Terrible Decision to Reduce Balcony Size on New Ships

[mrmac]

I would really like to know what went on at Princess and what genius came up with the idea to reduce the balcony sizes on Regal and Royal? After making such a big deal about them for the last 15 years and usually charging several hundred dollars per person more for them, it is really mind-boggling that Princess made that decision. I don't want to sit and face the side after paying for an ocean view balcony! I want to face the water and see the sights! How could they have forgotten that?

 

What is even more mind boggling to me is the number of Princess lovers (I thought I was one too.) on Cruise Critic that downplay the admittedly smaller balconies as if the other nice areas of the ship make up for them. They don't. The beautiful large atrium has nothing to do with enjoying the balcony.

 

And I do know the obvious, that I can book the older ships or pay more for larger suites and balconies. But not if the Regal and Royal are the only ones doing the itinerary I want. Anybody have any answers (not guesses) or explanations from Princess?

[GUT2407]

They sometimes amaze me, but I guess it all comes down to $$$$$$

[deliver42]

I'm no expert, nor can I get into the designer's heads but my guess is that they widened the inside, which I believe is how they made the Piazza so large, which left little for the outside, hense smaller balconies and a very narrow promenade. Of course, I could be dead wrong, and it was just bad design. The new NCL ships are about the same, or even smaller.

[Mom33]

I would really like to know what went on at Princess and what genius came up with the idea to reduce the balcony sizes on Regal and Royal? After making such a big deal about them for the last 15 years and usually charging several hundred dollars per person more for them, it is really mind-boggling that Princess made that decision. I don't want to sit and face the side after paying for an ocean view balcony! I want to face the water and see the sights! How could they have forgotten that?

 

What is even more mind boggling to me is the number of Princess lovers (I thought I was one too.) on Cruise Critic that downplay the admittedly smaller balconies as if the other nice areas of the ship make up for them. They don't. The beautiful large atrium has nothing to do with enjoying the balcony.

 

And I do know the obvious, that I can book the older ships or pay more for larger suites and balconies. But not if the Regal and Royal are the only ones doing the itinerary I want. Anybody have any answers (not guesses) or explanations from Princess?

 

You can sit and face the sea and sights at an angle. It is a natural positioning of chairs for me when I am sharing the balcony with my husband or friend. Makes conversation more comfortable.

 

This topic has been hashed out for two to three years and while some have been complaining, the rest of us gave the ships a try and enjoyed ourselves.

Life is short....take a cruise while you can.

[Potstech]

Do I wish the balconies were larger? Yes Can I do anything about them? No. Does complaining on CC or any other forum make a difference? Not one single bit. Why worry and complain about something you have no control over. Life goes on whether you do or not.

[deliver42]

The size of the balcony bothered me so much that I've booked my first Princess cruise on the Regal in a std balcony for next year and can't wait.

[EightFurryPaws]

I guess I'm one of the few that has no problem with the smaller balconies.

[OCruisers]

We so seldom use our balcony the size is of no importance to us. :)

[wheezedr]

Do I wish the balconies were larger? Yes Can I do anything about them? No. Does complaining on CC or any other forum make a difference? Not one single bit. Why worry and complain about something you have no control over. Life goes on whether you do or not.

 

Good answer. I agree. Life has to many other issues.

[avcruz]

We do use our balcony quite a bit, and much prefer the Caribe balconies on the other ships. Having said that, on our last cruise aboard the Royal Princess, we found that we could still enjoy the (smaller) balcony and my husband really enjoyed the extra interior space that the deluxe balcony cabin gave us. Kind of made up for the smaller balcony.

[Rocknie]

DW & I enjoy dining on our balcony with meals from the UBD, UBB, and/or room service. I would guess we usually eat 80% of our meals (breakfast & dinner) on the balcony. So the bean counters knew what they were doing because now if we want to cruise on the Royal or Regal we must book an owners suite to enjoy our balcony dining. Friends we meet on a Regal cruise tried to have four of us for UBD on their mini-class balcony.... no way was it comfortable or enjoyable! The waiters couldn't do anything but hand the food to the passenger closest to the door so they, in turn, could pass each course to the other guests. Again, in Princess fashion, money triumphs over guest comfort or satisfaction!

[PoppyandNana]

We so seldom use our balcony the size is of no importance to us. :)

 

 

So why would you pay the extra cost for something you don't use?

[RocketMan275]

And I do know the obvious, that I can book the older ships or pay more for larger suites and balconies. But not if the Regal and Royal are the only ones doing the itinerary I want. Anybody have any answers (not guesses) or explanations from Princess?

 

We completely agree. There have been numerous discussions of this decision. The majority opinion seems to be that people don't use their balconies all that much and the smaller size is more than adequate.

 

As to my wife and I, we would only book Regal/Royal in an owners suite.

[riclop]

I would really like to know what went on at Princess and what genius came up with the idea to reduce the balcony sizes on Regal and Royal? After making such a big deal about them for the last 15 years and usually charging several hundred dollars per person more for them, it is really mind-boggling that Princess made that decision. I don't want to sit and face the side after paying for an ocean view balcony! I want to face the water and see the sights! How could they have forgotten that?

 

What is even more mind boggling to me is the number of Princess lovers (I thought I was one too.) on Cruise Critic that downplay the admittedly smaller balconies as if the other nice areas of the ship make up for them. They don't. The beautiful large atrium has nothing to do with enjoying the balcony.

 

And I do know the obvious, that I can book the older ships or pay more for larger suites and balconies. But not if the Regal and Royal are the only ones doing the itinerary I want. Anybody have any answers (not guesses) or explanations from Princess?

Have you seen the bathroom space??

[mrmac]

Do I wish the balconies were larger? Yes Can I do anything about them? No. Does complaining on CC or any other forum make a difference? Not one single bit. Why worry and complain about something you have no control over. Life goes on whether you do or not.

 

Contrary to this post, the cruise lines do pay attention to their response cards and CC and listen to feedback and make changes. So, yes you can do something about things that strike you as misguided or don't work. Let Princess know.

[JimmyVWine]

I'm no expert, nor can I get into the designer's heads but my guess is that they widened the inside, which I believe is how they made the Piazza so large, which left little for the outside, hense smaller balconies and a very narrow promenade. Of course, I could be dead wrong, and it was just bad design. The new NCL ships are about the same, or even smaller.

 

Given that these ships were not designed to pass through the Canal, I doubt that they gave much thought to trading inches in one place for inches in another. Adding 12-18 inches of width to the balconies would have widened the ship by 2-3 feet. Hard to believe that would have mattered in the grand scheme of things. My guess, (sorry OP...nobody has an answer, so guesses are all you can get), is that Princess wants the balconies to be a bit less inviting so that people don't waste their entire day there and instead retreat to one or more of the many profit-making venues on these ships. After all, these builds have many more places to spend money as compared to Grand Class ships and they want fannies in the seats of the raw bar and not in balcony chairs. One thing is certain, and there really can be no debating this. No one at HQ looked at a mock-up of the new balcony and said: "The people who have been booking Dolphin Deck and Caribe Deck cabins for the past 15 years will love these new balconies just as much." Simply didn't happen. They knew that there would be push back, but they assumed (somewhat correctly) that many people would complain but book anyway, many people would learn to adjust, and many people would not care at all. Either way, if the per person spending on board went up, their decision would be justified.

Edited September 14, 2016 by JimmyVWine

[Lucky TGO]

They sometimes amaze me, but I guess it all comes down to $$$$$$

I'm with you on this one it's always about the $$$$$$$$$$.

Tony

[mrmac]

You can sit and face the sea and sights at an angle. It is a natural positioning of chairs for me when I am sharing the balcony with my husband or friend. Makes conversation more comfortable.

 

This topic has been hashed out for two to three years and while some have been complaining, the rest of us gave the ships a try and enjoyed ourselves.

Life is short....take a cruise while you can.

 

I saw your very good balcony photos where you are facing your man. My wife is not going on a cruise to face me on her balcony! She can face me at home! Ha! She wants to see the ocean too.

 

Sorry I only noticed the balcony sizes this year when we were booking the cruise. So I didn't get to hash it out two years ago. But if more people do complain Princess might change the balconies back the way they were for future new builds. It's a fact that, in America, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If the hotel lobby is beautiful but your room's dirty, do you let them know, or just live with it?

[Working 2 Cruise]

I saw your very good balcony photos where you are facing your man. My wife is not going on a cruise to face me on her balcony! She can face me at home! Ha! She wants to see the ocean too.

 

Sorry I only noticed the balcony sizes this year when we were booking the cruise. So I didn't get to hash it out two years ago. But if more people do complain Princess might change the balconies back the way they were for future new builds. It's a fact that, in America, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If the hotel lobby is beautiful but your room's dirty, do you let them know, or just live with it?

 

They're not going to change the balconies and any of the new builds, on major mass market cruise lines, will include smaller balconies. And yes, you're correct, this has been discussed to death for years!

[mrmac]

Given that these ships were not designed to pass through the Canal, I doubt that they gave much thought to trading inches in one place for inches in another. Adding 12-18 inches of width to the balconies would have widened the ship by 2-3 feet. Hard to believe that would have mattered in the grand scheme of things. My guess, (sorry OP...nobody has an answer, so guesses are all you can get), is that Princess wants the balconies to be a bit less inviting so that people don't waste their entire day there and instead retreat to one or more of the many profit-making venues on these ships. After all, these builds have many more places to spend money as compared to Grand Class ships and they want fannies in the seats of the raw bar and not in balcony chairs. One thing is certain, and there really can be no debating this. No one at HQ looked at a mock-up of the new balcony and said: "The people who have been booking Dolphin Deck and Caribe Deck cabins for the past 15 years will love these new balconies just as much." Simply didn't happen. They knew that there would be push back, but they assumed (somewhat correctly) that many people would complain but book anyway, many people would learn to adjust, and many people would not care at all. Either way, if the per person spending on board went up, their decision would be justified.

 

Wow, that answer is really Machiavellian. Like another poster mentioned, they must really want us out of the tiny bathroom then! So why give us the new luxury mattress? Make it lumpy and hard so we can't sleep and have to wander to the all night casino.

[JimmyVWine]

Wow, that answer is really Machiavellian. Like another poster mentioned, they must really want us out of the tiny bathroom then! So why give us the new luxury mattress? Make it lumpy and hard so we can't sleep and have to wander to the all night casino.

I don't think you can equate mattresses with balconies. 99% of the profit-generating venues are closed after midnight so there is nothing to be gained by making your bed unwelcoming.

 

And yes, most corporate revenue managers do look like this:

 

[easyboy]

They sometimes amaze me, but I guess it all comes down to $$$$$$

I agree. That's the guess closest to the truth.

[donswife]

One issue I have not seen mentioned (so forgive me if I missed it) is that these ships have no ocean view cabins without balconies. It appears that NCL started this with the Epic, so perhaps Princess was trying to match their game?

[Loreni]

Given that these ships were not designed to pass through the Canal, I doubt that they gave much thought to trading inches in one place for inches in another. Adding 12-18 inches of width to the balconies would have widened the ship by 2-3 feet. Hard to believe that would have mattered in the grand scheme of things. My guess, (sorry OP...nobody has an answer, so guesses are all you can get), is that Princess wants the balconies to be a bit less inviting so that people don't waste their entire day there and instead retreat to one or more of the many profit-making venues on these ships. After all, these builds have many more places to spend money as compared to Grand Class ships and they want fannies in the seats of the raw bar and not in balcony chairs. One thing is certain, and there really can be no debating this. No one at HQ looked at a mock-up of the new balcony and said: "The people who have been booking Dolphin Deck and Caribe Deck cabins for the past 15 years will love these new balconies just as much." Simply didn't happen. They knew that there would be push back, but they assumed (somewhat correctly) that many people would complain but book anyway, many people would learn to adjust, and many people would not care at all. Either way, if the per person spending on board went up, their decision would be justified.

 

 

I agree. It also explains why the comfortable balcony furniture was replaced with the nasty furniture. I doubt this is just coincidental.

 

This is the main reason we are looking at Celebrity. I understand their balcony furniture is better; however, many of their balconies do not come with foot rests. People have been solving this problem with beach balls or the Coleman portable event stool.

[need2cruisesoon]

This is the main reason we are looking at Celebrity. I understand their balcony furniture is better; however, many of their balconies do not come with foot rests. People have been solving this problem with beach balls or the Coleman portable event stool.

 

Concierge Class Cabins do: