Royal Princess. The budget ship.

[Tapi]

All im saying is Princes newest ship is very often cheapet than some of the older ones, that cannot be a good thing for Princess. I guess if the Regal is launched as carbon copy of the Royal Princess are happy with there new product

 

What I see here is the same I've seen when other cruise lines have launched a new class of ship. There's always a small (but very vocal) group of traditionalists and purists who resist and deem any change to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be negative (and reason for condemnation).

 

RCL's Oasis ships went through one heck of negative scrutiny by the entire cruise industry. So did NCL's Breakway (yup, they also complained about the tiny balconies). Even when Carnival launched the Dream class, people complained about the "Conquest class on steroids with a lanai blocking the view from balconies" among many other design "flaws".

 

I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. The initial wave of resistance will have died down, the Royal will have proved itself, the things that seriously need to be tweaked will be tweaked, and this debate will be long forgotten as it has been forgotten on most newbuilds from other cruise lines.

Edited November 9, 2013 by Tapi

[Casey12]

All im saying is Princes newest ship is very often cheapet than some of the older ones, that cannot be a good thing for Princess. I guess if the Regal is launched as carbon copy of the Royal Princess are happy with there new product

 

The Regal is too far along to make any major changes. Regardless if they are happy with their new ship or not, there will be two of them.

[Clutterlady]

What I see here is the same I've seen when other cruise lines have launched a new class of ship. There's always a small (but very vocal) group of traditionalists and purists who resist and deem any change to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be negative (and reason for condemnation).

 

RCL's Oasis ships went through one heck of negative scrutiny by the entire cruise industry. So did NCL's Breakway (yup, they also complained about the tiny balconies). Even when Carnival launched the Dream class, people complained about the "Conquest class on steroids with a lanai blocking the view from balconies" among many other design "flaws".

 

I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. The initial wave of resistance will have died down, the Royal will have proved itself, the things that seriously need to be tweaked will be tweaked, and this debate will be long forgotten as it has been forgotten on most newbuilds from other cruise lines.

 

What an intelligent post...Thank You....Thank You:)

[Mom33]

What I see here is the same I've seen when other cruise lines have launched a new class of ship. There's always a small (but very vocal) group of traditionalists and purists who resist and deem any change to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be negative (and reason for condemnation).

 

RCL's Oasis ships went through one heck of negative scrutiny by the entire cruise industry. So did NCL's Breakway (yup, they also complained about the tiny balconies). Even when Carnival launched the Dream class, people complained about the "Conquest class on steroids with a lanai blocking the view from balconies" among many other design "flaws".

 

I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. The initial wave of resistance will have died down, the Royal will have proved itself, the things that seriously need to be tweaked will be tweaked, and this debate will be long forgotten as it has been forgotten on most newbuilds from other cruise lines.

 

Excellent post Tapi!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[kruisey]

Then any other earlier new build from Princess ?

[Woobstr112G]

What I see here is the same I've seen when other cruise lines have launched a new class of ship. There's always a small (but very vocal) group of traditionalists and purists who resist and deem any change to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be negative (and reason for condemnation).

 

RCL's Oasis ships went through one heck of negative scrutiny by the entire cruise industry. So did NCL's Breakway (yup, they also complained about the tiny balconies). Even when Carnival launched the Dream class, people complained about the "Conquest class on steroids with a lanai blocking the view from balconies" among many other design "flaws".

 

I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. The initial wave of resistance will have died down, the Royal will have proved itself, the things that seriously need to be tweaked will be tweaked, and this debate will be long forgotten as it has been forgotten on most newbuilds from other cruise lines.

 

While this is possible, it is also possible that since these two ships were sorta a test build/platform (for new ideas/features), it could be that future builds might return some of the things from the past (due to customer input) while keeping some of the things that worked from the new builds . IMHO

 

The Regal is too far along to make any major changes. Regardless if they are happy with their new ship or not, there will be two of them.

 

This is probably correct. About the only thing that probably could be done (IMHO) is possibly refit/open the center "Crew Only" stairs when each ship goes into dry dock in a couple of years.

 

Bob

Edited November 9, 2013 by Woobstr112G

[Pia1913]

 

 

This is probably correct. About the only thing that probably could be done (IMHO) is possibly refit/open the center "Crew Only" stairs when each ship goes into dry dock in a couple of years.

 

Bob

 

They didn't do it on the Grand, so why would they do it on the Royal?

[bigenna]

I just called princess to book a cruise on regal yesterday and in the course of our conversation the rep said that she had heard that there might be some changes to the design. I questionned but she did not know any specifics.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[Cruise Junky]

I just called princess to book a cruise on regal yesterday and in the course of our conversation the rep said that she had heard that there might be some changes to the design. I questionned but she did not know any specifics.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

 

I heard that too. Centre Staircase and aft pool were what I heard. I would think the staircase would be a lot easy to adjust than a pool at this stage, but you never know.

[Woobstr112G]

They didn't do it on the Grand, so why would they do it on the Royal?

 

Never say never.....:):):)

 

Bob

[billco]

What I see here is the same I've seen when other cruise lines have launched a new class of ship. There's always a small (but very vocal) group of traditionalists and purists who resist and deem any change to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be negative (and reason for condemnation).

 

I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. The initial wave of resistance will have died down, the Royal will have proved itself, the things that seriously need to be tweaked will be tweaked, and this debate will be long forgotten as it has been forgotten on most newbuilds from other cruise lines.

It seems there is also a small (but very vocal) group of fanboys who deem the changes to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be positive ( and reason for adulation).

 

Rather than getting used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships, I will most likely deal with it by booking future cruises on ships that have the most features I prefer.

 

I agree this debate will be forgotten. But, it will most likely be replaced by other intense debates where people who take different viewpoints will also receive labels like traditionalists, purists, and fanboys. That's the nature of internet forums.

[Woobstr112G]

It seems there is also a small (but very vocal) group of fanboys who deem the changes to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be positive ( and reason for adulation).

 

Rather than getting used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships, I will most likely deal with it by booking future cruises on ships that have the most features I prefer.

 

I agree this debate will be forgotten. But, it will most likely be replaced by other intense debates where people who take different viewpoints will also receive labels like traditionalists, purists, and fanboys. That's the nature of internet forums.

 

Well said sir.....:):):)

 

Bob

[4cats4me]

One doesn't have to sail on a ship to have an opinion about it. I have sailed on almost 40 cruises, I can definitely read deck plans and see what I like and don't like. I don't need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to qualify my opinion.

 

IMO - this is one way of letting Princess know what some of us think about their new ships. It is my understanding that Princess is very concerned about feedback of the new ship (as they should be) as they are contemplating future orders.

 

I recently canceled several FCCs that do not expire until next year and I was escalated to another department to ask me specific questions on why I was canceling them.

 

I have several friends who are TAs, and they have had a huge number of cancellations on this ship. A similar posted above mentioned the same thing.

 

Also, CC is about discussing cruises and ships. If that be positive or negative. As long as I follow the rules of CC, I can post my opinion on cruise topics. This means that I can post things other than glowing reviews and comments.

 

 

Yes, it is interesting how some people can't handle constructive criticism. We are In the process of trying to choose a cruise for next April, and the Royal was a contender for a minute.... but with all due respect, after sailing on Celebrity last year, we are looking to go with that cruise line again, most likely. And then I had an a-ha moment, yes, the Royal Princess UNTIL I read so many dispositive comments

Yes, I realize all ships have their problems, but from the tiny balconies on the mini-suites to the less than stellar food reviews, to the electrical outages of the whole ship in Europe to the reduced pool size , yet more passengers, to the tar like oil droplets on the aft balconies, until some of these issues are resolved, then I'm not going to take a chance just yet on the Royal

The Emerald would most likely be our ship of choice since we are now looking at 10 day cruises, but even the price point for the Emerald is higher than what we could get on Celebrity.

 

I miss Princess, I really do, but I get much better bang for the buck with Celebrity these days

[Ship's Wake]

What I see here is the same I've seen when other cruise lines have launched a new class of ship. There's always a small (but very vocal) group of traditionalists and purists who resist and deem any change to the way things are at their favorite cruise line to be negative (and reason for condemnation).

 

RCL's Oasis ships went through one heck of negative scrutiny by the entire cruise industry. So did NCL's Breakway (yup, they also complained about the tiny balconies). Even when Carnival launched the Dream class, people complained about the "Conquest class on steroids with a lanai blocking the view from balconies" among many other design "flaws".

 

I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. The initial wave of resistance will have died down, the Royal will have proved itself, the things that seriously need to be tweaked will be tweaked, and this debate will be long forgotten as it has been forgotten on most newbuilds from other cruise lines.

 

If only this were true. My interpretation is that the number of cruisers who haven't fallen in line with glorifying the Royal/Regal is not a small number.

 

I do believe the Royal/Regal design is the best that the current Princess management is able to design and build.

[Iamcruzin]

Yes, it is interesting how some people can't handle constructive criticism. We are In the process of trying to choose a cruise for next April, and the Royal was a contender for a minute.... but with all due respect, after sailing on Celebrity last year, we are looking to go with that cruise line again, most likely. And then I had an a-ha moment, yes, the Royal Princess UNTIL I read so many dispositive comments

 

I miss Princess, I really do, but I get much better bang for the buck with Celebrity these days

 

Isn't that the truth!

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[Iamcruzin]

We are visiting family in Florida this week and my SIL and her family will be disembarking the Royal today. My Mil and Fil attended the BVE when they dropped them off at port last week. They have only been on one cruise Costa don't read cruise critic and have no idea about positive or negative features of a ship. Their comments were the ship is beautiful and what food they ate was delicious. The MDR service for the BVE lunch was slow, the pools are small and they can't believe that you can see onto and into the rooms below the skywalk.

[Mom33]

We are visiting family in Florida this week and my SIL and her family will be disembarking the Royal today. My Mil and Fil attended the BVE when they dropped them off at port last week. They have only been on one cruise Costa don't read cruise critic and have no idea about positive or negative features of a ship. Their comments were the ship is beautiful and what food they ate was delicious. The MDR service for the BVE lunch was slow, the pools are small and they can't believe that you can see onto and into the rooms below the skywalk.

 

I am surprised that given your feelings about this ship, you didn't give them some information about the ship prior to their boarding.:D

[Iamcruzin]

I am surprised that given your feelings about this ship, you didn't give them some information about the ship prior to their boarding.:D

 

My SIL is an avid cruiser and followed all Royal threads. They booked when bookings first opened. They are also booked on the Regal but may cancel if they didn't like the Royal. My mother and father in law don't cruise and I wanted an unbiased opinion from a newbie. Granted they didn't actually cruise on the ship but I was amazed of their observations after just a few hours on the ship.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Iamcruzin

[JimmyVWine]

 

I do believe the Royal/Regal design is the best that the current Princess management is able to design and build.

 

I don't think this is true. I think that a couple of years ago, Princess saw that RCCL had introduced some potentially game-changing "Big Girls" that were garnering a disproportionate amount of industry buzz and they wanted in on the action. They knew (or thought) that they could not catch anyone's eye by simply building a Grand Class ship with some technological upgrades, so they opted for a whole new build. Problem was, much of what was "special" or unique about the Oasis Class ships wasn't really compatible with the Princess brand. Such as inward facing balconies, Central Park. Zip lines. Wave riders. Stuff like that. So in an industry where copying is the sincerest form of flattery, (and the surest way to compete head-to-head), Princess was stuck. It tried to build a larger, grander ship to capture some of the Oasis buzz, yet keep it grounded in the Princess tradition. What they ended up with was a controversial compromise. Many of the features are spectacular and some technological upgrades are noteworthy. But at the same time, the new platform stripped the ship of many things that made Princess Princess.

 

Was this the "best" ship that management could have created? I don't think so. I think that the "best" ship would have been a new ship based on the Grand platform, but with the stylized look of Royal and the technological upgrades to boot. But while that might have been a godsend to loyal Princess customers, it would probably have been met with a shrug of the shoulders by the industry as a whole and largely ignored by window shoppers whose eyes were being drawn to RCCL, (and to Breakaway). While Princess cruisers may have loved that concept, there would have been cries of "stale", "boring" and unimaginative from other corners. So I think that Princess management aimed for the most impactful ship. Not necessarily the "best" ship. Many times, corporations compromise for the purpose of buzz. It's a risky strategy, and sometimes it works.

[chamima]

We are visiting family in Florida this week and my SIL and her family will be disembarking the Royal today. My Mil and Fil attended the BVE when they dropped them off at port last week. They have only been on one cruise Costa don't read cruise critic and have no idea about positive or negative features of a ship. Their comments were the ship is beautiful and what food they ate was delicious. The MDR service for the BVE lunch was slow, the pools are small and they can't believe that you can see onto and into the rooms below the skywalk.

 

I'm confused. :confused:

Was the ship beautiful and the food good or service slow and the pools small?

Did they say they liked it or didn't?

 

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[chamima]

I don't think this is true. I think that a couple of years ago, Princess saw that RCCL had introduced some potentially game-changing "Big Girls" that were garnering a disproportionate amount of industry buzz and they wanted in on the action. They knew (or thought) that they could not catch anyone's eye by simply building a Grand Class ship with some technological upgrades, so they opted for a whole new build. Problem was, much of what was "special" or unique about the Oasis Class ships wasn't really compatible with the Princess brand. Such as inward facing balconies, Central Park. Zip lines. Wave riders. Stuff like that. So in an industry where copying is the sincerest form of flattery, (and the surest way to compete head-to-head), Princess was stuck. It tried to build a larger, grander ship to capture some of the Oasis buzz, yet keep it grounded in the Princess tradition. What they ended up with was a controversial compromise. Many of the features are spectacular and some technological upgrades are noteworthy. But at the same time, the new platform stripped the ship of many things that made Princess Princess.

 

Was this the "best" ship that management could have created? I don't think so. I think that the "best" ship would have been a new ship based on the Grand platform, but with the stylized look of Royal and the technological upgrades to boot. But while that might have been a godsend to loyal Princess customers, it would probably have been met with a shrug of the shoulders by the industry as a whole and largely ignored by window shoppers whose eyes were being drawn to RCCL, (and to Breakaway). While Princess cruisers may have loved that concept, there would have been cries of "stale", "boring" and unimaginative from other corners. So I think that Princess management aimed for the most impactful ship. Not necessarily the "best" ship. Many times, corporations compromise for the purpose of buzz. It's a risky strategy, and sometimes it works.

 

Sounds right on to me!

[Woobstr112G]

I don't think this is true. I think that a couple of years ago, Princess saw that RCCL had introduced some potentially game-changing "Big Girls" that were garnering a disproportionate amount of industry buzz and they wanted in on the action. They knew (or thought) that they could not catch anyone's eye by simply building a Grand Class ship with some technological upgrades, so they opted for a whole new build. Problem was, much of what was "special" or unique about the Oasis Class ships wasn't really compatible with the Princess brand. Such as inward facing balconies, Central Park. Zip lines. Wave riders. Stuff like that. So in an industry where copying is the sincerest form of flattery, (and the surest way to compete head-to-head), Princess was stuck. It tried to build a larger, grander ship to capture some of the Oasis buzz, yet keep it grounded in the Princess tradition. What they ended up with was a controversial compromise. Many of the features are spectacular and some technological upgrades are noteworthy. But at the same time, the new platform stripped the ship of many things that made Princess Princess.

 

Was this the "best" ship that management could have created? I don't think so. I think that the "best" ship would have been a new ship based on the Grand platform, but with the stylized look of Royal and the technological upgrades to boot. But while that might have been a godsend to loyal Princess customers, it would probably have been met with a shrug of the shoulders by the industry as a whole and largely ignored by window shoppers whose eyes were being drawn to RCCL, (and to Breakaway). While Princess cruisers may have loved that concept, there would have been cries of "stale", "boring" and unimaginative from other corners. So I think that Princess management aimed for the most impactful ship. Not necessarily the "best" ship. Many times, corporations compromise for the purpose of buzz. It's a risky strategy, and sometimes it works.

 

Outstanding comments.....:):):)

 

Bob

[LewesBeach]

I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. The initial wave of resistance will have died down, the Royal will have proved itself, the things that seriously need to be tweaked will be tweaked, and this debate will be long forgotten as it has been forgotten on most newbuilds from other cruise lines.

 

Yes, the controversy will eventually die down. I am a "Princess traditionalist" who booked 18 months out, saw the deck plans, and was looking forward with anticipation and an open mind to experiencing a new ship. But being on for 18 days in a cooler climate gives you a totally different perspective than say, a 5 or 7 day Caribbean. As for serious tweaking - You may be able to retrofit center stairs, install a center aisle & drink holders in Princess theater, sync elevator buttons, move TP holders, etc. But you can't "tweak" the serious issues for many people - no promenade or aft pool, tiny balconies, small loud pool area with wasted space for 1hr fountain show. We tried it, loved certain aspects, & will stay with Princess - but on other ships.

[MauiLvrs]

We have booked the 10 day repo from NY to FLL next October, calling on Aruba, Antigua and St. Thomas with 6 sea days. I am starting to wonder if we made the right choice with all those sea days. :)

We love those ports. The 6 sea days wouldn't normally worry us .. BUT, in this case with the Royal not having nearly all of the places we spend our sea days it would be a HUGE problem for us. In fact with just one sea day it is problematic enough that we changed our booking from the Regal to the Emerald.

 

If you like to spend you time on the promenade deck, aft pool/spa, forward observation area, pool, like us, you may be happier on another ship.

 

My interpretation is that the number of cruisers who haven't fallen in line with glorifying the Royal/Regal is not a small number.

Agree...

 

I do believe the Royal/Regal design is the best that the current Princess management is able to design and build.

Lets hope that either that isn't true or they get new management.

 

it could be that future builds might return some of the things from the past (due to customer input) while keeping some of the things that worked from the new builds ...

Bob

That would certainly be a step in the right direction...

 

...I believe that by the time Regal is launched, the Princess traditionalist will have grown used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships. ...

We won't ... because we'll be on other ships.

Unless of course we win that free cruise on the Regal.

[MauiLvrs]

Rather than getting used to the way things are on the newest Princess ships, I will most likely deal with it by booking future cruises on ships that have the most features I prefer.

That's what we're doing ;)

 

I'm confused. :confused:

Was the ship beautiful and the food good or service slow and the pools small?

Did they say they liked it or didn't? :confused:

Not mutually exclusive :confused: