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Ocean Princess for sale

yyjguy

By yyjguy,
in Princess Cruises

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SkystheLimit

SkystheLimit

Posted
Posted
Basically the same age...

 

 

 

How are they treating them like trash? They've made a business decision.

 

They have done little to nothing since they bought these ships at rock bottom prices to improve them. They have stood the test of time on their own merit from the beginning.

Of course, it is a business decision by accountants. In the end it will matter to no one but the ones that loved these ships where these ships go. I have been and am prepared to pay a premium to sail on the original R ships. So, my business will follow these ships for as long as I can.

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Putterdude

Putterdude

Posted
Posted

It will be the end of an era, but sadly all ships leave the fleet at some time or another. I am no expert on the economics of running small ships but with the lines moving to larger and larger ships its obvious that is where the mass market is. Sadly for us we cancelled a Tahiti, Hawaii, LA cruise for January.

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steveww48

steveww48

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know of any past situation in which Princess sold a ship which had existing bookings? Were all future sailings just canceled? Or did Princess continue to operate the ship until all the existing sailings were completed? (In the current situation, that would be about 18 months-- one can currently book the Ocean Princess for trips as late as March 2016.)

 

We have been seriously considering booking the Ocean Princess for a trip about 9 months out. I'd hate to have paid for insurance and perhaps airfare and then at some point find out that the ship was sold, the sailing was canceled, and I'm stuck for the cost of the insurance and/or airline cancellation/change fees.

 

Seems as though booking the Ocean Princess now entails some amount of financial risk... trying to assess the magnitude of that. Can anyone offer any insight?

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shredie

shredie

Posted
Posted
Does anyone know of any past situation in which Princess sold a ship which had existing bookings? Were all future sailings just canceled? Or did Princess continue to operate the ship until all the existing sailings were completed? (In the current situation, that would be about 18 months-- one can currently book the Ocean Princess for trips as late as March 2016.)

 

Probably you should wait until there is some official word from Princess before making any decisions on booking rather than rely on some fourth-hand information on an Internet site.

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GUT2407

GUT2407

Posted
Posted

It was Pacific Princess that got me "Hooked" when she was in Australia every year. So if they did send her or Ocean back to Aus I'd probably have to increase my cruises.:eek:

 

I really don't like the mega ships.

 

And if I want to go shopping in a mall that's where I'll go not on a ship.

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dorisis

dorisis

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the info & something I thought would happen sooner than later. With the Pacific's fully booked 50th anniversary cruise in December 2015 she'll be sailing Princess until then & probably kept in good condition. :)

 

It'll be interesting to see if Oceania who already has a couple of these old Renaissance ships in their fleet will purchase these three ships & remodel them..

 

Oceania has recently been sold to NCL along with Regent Seven Seas.

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flamomo

flamomo

Posted
Posted (edited)

CCL's decision to dump at least one of the "Little Girls" may make business sense to the corporation, but it sure breaks the hearts of many of us who have had the privilege of cruising on them, and were hoping to be able to continue to do so for a long time.

 

The 2 behemoths that were recently added to the fleet, as well as number three that will be coming too soon, provide no consolation whatsoever for the loss of the uniqueness of the small ship sailing experience that the "Girls" are known for.

Edited by flamomo
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Loonbeam

Loonbeam

Posted
Posted

A couple of notes from someone I spoke to at Princess:

 

1> The ship is available for sale, but not expected to sell quickly (can always happen if another line has a need). Any decisions about itinerary will be made based on the sale process. Assume normal operations unless you hear otherwise.

 

2> The main issue is one of scale. Cruise lines operate by splitting the fixed cost of operations among as many pax as possible. With older engines that are not as efficient, the smaller ships simply don't have that economy and the cost of upgrade is not covered by the relatively small pax count. (My shorter version - to upgrade those ships would cause either a price spike on those ships or would have to be absorbed by fare increases across the fleet - neither of which is considered a good idea.)

 

MY comments based on above:

 

As soon as the Ocean is sold, I would not be surprised to see the Pacific on the block for the same reasons. The Island and the Coral will become the new 'small' ships eventually. You are not likely to ever see a sub 2500 pax ship built again for a mass market line because of the current profit model. Honestly, I COULD see a slightly larger version of the Coral and Island built at some point if they have success in their new itineraries (assuming the eventual sale of the Pacific that would mean the Island or Coral would assume the world cruise with 3x the space)

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capriccio

capriccio

Posted
Posted

 

As soon as the Ocean is sold, I would not be surprised to see the Pacific on the block for the same reasons. The Island and the Coral will become the new 'small' ships eventually. You are not likely to ever see a sub 2500 pax ship built again for a mass market line because of the current profit model. Honestly, I COULD see a slightly larger version of the Coral and Island built at some point if they have success in their new itineraries (assuming the eventual sale of the Pacific that would mean the Island or Coral would assume the world cruise with 3x the space)

 

We have been considering a world cruise in a few years and one of my hesitations has been that I'm not sure I would enjoy over 100 days on the Ocean or Pacific. We did the 14 day Amazon itinerary in 2008 and we, contrary to almost everyone else here on cruise critic :p, weren't that enamored with the ship (the lack of anytime dining was a big problem). The Coral and the Island are our favorite ships so if they do the world cruise we'll be there! We'd better start saving now!

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sunsetbeachgal

sunsetbeachgal

Posted
Posted (edited)

I just got off a wonderful cruise on the Holland America Prinsendam, which is a small ship about the same size as the Ocean and Pacific. During a public Q&A session with the Captain, he indicated that he heard that the smaller Princess ships were going to be transferred to HAL.

Edited by sunsetbeachgal
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steveww48

steveww48

Posted
Posted
Probably you should wait until there is some official word from Princess before making any decisions on booking rather than rely on some fourth-hand information on an Internet site.

 

That certainly makes sense.

 

I've sent an email to Princess about this, asking a few specific questions about this situation. I hope they will provide unequivocal responses so that we have a basis for making a decision about whether or not to book on Ocean Princess. I'll post on this thread whatever response I get from Princess.

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CRUZGAL53

CRUZGAL53

Posted
Posted
That certainly makes sense.

 

I've sent an email to Princess about this, asking a few specific questions about this situation. I hope they will provide unequivocal responses so that we have a basis for making a decision about whether or not to book on Ocean Princess. I'll post on this thread whatever response I get from Princess.

 

I am booked on the Ocean for next spring. I just spoke with Princess and they said more than likely it would take a few years before the Ocean would actually be sold. Sure hope they are correct!! :)

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shellbeachjim

shellbeachjim

Posted
Posted

Here's a link to an article on Seatrade Insider posted yesterday:

 

http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/carnivals-donald-downplays-industry-supply-says-measured-growth-is-good.html

 

The basis of the report was the CCL earnings call yesterday. Here's the important quote:

 

Donald confirmed plans to sell the smaller Princess vessel, Ocean Princess. The 688-berth ship, built in 1999 as R Four, has been on the market.
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gertz

gertz

Posted
Posted

Loonbeam we tend to agree with you on your summary.

 

But our thing is crowds or if you will space ratio which is the only measure of how crowded a ship really is that I know of.

 

We date back to 1991 to the Crown and Regal, Star, Royal, etc. We really dislike the newer so called Princess ships starting with the Caribbean Princess. To us they are really Carnival ships with a Princess paint job. We tried them really dislike them and will not go on them again. Even the two new ones have a poor space ratio all though slightly better than the extra deck ones. We have not been on one yet and probably will not. "If we all keep heading the same direction, eventually we are all the same."

 

It looks like if we live long enough, which is doubtful, we will run out of Princess ships to sail on. What's a sailor to do?:(

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beg3yrs

beg3yrs

Posted
Posted

It looks like if we live long enough, which is doubtful, we will run out of Princess ships to sail on. What's a sailor to do?:(

 

Seabourn?

 

Hey, maybe Seabourn will pass down some of its ships to Princess. After all, the Little Girls were hand-me-downs too.

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