Regal Princess to P&O Aus., Spring 2007

[dougnewmanatsea]

The problem with Pacific Sky is mechanical reliability, not cosmetic. As of 9-00, she was still a smartly appointed ship

Honestly, I don't think either of us could say what her condition is like now, as you haven't been on her in five years and I in seven. A lot can happen in that time.

 

I think many of her mechanical issues were solved at her latest refit, where her propulsion system was given a thorough overhaul. She also received some minor interior changes but basically she has looked the same inside for the past 15 years or so, so it is understandable that might be a bit tired internally.

 

Originally, as FAIRSKY, she had spectacular interiors designed by, among others, Dennis Lennon (responsible for the original interiors of QE2), but those are long gone; most of what's there now dates to early 1990s Princess refits which were done to bring her decor in line with the rest of the fleet and made her rather dull internally. Particularly awful was some grey felt-like stuff that was liberally used as wall covering; I understand that one of the few changes the Australians made was to get rid of this ghastly stuff. I also remember some really hideous magenta-colored carpet in the stairways. Eugh! Princess did make some dubious decorative decisions with that ship... If only they'd have left well enough alone! But frankly, for all the things I liked about Princess, I have always thought that they were rather decoratively challenged! Either way, even with her interiors very much tampered-with, she was still a ship with class. My memories of her are very fond and I hope she sails on for many years to come. I love the Adriatic, Pullmantur's product is reportedly very good, and their fares are quite low indeed - so I may well return!

 

Our 1st trip with them was on Noordam (the old, not the new). Nice little ship, but with the poorest designed main show lounge I have yet seen, one with horrible sight-lines no matter where you sat.

Ah well, the "N" ships, NOORDAM and NIEUW AMSTERDAM. These were genuine oddities, designed in the late '60s and not built until the early '80s! They were designed at the same time as the original PRINSENDAM, a rather nifty little thing that burned in Alaska in 1980. Originally, in the late '60s, HAL were supposed to order four (I think) PRINSENDAM sisters and I don't know how many "N" ships... Two probably. They wound up only building one PRINSENDAM and they bought the ARGENTINA and BRASIL (the last US-built passenger ships) from Moore-McCormack instead of building the larger ships. Ten years later, when the "V" ships (as VOLENDAM and VEENDAM, the former Mooremack vessels, became known) were in need of replacement, they pulled out the old plans from the late '60s for those unbuilt ships, and they became the "N" twins, ships that in terms of design were basically obsolete from Day One. They were built on the cheap in France and have always been ridiculed for two main things - first, they had terrible vibrations; second, their build quality was apparently not so good. I've never been on either one but have always been intrigued because in design terms they are much "older" than 1983/1984.

 

Now they're THOMSON SPIRIT and THOMSON CELEBRATION, lowish-end British cruise ships with some interesting itineraries. A good friend of mine just did a cruise in the Red Sea on THOMSON CELEBRATION (ex NOORDAM) and loved the itinerary but wasn't especially thrilled by the ship. Then again, I guess these ships were never really meant to be thrilling - they were conservatively designed ships for conservative passengers, and I suppose they served that purpose well enough. When thinking about them it is important to realise that even though built in the 1980s these ships are in design terms only a couple of years newer than the QE2! Their design is a lot easier to understand when thought of in those terms. The lousy showlounge sightlines were because that wasn't really a showlounge. Never mind that that's what it was used for; it was really a "main lounge" in the traditional sense, more a ballroom if you will. I think these "N" twins were the last ships to have one until QM2 (which of course also has a showlounge along with virtually every other type of room that has ever been put to sea, except perhaps a mah-jjong room which is unique to Star Cruises ships!).

 

The main reason Princess continues to get our business is Exotic Itineraries.

Expect more exotic itineraries from HAL in the future. PRINSENDAM already does some rather nice itineraries that actually I don't think you'll find Princess doing at all. As the Vistas take over the Caribbean and Alaska milk runs, the S- and R-class ships will do more and more interesting itineraries. I took ROTTERDAM to the Baltic last summer and thought she was great; I prefer her to anything else built in the past decade. (Just realised she barely qualifies for that - eek!) She maintains the best aspects of older ships, but still has all mod cons, plus a fantastic crew.

[Druke I]

Host Doug

 

Yes, the Prinsendam that went down in Alaska was a nice ship. I did have an acquaintance who had "to take to the boats" when she burned and sunk.

 

You're right, HAL is getting into more and more exotics - and will probably get more of my business. I really don't care for the mega-ships of Princess' Grand class size, which can't hold a candle to HAL's R class.

 

I still think Oceania is an up and coming line - I just hope they don't over-extend too fast, nor alienate the travel agent community the way Renaissance did.

 

We had planned to take Prinsendam this past summer into the Baltic, but went with Oceania with their very good pricing.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I did have an acquaintance who had "to take to the boats" when she burned and sunk.

That must have been a pretty terrifying experience!

 

Even today, HAL take their boat drills more seriously than probably any other cruise line as a consequence...

 

I really don't care for the mega-ships of Princess' Grand class size, which can't hold a candle to HAL's R class.

I think the HAL R-class ships are superior in a lot of ways beyond size, too.

 

IMHO the S- and R-class ships really are modern classics... For those looking for mid-sized, mid-priced ships, they can't be beat.

 

I still think Oceania is an up and coming line - I just hope they don't over-extend too fast, nor alienate the travel agent community the way Renaissance did.

Over-expansion is a concern for me too, but Oceania didn't even plan on expanding as fast as they are. At this point they can barely keep up with demand for their product. I'm sure if at any point demand starts catching up with supply, they'll slow down their expansion.

 

Ren expanded for a totally different reason - namely, they got the eight R ships at a great price for "buying in bulk"! Big mistake... Not only for Ren, but for the shipyard, who loaned Ren the money to buy the ships, and were left unwittingly entering the shipowning business when Ren went under!

 

I also know that they know the importance of travel agents and have no intention of alienating them. So, bottom line, I have a lot of faith in Oceania and I fully expect their huge success to continue. There are two companies in the cruise industry right now that should scare the "big guys" - Oceania and MSC. My faith in Oceania is more rock-solid (simply because I "know" them better) but they both are making very big waves right now.