New Ship

[SeaPeaInn]

I have just read a discussion on the Princess board concerning a possible new ship for Oceania. Frank Del Rio announced that they are hoping to acquire another ship to be named "Marina" in July 2007. Speculation is that it is the Pacific Princess, another "R" ship.

[ClaudiaF]

© Copyright 2005 Seatrade Communications Limited. Replication or redistribution in whole or in part is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Seatrade Communications Limited.

 

Oceania in ‘advanced’ talks for a fourth R ship

22/11/2005

Oceania Cruises is in ‘advanced negotiations’ to acquire a fourth sister ship, president and ceo Frank Del Rio announced at today’s naming ceremony for Nautica in Istanbul.

Del Rio said the vessel will be called Marina, ‘and, if all goes according to plan, it will be named in Hong Kong on Saturday, July 7, 2007.’

Del Rio did not elaborate further but, as suggested by his use of the word ‘sister’ to describe the acquisition, the company is pursuing another R-class vessel, Seatrade Insider has confirmed.

Oceania’s fleet currently consists of the former R One, R Two and R Five. R Three and Four are sailing as Pacific Princess and Tahitian Princess for Princess Cruises. R Six is owned outright by Pullmantur. R Seven is Delphin of Delphin Renaissance. R Eight is Swan Hellenic’s Minerva II.

[FinelyCruising]

A lot of refurbishment to get the Princess ones up to par if that is what they buy, but no suprise there. I almost booked the Tahitian Princess for October 2006 since I really liked what I saw for size and layout for the R-ships, and then I quickly bailed on that thought when I saw the interior photos as Princess....no comparison/no competing with the Oceania standard for this sister class of ship.

 

I wonder what the itinerary will be for this new ship. I have nothing booked for 2007 yet!

[Druke I]

Have been on Pacific Princess (new) back in 11-03, and on Regatta this past August.

 

Princess did little redecorating, and very little remodelling. They did lower the passenger load slightly, to 270, as they needed additional space for crew, primarily entertainers, as they still try to run production shows, albeit with smaller casts.

 

One plus of the Princess operation, in my opinion, is having the Lido eating area open 24hrs, rather than limited/set hours under Oceania.

[LHT28]

Princess did little redecorating, and very little remodelling. They did lower the passenger load slightly, to 270, as they needed additional space for crew, primarily entertainers, as they still try to run production shows, albeit with smaller casts.

Wow that is a lot of cutting of cabins! from 684 pax to 540

 

I think all the Princess ships now have a 24 hr buffet.

I don't think you can get a full meal late at night but maybe snacks etc...

We never went up to see what they had after 10pm on our Princess cruise.

[Druke I]

Sorry - cut passenger load to 670 from 684. Don't know how that slipped by me.

 

Actually, my main point should have emphasized that the decor of Pacific Princess (new) is almost identical to that of Regatta, and that in my opinion, Princess has maintained the ship very well.

 

I personally doubt that Princess is going to give up either ship. I would look for Oceania to get either Pulmantur's or Delphin's former R ship, even if cabin configuration on Deck 8 is different.

[meow!]

It seems that Oceania is more likely to take the R3 or R4 instead of R6-8. The reason is that the latter have no PH minisuite. As Oceania is trying to sell itself as an upper premium ship, it is important to have a substantial number of cabins which are at least comparable in size to the luxury ships. Having only basic balconied cabins ("standard fare" compared with regular balconied ones on the mass market) may be a step backward rather than forward for a line trying to move upmarket. In any case, it may likely be another long term lease -- as the interest rate moves up, it is not advisable to increase debt load! Any comments? Thank you.

[Jancruz]

In the case of the purchase R6,7 or 8 deck 8 would be gutted and redone..Oceania will not have a ship without PH..

Jan

*****

[Captain Rhone]

I don't think Oceania would get the Blue Dream from Pullmantur as it was just purchased by them just recently (like a month ago I think). It is said it may be the Pacific Princess and as she ends her South Pacific (Australia) season over that way just a few months before the new ship is sheduled to debut, my bet is that it will be the Pacific Princess.

[gone2c]

I don't care which one it is as long as it goes to Australia.

[mike35]

I second (third, fourth, ad inf) the motion re Australia. We're currently booked on Sapphire Princess in 2/07 for their Australia/New Zealand cruise, but I would switch to Oceania in a heartbeat if they did a similar itinerary.

 

Mike

[drwong]

I saw in my recent Captain's Circle newletter that the Pacific Princess was going to be rotated out of the Princess lineup in Fall 2006, and CCL's reps had no information on her future status - whether she was going to be transferred to P&O (like other ex-Princess ships) or whether CruiseInvest found another party to charter the vessel.

 

We just arrived back from the Insignia's 11/27 cruise and somehow got ourselves invited to dinner and cocktails with the Captain (don't tell Hyacinth Bucket!). I asked him which ship would be the Marina and he said that Oceania will be converting the R4. But according to my score sheet, the R4 is the Tahitian Princess, and Princess is booking cruises on her through Spring 2007. Whether that leaves enough time for a full retrofit up to Oceania standards is anybody's guess.

 

Captain Flokos added that the Marina is scheduled to operate a South Pacific-oriented itinerary, including Australia and New Zealand. Princess wasn't able to keep its two ships filled out of Tahiti, but the schedules were pretty redundant and I don't think they tried going as far as AU and NZ, although Princess has scheduled several trans-Indian Ocean cruises with the Pacific Princess in 2006.

 

Incidentally, while we were in Marseilles on Friday, I spotted the Delphin (formerly the R7) under repair or renovation. I'll try to post a photo of her once I unpack and can download the pix from my camera's memory card.

[Jancruz]

Hi Richard,

How was the trip? Want to hear a full report!!

Jan

*****

[Druke I]

Is there any new news on the 4th ship front? I'm referring to both another R class ship, and the 1200 PAX newbuild.

 

There has been very little fact/speculation this past week/10days.

[ClaudiaF]

where did you hear ( read) about this 1200 pax ship anyways?

[Druke I]

Claudia

 

The RUMOR (Emphasis added) of a newbuild 1200 PAX ship was reported by World Ocean and Cruise Liner Society in its weekly update, 12-6-05.

 

Report of a 4th R class ship for Oceania was reported on this board week prior.

[ClaudiaF]

Claudia

 

The RUMOR (Emphasis added) of a newbuild 1200 PAX ship was reported by World Ocean and Cruise Liner Society in its weekly update, 12-6-05.

 

Report of a 4th R class ship for Oceania was reported on this board week prior.

 

The 4th ship ( supposedly going to be called "Marina" ) is not a rumor.. I posted the article last week here from Sea trade.. :)

[Druke I]

Well, the rumor-mongers over on the Princess board are now saying that it will be Tahitian Princess, not Pacific Princess, that will become Nautica.

 

Still no word from Princess - but that is not surprising. They have not said that Regal Princess is going to P&O Australia in Spring 07; but P&O Australia has issued a press release saying that they are getting it, and that they are selling Pacific Sky (former Sky Princess).

 

Allegedly, Pacific Sky is going to Pulmantour of Spain.

[Jancruz]

Dont listen to any rumors!! :-)

Jan

*****

[Druke I]

Well Jan

 

Sometimes the rumors become fact.

 

Long before Crystal acknowledged that Harmony would go back to Japan and beome Asuka II, there were rumors floating about - and even after World Ocean & Cruise Liner Society reported it as fact, die-hard Crystal loyalists were decrying it as rumor.

 

You just never know.

[JoePDX]

Well, the rumor-mongers over on the Princess board are now saying that it will be Tahitian Princess, not Pacific Princess, that will become Nautica.

 

 

I'm sure you mean Marina. Nautica is the former R5 officially joined the Oceania fleet last month.

 

Joe

[Druke I]

Joe

 

Yes I did mean Marina. Just another senior moment, I suppose.

 

We're already booked on Nautica, 11-06, Istanbul to Singapore.

[drwong]

Miami Herald article highlights Oceania's desire to expand:

 

"But Miami-based Oceania Cruises launched its third ship in as many years last month and plans to add a fourth ship by the middle of 2006. Each carries about 680 passengers.

Oceania was formed in 2002 by two industry veterans, Frank Del Rio and Joe Watters, after Renaissance Cruises filed for bankruptcy protection in the wake of Sept. 11.

Oceania leases its ships from Cruise Invest, a French holding company made up of Renaissance lenders, at what it describes as favorable financial terms. Oceania spokesman Tim Rubacky said those terms allowed it to keep down its prices and generate demand to the point where it had to halt bookings last summer.

''We realized we were leaving money on the table,'' Rubacky said."

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13427588.htm

 

Tim's quote sounds a lot like my last experience in the Insignia's casino! :D

 

RLW

[spindrift]

Please don't be quick to trash the Tahitian Princess. We were on her when she had just been transferred. I can't tell you how excellent the service was. and I have been a Crystal/Silver Sea/Seabourn, etc. etc. traveler. Because of the ship, I looked at Oceania and changed a booking I had for South America aboard the Amsterdam to the Insignia. I was equally impressed with the Oceania's Insignia. That was a wonderful trip. It, too, was wonderful, and so were the crew and staff and I have read some degrading remarks on that ship. All need to be taken with a grain of salt. Take the trip you want on the ship you want, and you make your own judgement.

 

When I was beginning to travel extensively on ships, I was on the Vistafjord and Sagafjord, and they were wonderful. Carnival was referred to as the "Tuna Tugs," and I must say, that still stands true for today. But you must select the itinerary and the ship and stand by it. Keep an open mind.

 

I am, however, following the thread about being charged a fee on my Visa for cruises booked on Ocenia and paid through Visa which are overseas. If this happens, I guess my loyalty will change in spite of the wonderful ships Oceania has.

[mike35]

I am, however, following the thread about being charged a fee on my Visa for cruises booked on Ocenia and paid through Visa which are overseas. If this happens, I guess my loyalty will change in spite of the wonderful ships Oceania has.

 

Well, it happened again to me - just looked at my on line MBNA Visa account, and there was this onerous "Foreign Transaction Fee" of $248.28, resulting from my final payment of the 3/16/06 Nautica Asia cruise. My TA is furious and is again taking my case to Oceania's folks, but it should be obvious by now that Oceania has no intention whatsoever of changing their policy - a prima facie case of Caveat Emptor!

 

Mike