Princess Cruises Confirms Two New Cruise Ships

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, nukesubsailor said:

I will volunteer my services to the design team.  However, it may be too late.  If they have signed a contract for the ships, I would expect the designing to be complete.  The shipyard could not give them a price without having seen final plans.

change orders ... my friend ... change orders

[GUT2407]

1 hour ago, Ofmyheart said:

Wish they would consider those of us that still prefer the smaller ships with accessibility into newer and smaller ports. IMHO big is not always better!

Us too

[DDG 41]

Why is everyone having a problem with these larger ships some 180,000grt ships carry 5000 for only 5000grt less we get over 700 less passengers. In fact it's passenger to weight ratio is higher than on the royal class ships.

Edited March 27, 2019 by DDG 41

[voljeep]

35 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Us too

Carnival Corp has clearly decided that the Princess brand will be going the route of more passengers, not more ports ... until Barnival Corp develops those as captive ports for their brands ... Amber Cove ??

[UPNYGuy]

10 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Carnival Corp has clearly decided that the Princess brand will be going the route of more passengers, not more ports ... until Barnival Corp develops those as captive ports for their brands ... Amber Cove ??

 

They are doing the same with Holland America as well. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

That and tendering are my biggest gripes with these mega ships

I was pleasantly surprised by the efficient tendering on both Royal and Majestic. Definitely better than the smaller ships. However I'm not a fan of the Royal Class ships overall. Cruising from one crowded port to another isn't my idea of a great cruise.

[need2cruisesoon]

175,000 tons even bigger/larger than the NCL Bliss/Joy @ 168,000.

Very impressive for Princess as they kick new ship building in high gear.

[caribill]

13 hours ago, Thrak said:

This is one of the reasons the CCL stock has gone down. There are concerns that they are overestimating their draw and building too many new ships.

 

I disagree.

 

The stock crashed because the full year earnings estimate was lowered due to higher fuel costs and adverse currency exchange rates. Wall Street analysts do not like lower earnings estimates.

 

Per the stock analysts conference call, CCL Corp brands in total have less 2019 inventory remaining for sale than they had last year at this time for the rest of 2018. And this is with more cabins available due to more ships added to the fleet in the past year.

 

So sales are up and, as told to the stock analysts, in most cases at higher pricing than last year.

[getting older slowly]

One can only hope, mega cruise ships go the same way as A380.....

 

more People , equal more chaos at ports and turn arounds.....

 

One will wait till they here.... cruising is not being in a mega floating hotel...

 

Cheers Don 

[Steelers36]

Man, 4300.  That is getting close to those mega-ships of RCCL that I have no interest in getting on.  And if Princess sells off something like 2 old ships for one new one (or 3 for 2), then we customers lose on itinerary variety.  I don't know why we need these behemoths as seems to me Royal class is about right in terms of an extra-large ship.  Maybe these new ones are designed to do the Caribbean runs.  We can already see the changes as Pacific Princess is replaced by Island for World Cruises.  This idea seems good as it allows more people the opportunity (but I could name another preferred ship to do it).  I would still sail Island again for a good itinerary.  Anyway, over 4,000 fully loaded is getting a bit much - without seeing the deck plans, etc.

 

[flamomo]

 What's the difference whether it's "new News" or "older news", as there those of us that haven't seen it before, so to us, it IS new news!!

 

Anyway … I believe that Princess is heading in the wrong direction size-wise. Bigger and bigger is NOT better when it means that the ports that are already overcrowded will be moreso, especially considering that other cruise lines new builds are even larger than what these two are projected to be. And because of the increased overcrowding, ports will be limited as to how many cruise ships they can accommodate, so it could result in difficulty getting berthing spots and limiting what ports will even be available, which doesn't bode well for future itineraries.  And not when it means that their size will limit the ports that can be accessed without requiring tendering.

 

Some folks at the top in CCL/Princess hierarchy aren't really looking at the bigger picture of how all these mega ships will affect the future of cruising ….. they're only looking for ways to increase revenues.

 

Edited March 28, 2019 by flamomo

[deliver42]

As far as 4500 passengers are concerned, it all depends on traffic flow to keep crowding at a minimum. RCCL has it down to a science, especially on the Oasis class with 6500 people. 

[kruisey]

17 hours ago, Ofmyheart said:

Wish they would consider those of us that still prefer the smaller ships with accessibility into newer and smaller ports. IMHO big is not always better!

Smaller ships but the cost per cabin would be higher than  that  of the mega ships. More owner and shareholder profit on the large mass ships money  and profit name of the game.

 

[UpcountryTravelers]

On 3/27/2019 at 2:43 PM, skynight said:

......

We also don't like class design with certain venues reserved for certain cabin categories.

That was one of the things we very much disliked about MSC.

 

[deliver42]

You'd better get used to it. All the lines are going that way. Suite passengers pay a lot more are are entitled to the extra benefits IMHO. By the way, I'm not a suite person. I just don't begrudge them the benefits.

[UPNYGuy]

11 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

You'd better get used to it. All the lines are going that way. Suite passengers pay a lot more are are entitled to the extra benefits IMHO. By the way, I'm not a suite person. I just don't begrudge them the benefits.

 

 

Exactly. Personally, the “ship within a ship” is one of the things I very much enjoy about MSC and Norwegian. You develop a camaraderie among the suite guests in your private enclave. You have extra perks, and it is usually quieter and less hectic. If I am paying that fare, I *expect* these benefits. 

[skynight]

23 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

You'd better get used to it. All the lines are going that way. Suite passengers pay a lot more are are entitled to the extra benefits IMHO. By the way, I'm not a suite person. I just don't begrudge them the benefits.

Benefits, yes. Reserved sections of the ship, except maybe a concierge lounge, I don't agree.

[cflutist]

On 3/27/2019 at 8:53 AM, Georgie562 said:

Ships just keep getting bigger and bigger. Don't get me wrong I love cruising on big ships as much as I do on small and medium sized ships but pretty soon all these ships will only be big enough to fit the same old boring ports that can hold them. Same old boring itineraries due to the size.

 

Just got off the Majestic (in a PH suite), too many crowds. Going to try Oceania,  and another expedition cruise on Silversea (we loved our Antarctica cruise, 200 pax, 230 crew, a butler for every cabin).

 

Been to Alaska 7 times now, same ole ports. Juneau,  Ketchikan,  Skagway, Haines, Sitka, Glacier Bay, Hubbard Glacier,  Tracy Arm, College Fjord. 

 

Looking forwards to visiting other Alaska ports such as Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. 

 

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by cflutist

[deliver42]

Skynight, why? They don't take away from the rest of the passengers. Maybe 5% of the ship is reserved.Depending on the ship, they may get a small pool, a separate lounge and restaurant. Big deal. If I don't have it, I don't miss it.

[nukesubsailor]

Two things----- 1.  The people enjoying the perks of having a suite are paying dearly for them.

2.  The people enjoying the perks of having a suite have done nothing to prevent anyone else from paying dearly to enjoy the same perks.  

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

I think princess is losing there direction. I feel they are going the same route as all cruise lines just packing in the people all about bottom line to the point they are the same as the other line and in some cases more expensive. I think going with these big ships will hurt them in the long run


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DDG 41]

1 hour ago, BCCRUSINGCOUPLE said:

I think princess is losing there direction. I feel they are going the same route as all cruise lines just packing in the people all about bottom line to the point they are the same as the other line and in some cases more expensive. I think going with these big ships will hurt them in the long run


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They're not losing their direction. people need to understand that they provide a mass market premium service. Princess is not and has not been for a very long time a mid-size cruise line they are a large size cruise line with a few mid-size ships just like other lines such as Carnival RCI etc.

[Expat Cruise]

On 3/28/2019 at 2:18 AM, kywildcatfanone said:

Is this new news?  I had previously seen ship build lists going out to 2025 I think.

Princess did the letters of intend last year on these ships which means really old news. But they like to get added PR so they will do several PR releases over several months but really all part of the same build order started before.

 

And move releases from the shipyard when production starts.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I love the Royal and Grand class sizes, but getting up over 4,000 pax is getting too big IMO for Princess. I’d try it, but boy it would be a hard sell to my husband who has 0 interest in ever sailing on a Behemoth of the Seas. The more we cruise, the more he’s focused on interesting itineraries, and the bigger ships don’t have access to many of the exotic ports. 

[Daniel A]

23 hours ago, deliver42 said:

You'd better get used to it. All the lines are going that way. Suite passengers pay a lot more are are entitled to the extra benefits IMHO. By the way, I'm not a suite person. I just don't begrudge them the benefits.

I was unhappy when Princess reclassified the better located minisuites to becoming 'Club Class.'  Now, if you are subject to motion sickness, you need to pay more because the suite comes with exclusive perks we don't need or want.  The more benefits given to certain classes of passengers does take something away from the other passengers.  The other passengers just don't see it, but they're still paying what they paid before.