THEY'RE BRINGING THE PROMENADE BACK!! not on Princess...BUT THEY'RE BRINGING IT BACK!

[bob brown]

The staterooms are indeed modular construction, made in-mass at a factory off-site away from the shipyard itself, then shipped in and installed during the outfitting process once all of the ships modules are put together. I don't know what manufacturer they use for the staterooms, or if they use the same or different suppliers.

 

As for the balconies on Royal Princess (and all other cruise ships), they were/are added on during the construction of the ships superstructure. Here you can see an individual module block of the ship prior to being added to the puzzle. The balconies are in place, but the staterooms are not.

 

(Credit Princess Cruises)

Thanks! That clears up some of my question....the balconies are built as part of the superstructure by the shipyard, and the modular cabins are inserted later. So if the small balconies on the Royal Class and the Breakaway Class are dimensionally similar, it is just coincidental......

[dmwnc1959]

Thanks! That clears up some of my question....the balconies are built as part of the superstructure by the shipyard, and the modular cabins are inserted later. So if the small balconies on the Royal Class and the Breakaway Class are dimensionally similar, it is just coincidental......

 

 

Pretty much. Different parent companies, different ship design teams, different shipyards, and ships built with different demographics mind. Yet both have these smaller balconies. As mentioned in a previous post, Norwegian Breakaway and her sisters have the bump outs and recessed areas of the superstructure which do allow for some much deeper balconies. But she also has some that are truly French Balcony in design like these...

 

(Credit radiobremen.de)

 

:D

Edited June 30, 2014 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

Getting back to the topic of this thread, promenades, I made this comment elsewhere but wanted to post it here as well since this thread has been about the supposed 'return' of Promenade Decks...

 

 

As for 'promenades', they have varied over the last century. Some of the greatest transatlantic liners in history (Normandie, United States, Queen Elizabeth, France) had totally enclosed walkways (not really 'outside') with windows called 'promenade decks', and passengers enjoyed taking their 'promenade' to the next deck up for some sun and fresh air. Prior to this in the era of the four-stackers, most had 'sheltered' promenades with no windows. Still, folks enjoyed walking topside along the boat deck. But all of those ships had basically two promenade areas, enclosed/sheltered and topside. The only real 'liner' of today, the Queen Mary 2, has a promenade deck that is basically exposed to the elements with a 'ceiling' of lifeboats. You're not really fully protected like the prior examples of the enclosed/sheltered walkways.

 

Promenade decks have varied in width, length, coverage, completely enclosed or open, recessed to protect against the elements, and their types of usage.

 

With the change in the purpose of these ships (liners to cruising), and the advent of these new (?) safety regulations, we are seeing another 'evolution' in the definition of the 'promenade deck' where new build, mass-market, modern cruise ships have multi-purpose, completely exposed exterior promenades with jacuzzi hot tubs, restaurants, sun loungers, and a variety of seating areas. These are mostly on ships that are being built with the lifeboats extended out away from the hull alongside the ship.

 

Some of these new build cruise ships have exterior 'porch-like' areas with seating groups and loungers. They are on the ships that have their lifeboats deck mounted.

 

There are also brand new cruise ships like the Mein Schiff 3 with what appears to be even less promenade than what Royal Princess has.

 

And it looks like this design evolution is here to stay. I wouldn't expect any future new builds to ever have the promenade deck of the Grand-class or Vista-class again. This includes all future new builds for Princess Cruises.

 

:D