Still another Regal/Royal center stairway query...

[pthjudy]

We were on the Regal a few weeks ago and are booked next year on the Royal. Princess is well aware of the center stairway or rather lack of them. The stairway is there but for crew only. With all of the negative comments, do you think that when the Royal goes into dry dock later next year, they may decide to dress them up and open them up to passengers?

[ar1950]

We were on the Regal a few weeks ago and are booked next year on the Royal. Princess is well aware of the center stairway or rather lack of them. The stairway is there but for crew only. With all of the negative comments, do you think that when the Royal goes into dry dock later next year, they may decide to dress them up and open them up to passengers?

 

The Grand was constructed the same way and in all of the years and dry docks since it was built it still has no public accessible center stairs. Just a guess, but, I would say the odds are not good.

[TracieABD]

The Captain came to our meet and greet to answer questions. This was the first question asked, and his answer was no. There are no plans refurb and open this staircase to passengers.

 

Of course, anything is possible...

[Waynetor]

Personally I doubt it. The crew need these stairs to move deck to deck - the crew elevators are for moving big items. Some crew have inside cabins on deck 8 that are only reached via crew stairs.

[pthjudy]

Personally I doubt it. The crew need these stairs to move deck to deck - the crew elevators are for moving big items. Some crew have inside cabins on deck 8 that are only reached via crew stairs.

All good responses. Was really just wondering (with a little wishful thinking thrown in.) Was it really a big problem on the Regal? If it were, I would not be taking the Royal. It was an inconvenience at times and maybe an annoyance once or twice. But then so were chair hogs, slow internet, and waiting on line for anytime dining, and none of these would prevent me from cruising on these beautiful ships!

Edited November 24, 2015 by pthjudy

[Colo Cruiser]

I agree, no. Never bothered us on the Regal.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[riclop]

No chance of that happening.

[IECalCruiser]

The Captain came to our meet and greet to answer questions. This was the first question asked, and his answer was no. There are no plans refurb and open this staircase to passengers.

 

 

 

Of course, anything is possible...

It has been posted that the Majestic WILL HAVE a passenger accessible center staircase, but it is going directly to Asia after two months in the Med.

[KruzPrincess]

When I was on the Royal in October, the captain came to the Meet & Greet and he said they were working on a way of opening up the central staircase....but I really took it as a joke. I didn't think he was serious at all.

[WatchHill]

When we were on the Royal for a British Isles cruise this past May, the central stair case was open during the safety drill to allow passengers to walk down to their muster station., However, once the drill was over, the access was closed, so we had to walk to the far end of the ship [lines to use the elevators were huge], and walk up a few flights to get back to our room on Emerald Deck.

 

IMO, there are times when the central case should be open to alleviate passengers blocking the central elevators, but then the "missing stairs" lack the ambiance like the rest of the ship.

 

Darcy

[Steelers36]

On Regal earlier this month, the central staircase was open both before and after muster.

 

However, the open after was from Deck 7 only heading up - doors were closed on each deck above so one could exit the stairwells, but in effect not supposed to enter them from the above decks as doors were closed to the lobbies.

[FraudBroad]

We were on the Regal a few weeks ago and are booked next year on the Royal. Princess is well aware of the center stairway or rather lack of them. The stairway is there but for crew only. With all of the negative comments, do you think that when the Royal goes into dry dock later next year, they may decide to dress them up and open them up to passengers?

 

No...you can already see the new deck plans on princess.com and it isn't there.

 

When we sailed the Royal in February the first thing the Hotel Director said at the Meet & Greet was "We know we don't have a center staircase...you don't need to tell us."

 

The captain said the same thing when he arrived 15 minutes later.

 

Majestic Princess will have a center stair case.

[IECalCruiser]

No...you can already see the new deck plans on princess.com and it isn't there.

 

 

 

When we sailed the Royal in February the first thing the Hotel Director said at the Meet & Greet was "We know we don't have a center staircase...you don't need to tell us."

 

 

 

The captain said the same thing when he arrived 15 minutes later.

 

 

 

Majestic Princess will have a center stair case.

Those "new" deck plans have nothing to with physical ship revisions but changes to cabin categories.

[grouchomarx]

The horse is dead. You can stop beating it already.

[pusywillow]

The horse is dead. You can stop beating it already.

 

I agree. Get over it people!

[Robinsoncruiseso]

I will be on the Regal in February. I can't wait to see if I miss these stairs. I don't even remember using them on the Ruby in September? Will try to use them as much as possible on the Ruby next month so I will know if they are missed in February.

[reedprincess]

The horse is dead. You can stop beating it already.

 

Could not possibly agree with you more. Didn't even cross our minds when onboard Regal in Oct....when I told my husband that was one of people's big complaints about Royal class, he almost fell over laughing. can't even recall the last time we used the middle stair case for anything orher than up and down between decks 5-7. And we use the stairs most of the time for moat up and downs -and often have cabin midship, yet we pretty much always walk to one end or the other from the cabin for dining room or buffet or spa or pool or whatever so the midship stairs have been superfluous to us since sailing with Princess, starting in '02....personally, cannot fathom what the issue is. Takes 1 minute or less to head to either end for the stairs or else take the elevator, which never had much of a wait midship at all on our Regal sailing. With 5 elevators midship, one was pretty much available within a minute.

[Hlitner]

We were on the Regal a few weeks ago and are booked next year on the Royal. Princess is well aware of the center stairway or rather lack of them. The stairway is there but for crew only. With all of the negative comments, do you think that when the Royal goes into dry dock later next year, they may decide to dress them up and open them up to passengers?

 

The question was asked on our Regal cruise 3 weeks ago. The answer (which may not be accurate) is that there are currently no plans to fix the center staircase issue (or lack thereof) in the future. However, future builds with a similar ship design will include center stairs.

 

And when you consider the design of the ship, making the modifications to add a center stairway o the existing ships would be a massive (and very expensive project).

 

Hank

[Steelers36]

The question was asked on our Regal cruise 3 weeks ago. The answer (which may not be accurate) is that there are currently no plans to fix the center staircase issue (or lack thereof) in the future. However, future builds with a similar ship design will include center stairs.

 

And when you consider the design of the ship, making the modifications to add a center stairway o the existing ships would be a massive (and very expensive project).

 

Hank

 

It appears you don't realize the staircases are there already. But the area is unfinished in the sense that the walls are metal bulkhead type, painted blue (on Regal at least). Stairs are metal with rubber treading. Stairs are for crew and emergency usage.

 

It would require finishing and perhaps a bit more as some stairs might be narrow (hard to remember from only using them twice). Appears as though won't be touched.

 

I'd have to say, it's easy enough to live without them.

[sunsetbeachgal]

I think there is a big difference in the wide elaborate staircases used by passengers versus the metal narrower ones used by the crew. My guess is that this is not going to happen on the Regal or Royal.

 

We have cruised both ships and both times our cabin was near the forward stairs and we never experienced any unusual problems. I normally do cabin guarantees but going forward should we sail on either ship, I will pick my cabin to be close to the forward stairs/elevators.

Edited November 25, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[Hlitner]

It appears you don't realize the staircases are there already. But the area is unfinished in the sense that the walls are metal bulkhead type, painted blue (on Regal at least). Stairs are metal with rubber treading. Stairs are for crew and emergency usage.

 

It would require finishing and perhaps a bit more as some stairs might be narrow (hard to remember from only using them twice). Appears as though won't be touched.

 

I'd have to say, it's easy enough to live without them.

 

Actually we are very aware of those stairs (used them during the emergency drill). But redesigning the crew area to eliminate those steps and reallocate the space to a common area has all kinds of related safety issues and is not a reasonable refit. Hence, as we said, there are no future plans for a center stairway on the Royal and Regal. But to quote a high ranking Regal officer, "Princess has heard and is aware of the complaints and will rectify the situation for future builds."

 

Hank

[caribill]

The question was asked on our Regal cruise 3 weeks ago. The answer (which may not be accurate) is that there are currently no plans to fix the center staircase issue (or lack thereof) in the future. However, future builds with a similar ship design will include center stairs.

 

And when you consider the design of the ship, making the modifications to add a center stairway o the existing ships would be a massive (and very expensive project).

 

They do not have to add a stairway, just finish this one to standards for passenger use. Rugs on the stairs and landings and have nicer walls.

[Colo Cruiser]

I think there is a big difference in the wide elaborate staircases used by passengers versus the metal narrower ones used by the crew. My guess is that this is not going to happen on the Regal or Royal.

 

Have you actually used the center crew stairs or seen them?

They are pretty much the same just not finished.

[Woobstr112G]

Here's a possibility. I've seen a number of posts since we sailed on the Royal in 2013 wherein CC members complained about the center elevators. Maybe if the elevators weren't such an issue people wouldn't have such an issue with the lack of a center staircase. I personally thought the elevators were quite small. They also seemed to have a mind of their own as on a number of occasions they would go right by the floor I was on.

 

Bob

Edited November 26, 2015 by Woobstr112G

[UpcountryTravelers]

We've been on Royal and Regal, and used the "center stairs" for muster drill on one occasion. NO BIG DEAL!

 

Come ON, people! We just came off the Oasis of the Seas. Almost twice the passengers as Royal and Regal. Much bigger ship. Guess what: NO CENTER STAIRS!!

 

I fail to see the problem. Really!