modular cabins, it would have been a fairly easy job.

 

I came close to booking the Royal 2x last year and both times stopped because of not having minisuites. I wish they would have kept it an converted the cabins to minisuites.

[Aruba]

Can someone explain what the relationship is, if any, between Princess -- or perhaps I should say the Carnival Corporation -- and P&O? Is P&O the parent company of the Carnival Corporation?

Also, what do the letters P and O stand for? Thanks.

[newport dave]

I think P&O used to own Princess, they then got bought out by Carnival. (That's both of them, not just Princess)

 

Also P&O stands for Peninsula and Orient.

 

http://www.pocruises.com.au/aboutus/pages/historyofpocruises.aspx

[caribill]

Can someone explain what the relationship is, if any, between Princess -- or perhaps I should say the Carnival Corporation -- and P&O? Is P&O the parent company of the Carnival Corporation?

Also, what do the letters P and O stand for? Thanks.

 

P&O Cruises can trace its colourful history all the way back to 1837. On 1st September that year, Arthur Anderson and Brodie McGhie Wilcox, founders of the Peninsular Steam Navigation Company, were awarded a contract from the British Government to carry mail from London to the Iberian Peninsula. At that time passengers were also carried on these routes, but initially it was more a case of business than pleasure.

 

It is commonly believed that Arthur Anderson first imagined deep-sea cruising two years before establishing the company. Arthur placed a dummy advertisement selling a mythical cruise to fill space in the first edition of his ‘Shetland Journal’ newspaper.

 

As the company picked up more contracts with more varied destinations, they also put Anderson’s idea for leisure cruise travel into action. They offered round trip tickets to some of the more exotic destinations along their routes like Malta, Athens and Egypt. Needless to say this new holiday phenomenon well and truly took off.

 

P&O Cruises set the standards for quality, service, reliability, comfort, safety and innovation. And this forward-looking approach ensures that we remain at the forefront of cruise holidays.

 

Carnival UK brands and histories

 

1835 Arthur Anderson runs a dummy advertisement in the first edition of his Shetland Journal publication for ‘cruises’ around the Shetland Isles to the Faroes and Iceland.

 

1837 The Peninsular Steam Navigation company – owned by Arthur Anderson and Brodie McGhie Willcox – is awarded the contract to deliver the Royal Mail to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal).

 

1840 Name is changed to the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) when its Royal Mail contract is extended to the East.

 

1844 William Makepeace Thackeray is given a free cruise to Egypt, which involves travel on a succession of P&O ships. Although his review is mixed, to say the least, it brings P&O welcome publicity.

 

1904 P&O buys the liner Rome and turns it into its first full-time cruise ship, Vectis, and offers its first cruise holiday programme – a first class only cruise with shore excursions arranged by Thomas Cook.

 

1918 P&O acquires Orient Line.

 

1922 Orient Line resumes cruising post-World War I. Between the wars cruising becomes more popular, often using the newest ships in the fleet rather than the oldest.

 

1929 P&O launches Viceroy of India, its first turbo electric-powered ship and the first to have an indoor swimming pool.

 

1930’s Tourist class cruises begin in the early 1930s, followed by Pacific cruises and voyages to and from Australia.

 

1950’s The journey half way around the world to Australia catches the imagination of the UK public. This popularity is assisted by the Australian government who encourages UK immigrants – a one way ticket costs £10 – the ‘ten pound Pom’ is born. At £110 less than a tourist ticket, it’s a great fare, but travellers have to stay at least 2 years. Through the mid 70’s, more than 1 million Brits move down under.

 

1957 Two liners – Oriana and Canberra – are ordered for Orient Line and for P&O. By the time both are launched (1960/1961), P&O Cruises had created a new brand – P&O Orient Lines – for which these ships operate.

 

1974 P&O Cruises buys Princess Cruises, a US West Coast brand created in 1965 by Stanley MacDonald, becoming P&O Princess Cruises (both companies continued to trade under their individual brand names). Canberra returns from its liner-to-cruise ship conversion to begin sailing from Southampton. The same year

P&O Cruises abolishes passenger classes.

 

1982 Canberra – along with Cunard’s QE2 and the Uganda from P&O Cruises educational cruise brand British India – are requisitioned by the British Government for the Falklands War.

 

1988 Princess Cruises takes over Sitmar and P&O Cruises makes the provisional decision (confirmed with an order in 1991) to build a new cruise ship for cruise travel.

 

1995 P&O Cruises take delivery of their new ship Oriana, who sails alongside Canberra.

 

2000 P&O Cruises takes delivery of a second new ship, Aurora. The cruise business separates from P&O to operate independently as P&O Princess Cruises plc.

 

2002 Princess Cruises Ocean Princess and Sea Princess switch to P&O Cruises and are renamed Oceana and Adonia.

 

2003 P&O Princess Cruises merges with Carnival Corporation and plc.

 

2005 A third brand new ship, Arcadia, joins P&O Cruises and a third Princess ship, Royal Princess, switches and starts operating as Artemis for P&O Cruises. Adonia, which had previously been switched from Princess, rejoins its former fleet as Sea Princess.

 

2008 P&O Cruises first 100,000+ ton ship, Ventura, enters service.

 

2009 P&O Cruises announce sale of Artemis and their plans to take over the operation of Princess Cruises’ latest Royal Princess (originally built for Swan Hellenic as Minerva II) in 2011.

 

2010 The latest ship to built for P&O Cruises, Azura, joins the P&O Cruises fleet.

 

2011 P&O Cruises will bid a fond farewell to Artemis in April before welcoming their newest (and smallest) addition, Adonia, in May. Note--this is the current Royal Princess

[Aruba]

Thank you! That's quite a history.

[Druke I]

It is quite a history, but Royal Princess was not built as Minerva II. She was one of the Renaissance ships before she went to Swan Hellenic.

[RickEk]

It is quite a history, but Royal Princess was not built as Minerva II. She was one of the Renaissance ships before she went to Swan Hellenic.

 

Yes, she was originally R Eight.

[caribill]

It is quite a history, but Royal Princess was not built as Minerva II. She was one of the Renaissance ships before she went to Swan Hellenic.

 

Above posted info about the Minerva II was from P&O web site, so they are mis-informed.

[portiaqueen]

We're booked on the 'new' Adonia next October so it's good to hear that people enjoyed her as the Royal Princess.

[RickEk]

We're booked on the 'new' Adonia next October so it's good to hear that people enjoyed her as the Royal Princess.

 

And did you know.... Adonia is believed to be a mashed up word meaning Adults Only... although I guess it could mean the Greek feasts in honor of Adonis and Aphrodite... :p