Library

[workermom]

Hello,  just sailed on the Royal.  Was very surprised about the library.  There were only 6 books of which 5 were non-English.  I know a lot of people read books on their tablets now (I still like to hold and read a book).  Are all the libraries “bookless” now?  I have a 15 day and 28 day cruise coming up and hope the library is better stocked on the Emerald!  

[KruzPrincess]

1 hour ago, workermom said:

Hello,  just sailed on the Royal.  Was very surprised about the library.  There were only 6 books of which 5 were non-English.  I know a lot of people read books on their tablets now (I still like to hold and read a book).  Are all the libraries “bookless” now?  I have a 15 day and 28 day cruise coming up and hope the library is better stocked on the Emerald!  

It depends on the ship. In my experience, most ships have very few books. However, I was on the Regal in November and there were a lot of brand new books in the library. There were many good choices and I couldn’t read enough. Later, I read someone post that Princess can’t keep the library stocked because the books disappear as fast as they stock them. Perhaps this is what happened when they started the honor system rather than having a crew member check books out. If this is the case it’s sad. 

[phonejock]

Workermom  I am with you. I like to read “real” books.  Unfortunately Libraries seem to not to be a priority on Princess ships.  The new Sky and Enchanted do not have them.  
On The last ship I was on, the Crown, the library shelves were only a third full. As Kruzprincess said, it depends on the ship.  The days of packing a couple of books to read on the plane and then hitting the library once you boarded  maybe leaving us. 
 

With those long cruises coming up, ( lucky you😊)I would definitely be looking at an E-reader. ( Doing that myself this spring).  

[workermom]

Thank you.  I save all the books I read between cruises and bring them onboard to put in the ship library to share with others - But it appears that Princess may have removed all books, donated or not (at least on the Royal). We sailed Cunard on a transatlantic and their library was amazing and very busy.  Sorry to see this disappearing on Princess.  Time for me to get with the times....🥴

[riffatsea]

I am sad to hear this about the non libraries!

We also like to read "real " books.

We were on the Coral last year for the Panama Canal and there were many books on board.

We brought our own but it was nice to find a few others during the cruise.

[JF - retired RRT]

The Pacific still has a well stocked library.

[dockman]

8 hours ago, KruzPrincess said:

It depends on the ship. In my experience, most ships have very few books. However, I was on the Regal in November and there were a lot of brand new books in the library. There were many good choices and I couldn’t read enough. Later, I read someone post that Princess can’t keep the library stocked because the books disappear as fast as they stock them. Perhaps this is what happened when they started the honor system rather than having a crew member check books out. If this is the case it’s sad. 

 

If they can do medallions one might think they could use technology to secure the library...IF IF they really wanted to do it.    Seems a self service checkout system would/could identify who has checked out a book and their account would be charged if not returned?  I am highly dubious that theft is the primary reason for the decline of libraries...and yes i know a lot of people like kindles but i also know that a lot of people like real books and the peace and quiet a library normally provides.

 

Libraries make extensive use of RF and RFID: RF tags to secure their stock and RFID tags to make it possible for people to use self-service checkout machines. When you check books in or out of a library using one of those machines, you've probably wondered how it knows which book you're borrowing without you having to scan a barcode. The answer is that there is an RFID chip stuck inside the book's cover. When you place your book on the glass plate, the machine reads the book's details instantly and automatically by sending a radio signal to the chip. Since radio waves pass straight through cardboard and paper, you don't even have to open up the book!

[CRUISEWITHH]

One of the problems that I heard is that people are taking the books "home".  I am appalled that anyone would do that!  I am all for having any type of coding to have an alarm go off as those passengers are leaving the ship.  Good! Let them be embarrassed!

 

Shame on them!  Any one who can afford to go on a cruise, certainly doesn't need to take a book home, even thou they will say that they just wanted to finish it...If you need to finish it, go to a library, on land, and take it out and finish it at home.

 

I also was so sad to see the lack of a decent library on the Royal last year.  That was the worst library on a Princess ship that I have ever seen.

 

As you can guess, I am a "real" book reader and enjoy holding a book in my hand and not having to worry about charging another item with limited plugs in our stateroom.

[san diego sue]

Also just off the Royal. In place of the books were many shelves full of games and puzzles.(and the 5 non english books)

Problem with Princess library books are people taking them and keeping. Very selfish  .

I always bring my Kindle loaded with books but do like to discover new authors via the Princess library. Sad this is going away.

I also heard that when there is Noro on board, all the books in library are destroyed. Don't know if this  actually happens(told by a Princess employee) . On the 28 day Sky Princess they had a book cart but only did it once in the 28 days. Then they did a book share . Passengers met at time listed in the Patter and shared their already read books with others. It actually worked out well.

[Colo Cruiser]

11 hours ago, workermom said:

Hello,  just sailed on the Royal.  Was very surprised about the library.  There were only 6 books of which 5 were non-English.  I know a lot of people read books on their tablets now (I still like to hold and read a book).  Are all the libraries “bookless” now?  I have a 15 day and 28 day cruise coming up and hope the library is better stocked on the Emerald!  

Long library thread from a few days ago.

Started out as Enchanted but morphed into Princess and libraries or lack thereof on all Princess ships.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2720624-enchanted-no-library/?tab=comments#comment-59047933

[Mike45LC]

I too was very disappointed by the library on the Royal.  So I was left with my Kindle, which had plenty of reading material, but which does not like the sauna or the hot tub.  (My prior e-book was waterproof, but it still didn't like the excessive heat of the sauna.)  

[nini]

Sadly, well stocked libraries are becoming a thing of the past. I also prefer a real book, but now

we always come prepared with many books downloaded on our Kindles. I remember boarding

a few times and the books had already been "checked" out before we left port on the first night.

[Tucker in Texas]

No library on the Star.  Lots of empty lockable glass covered shelves.  There were "five books in a foreign language" and quite a few board games.  The space was being used for the computers.  I left a good book that I finished on the shelf for them (lol).  Probably didn't last long as I would see people coming in and looking at the dozen books that were left on the shelves.

[workermom]

Maybe Princess will read these comments and reinstate the libraries ???

[T-town Mary]

Can anyone tell me if the Grand has books in its library.  Going on my 1st cruise in April  - 15 days to Hawaii and I plan on bringing a few books with me but was also looking forward to discovering new titles in the library.  Thanks 

[LB_NJ]

The audio books are also nice.  My library loans out free audio books using Libby.  FYI, the best library at sea is probably the QM2.  Also found a very nice library on Oceania Insignia.  The library on Crown Princess was practically non-existent. 

[BarbinMich]

On 1/27/2020 at 8:41 AM, phonejock said:

Workermom  I am with you. I like to read “real” books.  Unfortunately Libraries seem to not to be a priority on Princess ships.  The new Sky and Enchanted do not have them.  . . .

Nor do the Royal/Regal.  What they have is a wall of bookshelves in the computer "lab", as I recall.  Not much to choose from as noted above although I did find an interesting mystery set in SF (my favorite city) back in the late 1800s (I think).  The protaganist was a female sleuth <g>.

[san diego sue]

19 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

Nor do the Royal/Regal.  What they have is a wall of bookshelves in the computer "lab", as I recall.  Not much to choose from as noted above although I did find an interesting mystery set in SF (my favorite city) back in the late 1800s (I think).  The protaganist was a female sleuth <g>.

Royal Regal have their own library (minus books) deck 7 aft, not in computer room which is on deck 5.

[katisdale]

We did a Royal cruise around south america last February. The library was so-so after the first day. I happened to be in the area outside the library shortly after we boarded. I watched at least 10 people walk out with more than five books each. After they left the picking were slim to say the least. Perhaps having a crew member present to restrict books to one each for the first day or so would be helpful.

[BarbinMich]

On 1/27/2020 at 11:31 AM, CRUISEWITHH said:

One of the problems that I heard is that people are taking the books "home".  I am appalled that anyone would do that!  I am all for having any type of coding to have an alarm go off as those passengers are leaving the ship.  Good! Let them be embarrassed!

Just like the library at home!

 

. . . 

 

[ReallyThere2]

Sky has no library.  Made for some good jokes on the Wake Show since where it was seemed to be the most asked question on the ship.  

[tip]

16 hours ago, workermom said:

Maybe Princess will read these comments and reinstate the libraries ???

One could only hope, but I doubt it would happen.  Libraries do not make any money for  Princess and unfortunately today, it is all about the money.