South America 2017

[icat2000]

No worries. I am eyeing up South America but proably the December/January 2018 cruising schedule. So a little bit of a weight for me.

 

I guess the crown will be in Europe in 2017.

[jcruizer]

I haven't been on the Crown either. I will need to do some research.

 

Do you have something before that to look forward to...

 

 

 

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[icat2000]

I haven't been on the Crown either. I will need to do some research.

 

Do you have something before that to look forward to...

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Yeap. Plenty of cruising action before then.

[avalon007]

I have been discussing this South American cruise Syd -Syd on Sea Princess in another thread & like some others here I am finding the ship the issue.

 

After speaking with a cruise site travel agent my doubts about the ship even having some of the basics I'm used to on Royal & Celebrity were confirmed.

 

I don't want to spend big bucks on a cruise with many long stints at sea on a ship that is very old school & somewhat basic in it's offerings from my perspective.

 

No offence to you die hard Sea Princess lovers, but my suggestion to anyone used to sailing on ships other than the Sea Princess level, should make sure they understand what the ship does or doesn't offer before committing to a long voyage on her.

 

I'm hoping they do repeat this itinerary in the following year or two with one of their better ships once the Panama Canal widening is complete. I will definitely keep an eye on them in the future - no issues using Princess, just the class of ship they are using for these long cruises out of Australia.:)

[icat2000]

I don't mind the Sun Class girls. They can get into ports where the big Grand class probably have to tender. They seem popular enough because Princess keeps doing the big intineraries on them and they sell well.

 

The ship not a big issue for me. Price and itinerary are my major deciding factors and if its on a Princess ship. Bonus.

 

And your talking about Guest Capacity: 2,016 lower berths (Sea Princess) to Guest Capacity: 3,082 lower berths (Crown Princess), that can be a deciding factor for some too.

Edited May 20, 2015 by icat2000

[GUT2407]

I have been discussing this South American cruise Syd -Syd on Sea Princess in another thread & like some others here I am finding the ship the issue.

 

After speaking with a cruise site travel agent my doubts about the ship even having some of the basics I'm used to on Royal & Celebrity were confirmed.

 

I don't want to spend big bucks on a cruise with many long stints at sea on a ship that is very old school & somewhat basic in it's offerings from my perspective.

 

No offence to you die hard Sea Princess lovers, but my suggestion to anyone used to sailing on ships other than the Sea Princess level, should make sure they understand what the ship does or doesn't offer before committing to a long voyage on her.

 

I'm hoping they do repeat this itinerary in the following year or two with one of their better ships once the Panama Canal widening is complete. I will definitely keep an eye on them in the future - no issues using Princess, just the class of ship they are using for these long cruises out of Australia.:)

 

 

There are three main reasons they use the smaller older ships for these extra long cruises.

 

1. As they build bigger and bigger ships they have difficulty filling them for these cruises 10+ weeks, now enough people can have that much time off and/or afford it.

 

2. These cruises ar5e in general less p/p p/n [not always a lot less but less all the same] than shorter cruises for which they can as a general rule fill the larger ships..

 

3. They can access ports the big girls can't, including the canal.

Edited May 20, 2015 by GUT2407

[jcruizer]

They should build some smaller ships. I find our ships here old. It did take some adjusting to, however we know what to expect now and we just enjoy cruising with Princess. Great itineraries and usually not so many sea days.

 

 

 

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[avalon007]

There are three main reasons they use the smaller older ships for these extra long cruises.

 

1. As they build bigger and bigger ships they have difficulty filling them for these cruises 10+ weeks, now enough people can have that much time off and/or afford it.

 

2. These cruises ar5e in general less p/p p/n [not always a lot less but less all the same] than shorter cruises for which they can as a general rule fill the larger ships..

 

3. They can access ports the big girls can't, including the canal.

 

 

Yes agreed bigger ships are not able to reach as many ports, but that's not really my point. Royal has Vision class ships much the same size as the Princess Sun class, but they offer so much more in basically the same size ships.

 

Maybe Princess doesn't care about giving Australians their oldest most basic ships because they currently have more or less a monopoly on these long haul cruises out of Australia? If however Royal or Celebrity start offering a few of the same even with their oldest class ships, Princess would struggle to beat them using Sea Princess.

 

It's probably a given, regular Princess cruisers will be loyal regardless, but wouldn't Princess like to gain a larger client base away from the ever growing competition? As I mentioned earlier, I would have no problems sailing with princess if their ship came closer to what is in offer elsewhere in the same age/size ships.

 

Trust me, I'm sincerely disappointed that the Sea Princess falls short for me as being a ship I want to spend time on. Their itineraries are fantastic & for a shorter few weeks cruise I wouldn't worry about it so much, but for 2-3.5 months aboard it's just not ticking enough boxes at the moment.:):(

[icat2000]

 

Trust me, I'm sincerely disappointed that the Sea Princess falls short for me as being a ship I want to spend time on. Their itineraries are fantastic & for a shorter few weeks cruise I wouldn't worry about it so much, but for 2-3.5 months aboard it's just not ticking enough boxes at the moment.:):(

The only other ships that really do similar types of itineraries i.e the longer ones than the Sea Princess does is the smaller ships like HAL Amsterdam or the more expensive ones. RCL have pulled out of South American itineraries I believe and even that was on a ship of similar age to Sun class.

[MMDown Under]

Yes agreed bigger ships are not able to reach as many ports, but that's not really my point. Royal has Vision class ships much the same size as the Princess Sun class, but they offer so much more in basically the same size ships.

 

Maybe Princess doesn't care about giving Australians their oldest most basic ships because they currently have more or less a monopoly on these long haul cruises out of Australia? If however Royal or Celebrity start offering a few of the same even with their oldest class ships, Princess would struggle to beat them using Sea Princess.

 

It's probably a given, regular Princess cruisers will be loyal regardless, but wouldn't Princess like to gain a larger client base away from the ever growing competition? As I mentioned earlier, I would have no problems sailing with princess if their ship came closer to what is in offer elsewhere in the same age/size ships.

 

Trust me, I'm sincerely disappointed that the Sea Princess falls short for me as being a ship I want to spend time on. Their itineraries are fantastic & for a shorter few weeks cruise I wouldn't worry about it so much, but for 2-3.5 months aboard it's just not ticking enough boxes at the moment.:):(

 

I agree with your comments.

 

I would be delighted to do a Grand Voyage from Australia on a ship like "Ocean Princess" or a well maintained older ship in excellent condition.

 

Sea Princess just doesn't appeal. Friends are currently using their replacement cruise overseas, from their Perth cancelled cruise on Sea Princess.

 

I'd be interested to see what condition the older ships transferred to Germany, for the German market, are currently in. I doubt their cruisers would put up with the standard of ships transferred to the Australian market.