Royal Princess design: badly solsticized

[debandbruce]

I guess everyone has a different experience. We did not like the food on Princess and found the waiters could of cared less when we said nothing on the menu appealed to us. They never asked if the food was okay and would take away half eaten dishes without asking if there was something wrong. The waiters on Celebrity and Royal made sure you had an enjoyable meal. Now we could of just had a bad cruise experience and are giving Princess another try this fall so we will see.

 

I think the Royal Princess sounds wonderful and told my DH I would really like to try her. We like the look of her and some of the new additions sound great. The promenade has never been a big deal to us so any changes to it won't affect us. We love the pools on Princess and feel these pools look wonderful. Yes there is the loss of the aft pool hopefully it won't impact the other pools. We have never found Celebrity's pools crowded and they don't have an aft pool. I do agree some ideas have been borrowed from other lines but that is not always a bad thing. We love Celebrity and find the S class ships have so much to offer but we do want to explore other options and hope that the Royal Princess is a good option.

[cruisetrail]

I do agree some ideas have been borrowed from other lines but that is not always a bad thing.

 

What ideas, please?

[caribill]

Very sad. I used to always say Princess had the best pools.

 

So it looks like Princess is changing one of their key features, the nice pools. Won't matter to folks who don't use the pools much.

 

My concern is that the two main pools look as if they will both be subject to sound from MUTS. On the current ships with two main pools, the pools are in different areas and one is MUTS-noise free.

[happy cruzer]

My concern is that the two main pools look as if they will both be subject to sound from MUTS. On the current ships with two main pools, the pools are in different areas and one is MUTS-noise free.

 

Noise and crowds will probably be a problem unless going to the Sanctuary. I'll stick to the other Princess ships until reports come in. But I do know that the arrangement on the Solstice was too crowded even without MUTS.

[Cruise Junky]

My concern is that the two main pools look as if they will both be subject to sound from MUTS. On the current ships with two main pools, the pools are in different areas and one is MUTS-noise free.

 

 

I'm hoping it's not so noticably at the Adult Pool, but we'll have to wait and see

[debandbruce]

What ideas, please?

 

There is supposed to be a lawn area for boccce, etc like the S class ships. The batting cage and laser shooting range are similar to what is being used on NCL and CCL. I recieved an e-mail about some of the new things being introduced unfortunately I deleted it after I read it. I will see if I can find it again.

[billco]

Now we could of just had a bad cruise experience and are giving Princess another try this fall so we will see.

That's what I think and glad to see you giving Princess a second try.

[pris993]

I guess everyone has a different experience. We did not like the food on Princess and found the waiters could of cared less when we said nothing on the menu appealed to us. They never asked if the food was okay and would take away half eaten dishes without asking if there was something wrong. The waiters on Celebrity and Royal made sure you had an enjoyable meal. Now we could of just had a bad cruise experience and are giving Princess another try this fall so we will see.

 

I think the Royal Princess sounds wonderful and told my DH I would really like to try her. We like the look of her and some of the new additions sound great. The promenade has never been a big deal to us so any changes to it won't affect us. We love the pools on Princess and feel these pools look wonderful. Yes there is the loss of the aft pool hopefully it won't impact the other pools. We have never found Celebrity's pools crowded and they don't have an aft pool. I do agree some ideas have been borrowed from other lines but that is not always a bad thing. We love Celebrity and find the S class ships have so much to offer but we do want to explore other options and hope that the Royal Princess is a good option.

 

We always talk to the Matre'd the first night about our expectations in the diningroom. Generally we are served by the Headwaiter for our section, as we special order the night before. If we are not satisfied we send the food back.

[cruisetrail]

I was a loyal Princess customer and still find them to be one of the best.

 

However, I love Celebrity Solstice ships. The rooms are larger, the service is very good, food good. Lots of little perks not received on Princess, bubbly on arrival, cold towels when coming back from port, very few announcements. I will sail on them again. It all depends on the person.

 

I am not loyal to any particular cruise line.

I am loyal to good ships.

 

I rank Princess Grand Class two steps above Celebrity Solstice Class (with RCI in between) due to better design and better food.

 

Roayl Princess design is going to lose key features that make Grand Class unique.

 

People will be guessing if this is MSC Poesia, Celebrity Solstice or NCL Breakaway.

 

The loss of identity is very disappointing.

[cruisetrail]

Just have come across an amazing dialog on Youtube.

 

Princess Ad:

"Princess Cruises is proud to introduce the new Royal Princess, making her debut in June of 2013 and featuring an evolutionary design building on everything we've learned about the hallmarks of the Princess experience that matter most to you:eek:. See how we're enhancing some of our top-deck signatures, and unveiling some exciting new ways to escape completely".

 

mrRyansUTube:

"Another example of "fixing" what was already near perfect ...the designs of Emerald, Sapphire, etc.

Gone is the promenade deck,

gone is the bow access,

gone is the multi-tiered decks of the resort like aft area,

gone is the nightclub high above everything with its adjoining outdoor walkway and its spectacular views including all along the side of the ship, gone is the viewing area above the bridge.

Added are a couple thousand more passengers, but apparently no additional outside public space".

 

Besides a technical mistake (the number of passengers), the best summary of the new Royal Princess design.

 

The Ad is fantastic.

Do they believe all people around them are blind?

[TorontoTL]

Actually there are only around 500 more passengers and the space ratio is much much better than on the Crown/Emerald and Ruby.

[caribill]

Actually there are only around 500 more passengers and the space ratio is much much better than on the Crown/Emerald and Ruby.

 

Poster was talking about "no additional outside public space".

 

Is the outside space ratio better?

[TorontoTL]

It likely is because I believe the ship has a larger foot print and more outdoor space as well. In the case of this new ship, they didn't add a floor of passengers. They kept the number of floors and expanded the ship in length and width, by quite a bit.

[IECalCruiser]

It likely is because I believe the ship has a larger foot print and more outdoor space as well. In the case of this new ship, they didn't add a floor of passengers. They kept the number of floors and expanded the ship in length and width, by quite a bit.

They did add another deck of cabins, the Marina deck. The seating in the Princess Theater is 33% greater than on existing Grand class ships. We will need to wait to see if the pluses outweigh the minuses. The adults only area with pool just aft of the Sanctuary might be our new favorite place. There is no aft pool but there appears to be plenty of lounge chairs in the Horizon Terrace.

[Carolyn R]

I think the Horizon Terrace has tables and chairs for outside dining no lounge chairs.

[RickEk]

I think the Horizon Terrace has tables and chairs for outside dining no lounge chairs.

 

Well, if you look at the deck plans, it does appear that there are lounge chairs at the far aft of the Horizon Terrace... but who knows...:p

[cruisetrail]

It likely is because I believe the ship has a larger foot print and more outdoor space as well. In the case of this new ship, they didn't add a floor of passengers. They kept the number of floors and expanded the ship in length and width, by quite a bit.

 

Not exctly.

The bottom part (at waterline) is wide but the superstructure is narrow and tall.

They also added an extra deck with cabins.

 

[cellyml12]

I'm just curious, but since RP is a new ship, will they staff it with all the different staff members that everyone loves on these cruises? I read about how people have favorite cruise directors & such, so what are the chances that these people will be the staff for a bit on the new ship? Maybe if you guys don't like how the ship is missing all your favorite things, maybe you'll get a crew that you love from cruises gone by.

[bdjam]

I'm not disagreeing with you, but not sure we could call two ships a trend yet. But let's face it, Princess's main competition is Celebrity. They went toe to toe with them on the smoking policy and are now putting out comparable ships to the Solsice class. If you can't compete, you're dead. Princess needs to grow and compete to stay competitive, that's what Royal is all about.

It's funny but I remember hearing the same thing when the uber-Grand Class came out except it was about Royal Caribbean.

 

Whether or not Princess' main competition is Celebrity and whether or not they are trying for a target audience different from their loyal passengers, ships that compare with those of other cruise lines' aren't necessarily a solution to competing. On the contrary it might just mean that Princess has lost it's ability to design and be innovative and have made a mirror copy in order to try to keep up.

 

I don't think that's the case, although some of the design team has been around since Sun Princess. But I will agree that I'm totally underwhelmed with Royal Princess. Given the opportunity to build on a new platform, Princess could have held on to the positive amenities of its older ships. Ridding the ship of them won't necessarily attract new customers and won't be favored by the old customers. The interior design looks great and I'm sure the new ship will have plenty of positive attributes, but I just think Princess could have done better.

 

The original Grand Class and Sapphire and Diamond might have their detractors, but you knew a Princess ship when you saw one. They were unique - starting from Royal Princess 1, Crown Princess 1 and Regal Princess, the ships had a certain design that not only was functional but that defined a Princess ship. Building a look-alike negates that creativity and uniqueness.

 

I'm probably not apt to run into Royal Princess for a good number of years and frankly I have no urgency to sail her. None of the new amenities yet trumps what I might find on the older ships.

 

PS - Princess itself says in it's marketing of Royal Princess that "Every detail or the new Royal Princess has been design to enhance the atmosphere of which our loyal passengers have grown accustomed." Just sayin'

[rdsqrl]

Agree with everything you've said, Mr. 'jam.

 

And I'll add that space ratio is just a number in isolation. It means nothing if the "space" isn't usable or appealing. For example, that atrium sure looks more wide open and airy than on the Grand-class, but I can't exactly hover in mid-air and use all that space! Nor am I interested in a candy shop or a separate gelateria or even an extra Horizon Court dessert venue. Those things don't trump an aft pool and lots of open deck space to enjoy, in my opinion. Princess may think they're giving us what we want; I just wouldn't have thought more food venues was that thing. (New slogan: Escape Completely to Your Fat Pants. . . . )

[pris993]

I would love to be excited about the new Royal Princess. So far I am not. Will wait to read reviews. They will tell us more than any of Princess hype. I am also waiting to see what itineraries they have for the fall of 2014 to see whether I want to go at all..

 

We are going on our 21st Princess cruise in September, we have a couple of FBCs, waiting for something that excites us.

[kendon]

I hate to hear this. I guess I'm old-fashioned, but I want a cruise ship to look and feel like a cruise ship.

 

I sailed on the Celebrity Solstice one time and found it akin to sailing in an Ikea store. The overall design was cold and unwelcoming. We had a stateroom on the stern and awoke to a fine layer of soot on our balcony every morning. The lawn was a lot of wasted space and it was roped off and "resting" most of our voyage. I was glad when the cruise was over.

 

I also sailed on the NCL's Prison Ship Epic one time as well and will not repeat that mistake. Worst designed cabins and ship I've ever had the misfortune to sail on. To tell you how bad it is, NCL has scrapped the design of the prison-cell cabins on their next ships. Another cruise I was glad when it was over.

 

It's what happens when the artsy fartsy designers get to sit at the big table and everyone else is afraid to shout out that the emperor has no clothes.

 

 

We learned to take a better look at the ship design and try to visualize life on board. Now we don't book ships like Solstice, The Epic, The Oasis, the Allure etc. They may work for some, but for me I want a ship that looks like a ship, a promenade where I can stroll all the way around the ship and smell the ocean and maybe even see some sea life, a shady deck where I can read a good book, fresh brewed coffee, venues where I don't have to wear earplugs because some twenty-something has cranked the volume up to 10, an MDR where people dress like they are going out for fine dining and not a truck stop, a comfortable/functional/clean cabin, and stairs forward, mid-ship, and aft.

 

I love the way you think!! A ship should look and act like a ship, IMO. Just off the Celebrity Summit two days ago and used the IKEA analogy also. I found it very claustrophobic, and this mouse was quite happy when she finally found the cheese at the end. Sure did miss the wrap around Promenade deck...one of the best places while at sea!

[hubofhockey]

I'm happy to see changes. I have been on three Princess ships and they are pretty generic with no significant differences. Another duplication just isn't needed. As for the Allure, that's up next for us. Obviously, we aren't looking for the same generic experience every time. There is plenty out there for people who do.

[RickEk]

I would really, really like to know the exact dimensions for the Royal Princess, specifically the beam (the width). The Celebrity S-class ships are 3 feet wider than the Grand-class ships (save for the Diamond/Sapphire which are 5 feet wider). Maybe one of the reasons for the reduced number of pools is because the ship is tall and narrow. Pools are, by their nature, heavy and not very stable. Other ships in the Royal's size range have only 3 or 4 pools... I guess what I'm saying is that some of the "signature" Princess exterior features may have been precluded by the ship's size... the flying bridge wings, the extra pools, Skywalkers, etc.

 

And I do agree with much of what bdjam said, but I do want to point out that of the ships mentioned, only the original Royal Princess was designed by Princess. The original Crown and Regal Princesses were actually designed by Sitmar. And it is true that the Sun-class and Grand-class have a style all their own and folks that are familiar with cruise ships know instantly that they are Princess ships. I prefer to reserve my judgement until I can see an actual ship on the water...

[Di Princess]

I'm just curious, but since RP is a new ship, will they staff it with all the different staff members that everyone loves on these cruises? I read about how people have favorite cruise directors & such, so what are the chances that these people will be the staff for a bit on the new ship? Maybe if you guys don't like how the ship is missing all your favorite things, maybe you'll get a crew that you love from cruises gone by.

 

All the Crew, Officers, & Staff want to jump on the Newest ship. Only the highest-rated personnel are chosen to go.