Ocean Princess Sold

[bdjam]

Just curious, what other lines have they taken over in the past?

 

Thanks,

The last one that I recall - and only because I had cruised the line and enjoyed it - was Royal Cruise Line. While NCL indicated that they were going to continue to operate Royal as a subsidy, they eventually sold off all of the ships except one which was smaller than the rest of the fleet and was never the right fit. That ship eventually went off to someone else too. But the point is although they indicated that the cruise line would be independent, it was destined to be discontinued from the time the ink dried on the agreement.

 

Because I'm not interested in the product, I really don't pay much attention to NCL. But all this happened before NCL was purchased by Star Cruises, so maybe Oceania is actually owned by Star...

[Balloon Man]

Oceania - at least the old Oceania pre takeover - would have improved the experience on this ship over that offered by Princess. Post takeover who knows? But my experience of Oceania R ships is a great product with excellent food and service.

[5:00_Somewhere]

I'm also a little sad to hear this news, but not all that surprised. Still have very fond memories of our 12-day Tahiti-Hawaii cruise on her (as the Tahitian Princess) in 2007.

 

Hmmmm ..., does make we wonder if we might have just learned the name of the new Princess build, though. Doesn't quite fit in with the current name theme of the Royal and Regal, but Ocean Princess is certainly a very serviceable name, and Princess does seem to have a habit of reusing ship names. Just a thought. ;)

 

Bon voyage, little girl.

[RickEk]

I'm also a little sad to hear this news, but not all that surprised. Still have very fond memories of our 12-day Tahiti-Hawaii cruise on her (as the Tahitian Princess) in 2007.

 

Hmmmm ..., does make we wonder if we might have just learned the name of the new Princess build, though. Doesn't quite fit in with the current name theme of the Royal and Regal, but Ocean Princess is certainly a very serviceable name, and Princess does seem to have a habit of reusing ship names. Just a thought. ;)

 

Bon voyage, little girl.

 

Well, since the new-build doesn't sail until 2017 and it's assumed that Pacific Princess is also up for sale...;) I'd say that the newbuild will be named Pacific Princess, rather than Ocean Princess. :)

[Mommypig]

Looks like we will be sailing Oceania in the future. Love to Ocean Princess and her sister. Currently booked on the 2016 world cruise on the PP

 

 

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[Bimmer09]

Looks like we will be sailing Oceania in the future. Love to Ocean Princess and her sister. Currently booked on the 2016 world cruise on the PP

 

 

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The Ocean Princess is a gem of a ship. Little in the way of bells and whistles but it doesn't matter- she is a ship made for relaxation and pampering and we can all use some of that.

 

Don't forget that even though both R ships may go from the Princess fleet they will be alive and well somewhere else. In the Ocean's case it is Oceania which is a well-established and beloved line. Similarly Azamara has two R ships in the water right now and have a strong loyal following and has itineraries that include overnight stops in foreign ports and a very interactive crew all the way up to the Captains.

 

It's Princess' loss in the long run as far as passenger loyalty is concerned. It gives me (for one) a reason to look at Oceania and Azamara for port-intensive cruises to smaller ports.

Financially of course it would make sense to PCL's bottom line.

 

Norris, glad I went on the Ocean and experienced the difference.

[Lsmith52]

We will be sailing her in December 2015 for the 14 day Caribbean. It will be our first cruise on her and now sadly our last.

[piper28]

Not surprised to see Oceania as the buyer, as they already have several of the former Renaissance R-class ships in their fleet.

 

I'm actually pretty surprised myself. I would have expected Oceania to want more things along the lines of their newer ships than the R class ships. I honestly expected that it would be difficult to offload the Ocean, and didn't really expect it to go to a major cruise line.

[AE_Collector]

That is sad news, we had hoped that she wouldnt sell and eventually Princess/Carnival would decide to keep them both. Who knows whether Pacific Princess will be next but I guess there is a fairly good chance.

 

We have done 6 Princess small ship cruises ths year alone. Tahiti to Vancouver was 3 cruises in April for 32 days. Then Norway for 16 days on Ocean Princess with a 14 day B2B in the Baltic in June. Finally we got a deal we couldn't refuse on Pacific from 12 days from Vancouver to Hawaii as she headed back to Tahiti.

 

Maybe they will hang onto Pacific for another year or two after Ocean is gone in an attempt to not lose as many loyal small ship passengers.

 

Terry

Edited November 26, 2014 by AE_Collector

[Host Jazzbeau]

It's impossible to build a new ship with less than 700 passengers and expect to make money, except at the ultra-luxury level. Oceania had to almost double the size of their new builds, and many of their loyal customers consider them too big. So this wasn't a surprise. The real surprise is that Azamara couldn't move quickly enough to grab it. Maybe they'll get Pacific.

[caribill]

The real surprise is that Azamara couldn't move quickly enough to grab it. Maybe they'll get Pacific.

 

Maybe Oceania just offered more $$$.

[kuldalai]

Oceania have three R class ships all recently refurbished and an absolute joy to sail on, and no annoying ships photographers either. Ocean Princess renamed as SIRENA with Oceania will get the same full makeover before joining the Oceania fleet .

 

Oceania is a great line in terms of quality at every corner, real value for money and a great cruise experience . None of the numbercrunchers mindless penny pinching that Princess cruisers have been subjected to in recent years .

 

Rejoice one that Ocean Princess has been saved, but doubly rejoice that it has been bought by Oceania .

[donaldsc]

If Princess sells off all their smaller ships, that is the end of my cruising on Princess. I hate the larger ships.

 

DON

[KruzeKrazy!]

We're booked onthe Pacific Princess in 2015 for our first Princess small ship cruise. Guess it will likely be one and done. Too bad as based on what we've read we were expecting the Princess little sisters to become our favorite and regular cruise experience.

 

Our cruise is French Polynesia and we'd seriously considered Paul Gaugin - guess that will now be the preferred option. And maybe we should reconsider so we don't try something we can't continue with and instead start all over with a new favorite line so we don't like something we can't have going forward - almost like teasing ourselves...

 

So looks like the choice for the future will be Princess larger ship or Brand X smaller ship. Will be interesting once we've had our first smaller ship experience which way we'll go...

 

At least if the Ocean Princess is still Princess thru Feb 2016 it's likely the Pacific Princess will last at least that long and we'll get to experience her after all.

Edited November 26, 2014 by KruzeKrazy!

[KruzPrincess]

I'm surprised she went so fast. Maybe this was in the works before they announced she was for sale.

 

 

 

 

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Edited November 26, 2014 by KruzPrincess

[dorisis]

Sad news. We will miss the OP

 

Not sad for me. As much as I like Princess, I still prefer Oceania's cruises. The itineraries are great. NCL's Oceania line now has 4 of the Ren ships and Azamara has 2. I think Princess is looking for a buyer for the Pacificc. Maybe after the 50th celebration, they will sell her. I hope that if they do, Oceania will snap her up.

 

Princess is going the way of the other lines and is building bigger and glizier ships. I call it "WALMARTIZING".

[pablo222]

The last one that I recall - and only because I had cruised the line and enjoyed it - was Royal Cruise Line.

 

Your odyssey ends ... when NCL buys the company.

[sunsetbeachgal]

One of the things I have always liked about Princess is that they had options...large ships, medium sized ships and small ships. I hate to see one of the options disappearing, and I don't see any new builds coming for small or medium sized ships (Coral and Island), and now with the Sapphire deployed to the Far East, assume eventually all that will be left is the really large ships. :confused:

Edited November 26, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[5:00_Somewhere]

Well, since the new-build doesn't sail until 2017 and it's assumed that Pacific Princess is also up for sale...;) I'd say that the newbuild will be named Pacific Princess, rather than Ocean Princess. :)

 

Actually, I suspect you're correct. But, because the Pacific isn't actually up for sale just yet, this seemed like a realistic possibility. Assuming the Pacific Princess does sell before the new ship launches, however, I have no doubt Princess would revive that iconic moniker first.

[KruzeKrazy!]

Plus Ocean is too much like Oceania. It's never good to brand something that sounds/looks like, could be confused with, or reminds someone of a competitor.

Edited November 26, 2014 by KruzeKrazy!

[shredie]

I'm surprised she went so fast. Maybe this was in the works before they announced she was for sale.

 

Just what I was thinking.

[beg3yrs]

I'm surprised she went so fast. Maybe this was in the works before they announced she was for sale.

 

Just what I was thinking.

 

Now that y'all mention it, I think you've got a good point. It takes time to do due diligence on a large purchase like that.

 

If Carnival Corp was having a little trouble coming to terms with Oceania/NCL, they might have publicly announced the sale as a means to get other interested parties in on the bidding and thus motivate Oceania/NCL to close the deal.

[Jim Avery]

If Princess sells off all their smaller ships, that is the end of my cruising on Princess. I hate the larger ships.

 

DON

 

I am with you Don. Had an ok cruise on the Star but a great cruise on Pacific Princess. We are not long timers with Princess but as our upper limit for passengers is around 2,000, we will be moving on as well. HAL still has a number of sub 2,000 passenger ships and, as has been noted above, Azamara, Oceania are good choices. Sorry to see the ever bloating of cruise ships continue at Princess as they did provide us a good product on the smaller ships.

[RickEk]

I'm surprised she went so fast. Maybe this was in the works before they announced she was for sale.

 

 

 

 

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Now that y'all mention it, I think you've got a good point. It takes time to do due diligence on a large purchase like that.

 

If Carnival Corp was having a little trouble coming to terms with Oceania/NCL, they might have publicly announced the sale as a means to get other interested parties in on the bidding and thus motivate Oceania/NCL to close the deal.

 

I think that it had more to do with NCL finalizing their merger with Oceania before the sale of Ocean Princess could be completed.

[casavaha]

I have said this many times. Princess could have kept the Ocean and along with

the Pacific and Sun could have developed a niche line. They already owned the ships so

if they put another 30 or 40 million they would have a good deal. Obviously Oceana

can make money with the small ships. Princess has the large cruise line backing to make

it work. It sure is cheaper than a new build.

 

Greg