changes to the Regal Princess

[IECalCruiser]

Hi Ernie!

 

The biggest differences I see in the lifeboats of the Royal Princess and the Norwegian Breakaway, as well as the Oasis-class ships, is that on the Royal Princess the lifeboats are still deck mounted whereas on the others I mentioned they are suspended out away from the hull along the side of the ship. Is that what gives NCL the ability to build the Waterfront and RCI have the jogging track?

Dave, I have only seen photos of the Breakaway and I don't know what is behind the lifeboats. The Breakaway can do The Waterfront because they moved that space to deck 8, above the lifeboats on deck 7. The inner edge of the lifeboats appear to be even with the edge of the Boardwalk above which is similar to the location next to the Emerald deck balconies on the Royal. The Boardwalk on The Waterfront is not a Grand class Promenade deck either. From photos I have scene, the Boardwalk is totally uncovered and has no deck chairs.

 

The Royal and the Breakaway are the first large ships designed since the new SOLAS requirements. Oasis III isn't due until mid-2016. Quantum of the Seas will launch in a year. Wonder how her design will meet the SOLAS requirements?

[RickEk]

The Oasis Class of ships have a similar lifeboat arrangement to ROYAL PRINCESS, but they have made better use of the limited Promenade by turning it into jogging track. Like RP, there are a few sections where it opens up and there is a direct ocean view, but unlike RP the limited promenade on the Oasis class completely encircles the ship.

 

The main safety purpose of this new lifeboat arrangement is faster loading and lowering of the boats. This is accomplished by placing the boats directly on the deck so they don't have to be lowered to the deck from above before being loaded by passengers.

 

What is interesting about the arrangement on RP is that the boats still have to be lowered before they can be boarded, as they are too high off the deck to be boarded in the stationary position. To me it seems to defeat the whole purpose from a safety perspective.

 

Beyond safety, there is a revenue advantage to placing the boats like this. Since they only take up a single deck, generally in front of the lounges, the ship gains an entire new deck of unobstructed, or very partially obstructed balcony cabins. I think this is the primary objective for this new lifeboat placement, as to my knowledge there is nothing in the SOLAS regulations that state the boats are required to be placed in this arrangement.

 

Attached is a picture I took of the OASIS promenade for reference. I don't think the REGAL promenade will be this good as there is simply not the space. It will be like the picture I posted earlier of the crew-only ROYAL promenade, but perhaps cleaned up a bit to make it look a little better for passenger use.

 

Ernie

 

 

 

 

Do remember that the OotS is waaay wider than the Royal...

[eroller]

Do remember that the OotS is waaay wider than the Royal...

 

Absolutely! I took a couple pics in St. Maarten that clearly illustrate just how much wider the Oasis Class is. ALLURE OF THE SEAS in this case. The RP looks almost quaint in comparison.

 

 

Ernie

 

 

[IECalCruiser]

This is the famous (infamous) Royal aft photo posted by Dave:

 

 

The information on CC stated "The aft pool will be located in an area used for additional deck space on Royal." That sure looks like the green covered deck space on Sun deck. The Star and Caribbean have splash pools aft on the Sun deck. Those pools are all above the deck level like a backyard above ground pool. I assume that is what the "Aft Pool" on the Regal will be. There are also two hot tubs on those Grand class ships. This is the best photo I can find. Assume that is something like the pool to be added to the Royal. Doubt this will be a Grand class Terrace Pool with three decks of loungers.

 

[dmwnc1959]

Dave, I have only seen photos of the Breakaway and I don't know what is behind the lifeboats. The Breakaway can do The Waterfront because they moved that space to deck 8, above the lifeboats on deck 7. The inner edge of the lifeboats appear to be even with the edge of the Boardwalk above which is similar to the location next to the Emerald deck balconies on the Royal. The Boardwalk on The Waterfront is not a Grand class Promenade deck either. From photos I have scene, the Boardwalk is totally uncovered and has no deck chairs.

 

The Royal and the Breakaway are the first large ships designed since the new SOLAS requirements. Oasis III isn't due until mid-2016. Quantum of the Seas will launch in a year. Wonder how her design will meet the SOLAS requirements?

 

My friend Gambee, who does some of the very best pictorial reviews on Cruise Critic, sailed Norwegian Breakaway on one of her first cruises out of NYC. There are a ton of pictures including these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

His brilliant pictorial review can be found here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1851007

 

:D

Edited November 22, 2013 by dmwnc1959

[5:00_Somewhere]

We were booked on your cruise and I even joined the roll call before we canceled. I am surprised that you were so skeptical about the soot problem because I know you are a frequent CC poster and the reports that were coming back were reports from CC member whose points of view are well respected. My sister in law and her family were on board the week before and she told us that they were not letting the children play on the outside deck. I am sure it was due to the fumes and soot. I hope that Princess compensated you and Sox Fan. You guys always have positive things to say about Princess and what you described was more than just a slight inconvenience. The ironic part of this is my SIL and her family of 4 were booked in a deluxe balcony cabin facing forward on the lido deck. They booked it at great rate because there is always a possibility that they won't allow access to the balcony during sailing. They knew this when the booked and were happy when they had access to the huge balcony all week.

 

I should clarify: when I say I was "skeptical" about the soot and fumes problem, I do not mean to say that I did not believe it existed at all; I just mean that I thought perhaps some peoples' sensitivities might be higher than mine (for, perhaps, very good reasons, such as respiratory disorders, etc.) And, I must admit that there was a part of me that thought, surely Princess would not have put a ship into service if it had that severe a problem. Boy, was I wrong. As for compensation, not sure where to go with this next. Passenger Services offered nothing, other than acknowledging that they were aware of the problem. I think the next step is to talk to our Princess Cruise Consultant to see if she can help at least point us in the right direction. If not, then I guess I'll be contacting Princess directly. As I said, I do not tend to be a complainer, and am the kind of person who normally doesn't expect compensation if something on a cruise does not go exactly perfectly. But, in this case, we paid a premium for this particular balcony, and to have it completely unusable seems to warrant some kind of compensation. We shall see.

[caribill]

And, I must admit that there was a part of me that thought, surely Princess would not have put a ship into service if it had that severe a problem.

 

It seems to me that rincess did not know this problem exsted until after the ship was put into service.

 

Someone posted that it was due to the way wind worked with the MUTS screen in place, somthing that was not forseen before the ship was built and was not taken into account by those who ran the models about the wind and the ship.

[5:00_Somewhere]

It seems to me that rincess did not know this problem exsted until after the ship was put into service.

 

Someone posted that it was due to the way wind worked with the MUTS screen in place, somthing that was not forseen before the ship was built and was not taken into account by those who ran the models about the wind and the ship.

 

Yeah, I read that about the MUTS screen here on CC, as well. I also read that the problem may have been due to a different grade of fuel that, it was speculated, would not be used when sailing the Caribbean; another reason I was foolishly hopeful. ;)

[Bimmer09]

My friend Gambee, who does some of the very best pictorial reviews on Cruise Critic, sailed Norwegian Breakaway on one of her first cruises out of NYC. There are a ton of pictures including these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

His brilliant pictorial review can be found here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1851007

 

:D

 

Dave-as if I don't already owe you so much for your work on the Royal! Thanks for the link to Gambee's monumental review of the Breakaway which will take me some time to read and savor. Love the shipbuilding shots. I have to admire NCL for their thinking outside the box re the restaurants that open on to the promenade. I will read some reviews to see if it is working or not.

 

Dining outdoors is a passion of mine.

 

Norris

[TorontoTL]

This is the famous (infamous) Royal aft photo posted by Dave:

 

 

The information on CC stated "The aft pool will be located in an area used for additional deck space on Royal." That sure looks like the green covered deck space on Sun deck. The Star and Caribbean have splash pools aft on the Sun deck. Those pools are all above the deck level like a backyard above ground pool. I assume that is what the "Aft Pool" on the Regal will be. There are also two hot tubs on those Grand class ships. This is the best photo I can find. Assume that is something like the pool to be added to the Royal. Doubt this will be a Grand class Terrace Pool with three decks of loungers.

 

 

That arrangement would be great especially if they also include the extra hot tubs!

[BLS]

I really hope Princess listens and rethinks both the Theater and the Vista Lounge.

Theather really need aisles along the walls and the Lounge needs to have the seats adjusted so folks can move.

[lovevacadays]

This is an unwinable point. You are essentially arguing that no one is capable of reading a blueprint or deck plan and drawing a conclusion or forming an opinion. You are also suggesting that no one is capable of reading reports and reviews written by others and forming an opinion without spending a few thousand dollars first. Why is it so difficult to understand that people can find fault with a ship that does not have a Promenade without first sailing on that ship? What do you expect?...That a person is going to board the ship and say: "I heard that this ship has no Promenade. And I've seen deck plans that show no Promenade. But I just had to pay a few thousand dollars to see for myself because I just don't believe it!" What is boarding the ship going to teach you that you didn't know already? Same holds true for other "measurables" such as the lack of an aft pool, central staircase and shrunken balconies. If these are features that are important to you, you can get a sense of what the ship is like from your mind's eye. You don't need to actually step out onto a 36 sq ft balcony to see how small it is. Take some painter's tape and mark off a 9x4 piece of your living room. That's a lot cheaper than $2,000 cruise.

 

When the milk carton shows an expiration date of 10 days ago, and someone else confirms that the milk is spoiled, I don't have to drink from the carton to form an opinion. I would submit that PCL was more influenced by the people who hadn't or wouldn't sail on Royal than by the opinions of those who have and will. But that is just a hunch.

 

 

Ok, this is how a promenade should look. On the Ruby. How hard can it be?

 

 

 

Interesting thread. I think we all have things we really love about cruising. For me, the Promenade Deck is something that is important to me. One reason I love the Sapphire and Diamond Princess is that they both have a very wide Promenade deck with full loungers. I can say everyday of my cruise on both of these ships I took advantage of the Promenade deck. While it is not a deal breaker for me, it is a strong consideration for me.

[IECalCruiser]

I really hope Princess listens and rethinks both the Theater and the Vista Lounge.

Theather really need aisles along the walls and the Lounge needs to have the seats adjusted so folks can move.

The Princess Theaters on the Coral and the Island sound similar to the Royal's. There is no outside aisles in those Princess Theater's. The Vista Lounge on the Royal also appears to be very similar to those on the Grand, Golden and the Star. We plan to sail on the Royal next year and look forward to seeing for ourselves and making our own opinions.

[kruisey]

Anything on their news line yet.Phoned Princess and they know nothing about it.

I wonder why they told CC....Could it be they wanted our confirmed opinions before they made these changes?

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

I asked the Princess spokes person the other day all l got was no comment

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

[Iamcruzin]

Anything on their news line yet.Phoned Princess and they know nothing about it.

I wonder why they told CC....Could it be they wanted our confirmed opinions before they made these changes?

Either that or they hoped we would stop bashing the Royal.

[Cruise Junky]

Anything on their news line yet.Phoned Princess and they know nothing about it.

I wonder why they told CC....Could it be they wanted our confirmed opinions before they made these changes?

 

The people that you talk to at Princess are not the same people that talk to CC. I don't think Princess is going to make a big deal that they screwed up Royal. You'll just quietly make changes to Regal.

[Clutterlady]

Anything on their news line yet.Phoned Princess and they know nothing about it.

I wonder why they told CC....Could it be they wanted our confirmed opinions before they made these changes?

 

Princess had it posted on their FB page.

[Carolyn R]

I asked the question on Facebook and Princess answered with confirmation that the news reported by CC is in fact true.

[CruisinChris]

Yes and I tweeted Princess two days ago and they confirmed yesterday. Cruise Critic really should NAME their source spokeperson rather than quoting and unnamed person, for credibility's sake. I still find it somewhat odd that they're confirming that they're making these rather unprecedented changes without an official announcement or more substantial detail. Considering the fairly recent shipyard photos of Regal and the addition of two cruises in May because she's being delivered EARLY makes me scratch my head a little. I haven't consulted the cruise atlas to see when the Royal's first dry dock is scheduled (I never received the cruise atlas), so not sure when that's happening.

 

I think the pool will be down on Marina deck, with some outdoor seating and bar on lido, and the sun deck will be cut back and curved around to mimic the look of the Grand Class aft pools. This will also change the wind flows over the ship and will also impact the efficiency of the funnel, which is already not right. So, they will be needing to look at that again as they make these changes.

 

We need some new shipyard photos of Regal.

 

Also - I think the promenade is what it is. They are going to have to work within the constraints already present - primarily the hull walls and the lifeboats. Even if you can walk the length, or across the bow, it's not going to be like other ships. Folks are just going to have to wrap their head around that. And I wouldn't count on them making changes in theater or anything like that. These are pretty major changes being done very quickly after the release of a new ship. I can't think of a time what that's ever happened before. It's nice that they're "listening" but it's also a little ego-bruising, which is likely why they're not being more public about it.

[IECalCruiser]

I think the pool will be down on Marina deck' date=' with some outdoor seating and bar on lido, and the sun deck will be cut back and curved around to mimic the look of the Grand Class aft pools. This will also change the wind flows over the ship and will also impact the efficiency of the funnel, which is already not right. So, they will be needing to look at that again as they make these changes.

 

We need some new shipyard photos of Regal.[/quote']This is a screen grab from the Britannia video. It is not the best quality, but that appears to be the Aft Pool on the Sun Deck. The information on CC stated that the aft pool would be located on currently open deck space and that would essentially be the same location as on the Britannia. The Britannia appears to have the same Marina deck cabin arrangement as the Royal/Regal. I also highlighted how much P&O has extended the aft portions of the Sun and Sports decks as compared to the Royal/Regal.

 

[kruisey]

Wonderful news.Princess did listen to we moaners :D.

Hope to get the chance to sail on her one day.

[cruisetrail]

This is a screen grab from the Britannia video. It is not the best quality, but that appears to be the Aft Pool on the Sun Deck. The information on CC stated that the aft pool would be located on currently open deck space and that would essentially be the same location as on the Britannia. The Britannia appears to have the same Marina deck cabin arrangement as the Royal/Regal. I also highlighted how much P&O has extended the aft portions of the Sun and Sports decks as compared to the Royal/Regal.

 

 

My post of July 2012

 

Just a few basic improvements to humanize the project. Minimal structure changes required.

 

1. Aft "promenade area" connected around the stern.

2. Upper decks extended aft to alleviate kyphotic appearance, add more space and cover at least several balconies.

The added space can be used in different ways. Add a glass dome and get a wonderful aft looking lounge.

Add a processing staircase down to the buffet.

3.The buffet area gets extended wings (as a reminder of the former Skywalkers) with small observation areas. Those seats in the wings with panoramic view of the ocean would be the loveliest places in the buffet.

 

Princess is listening...:)

And there will be a pool there...

 

Edited November 24, 2013 by cruisetrail

[toberman]

Just posted in a blog by someone currently on the Emerald, Capt Nash made an announcement that there would be a central staircase on the new Regal.

 

"Captain Nick Nash.... made a stunning announcement (and gave a shout out to Cruise Critic at the same time) when he said that, in response to all the chatter on Cruise Critic, the new Regal Princess, that is launching next year, will have a central staircase for passengers".

[CruisinChris]

Wow!!

 

 

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