Missing the Promenade

[madjohn]

I was a regular cruiser before the pandemic.  Have only taken one cruise since with several scheduled over next two years.  I must say, I don't like the new ships that do not have a "REAL" Promenade deck.  On all my past cruises, I spent a lot of time walking around the ship (completely around) on the Promenade.  It was always less congested and offered great views of the sea.   I will see how I do on the upcoming trips but, for me, this is a great loss.  Anyone else feel the same?

 

John

[memoak]

29 minutes ago, madjohn said:

I was a regular cruiser before the pandemic.  Have only taken one cruise since with several scheduled over next two years.  I must say, I don't like the new ships that do not have a "REAL" Promenade deck.  On all my past cruises, I spent a lot of time walking around the ship (completely around) on the Promenade.  It was always less congested and offered great views of the sea.   I will see how I do on the upcoming trips but, for me, this is a great loss.  Anyone else feel the same?

 

John

We mostly sail Grand class ships unless the itinerary is something we don’t want to miss. We have 6 cruises booked in the next  2 years 4 of these are on either the Grand or Emerald. We don’t really love the carousel class ships due to the noise around the piazza

[walkingsoon]

Absolutely. No promenade on the "promenade" deck is a major design flaw with the newer Princess ships. Other lines' mega ships have some very nice promenade decks.

[PrincessLuver]

Not really.  Love how they use the space on the Royal and Sphere class ships.  Promenade is really a waste of valuable space on a ship. 

[Sea Hag]

2 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

Not really.  Love how they use the space on the Royal and Sphere class ships.  Promenade is really a waste of valuable space on a ship. 

Not to those of us who love walking the Promenade and looking at the ocean. That's my main reason for cruising.

[Sea Hag]

57 minutes ago, madjohn said:

I was a regular cruiser before the pandemic.  Have only taken one cruise since with several scheduled over next two years.  I must say, I don't like the new ships that do not have a "REAL" Promenade deck.  On all my past cruises, I spent a lot of time walking around the ship (completely around) on the Promenade.  It was always less congested and offered great views of the sea.   I will see how I do on the upcoming trips but, for me, this is a great loss.  Anyone else feel the same?

 

John

I thought I would really miss the Promenade deck on the Royal class ships, but I actually found the walking/jogging track up top to be a very nice substitute. It's completely exposed to sun and rain, but other than that I'm fine with it. I'm a dedicated ocean-viewing walker. 

[Xrayal]

8 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

Not really.  Love how they use the space on the Royal and Sphere class ships.  Promenade is really a waste of valuable space on a ship. 

Agreed.  Promenade designs are outdated and a poor use of space that makes no revenue.

 

There are plenty of alternative options for those who want to walk with sea views.

[EDVM96]

1 hour ago, madjohn said:

Anyone else feel the same?

It depends on the Royal Class ship you're on. The Royal itself is bad. The Regal is much better, as you can walk half the ship and around the back on Promenade deck 7. Regal also has some nice outdoor seating and loungers on deck 7. The newer Royal class ships reduced the promenade again.

 

[EDVM96]

1 minute ago, Xrayal said:

Promenade designs are outdated and a poor use of space that makes no revenue.

Nice sarcasm. Which cruiser cares about revenue.

[Xrayal]

Just now, EDVM96 said:

Nice sarcasm. Which cruiser cares about revenue.

Those who are share holders and those who want cruising to remain affordable.

[EDVM96]

2 minutes ago, Xrayal said:

Those who are share holders and those who want cruising to remain affordable.

Airline and cruise line stocks. lol. Next time ask Warren before.

 

[susancruzs]

I love the promenade deck, it isn't a waste at all.  I've sailed on Regal and Royal, longer cruises, still miss the promenade.  I've been cruising since '82, six different lines, something special about having one.  I particularly liked the one 1st Royal Princess with all outside cabins, great ship.

[sunviking90]

Love a promenade. We have mostly cruised on HAL and Princess, with one in August on Nieuw Amsterdam and last week on Majestic. While we loved our first post pandemic cruises on Majestic, this time we found it too large, crowded inside on windy, foggy sea days and the track up top was unusable in the very windy days. We enjoyed the HAL ship so much more with the promenade, more space inside, etc. When we cruise Princess again we’ll stick to the Grand Class ships. I know we are a minority though and most cruisers these days don’t care about a walk around promenade and expect a big, sparkly, resort type ship.

I suggest those of who like the promenades enjoy them while they are still with us, as they will be gone one day. Even HAL isn’t putting a proper full width walk around promenade on their new ships. 

Edited October 13 by sunviking90

[AZ Ocean Lover]

We love to walk around the promenade but we don’t restrict ourselves if the cruise we want is on a promenadeless ship.  The jogging track/walking track on the larger ships are exposed and on several occasions closed due to weather.  

 

[tonit964]

I love and miss the promenade deck also when sailing on Royal Class ships. I think the Sapphire is my favorite promenade deck.

[IMNiles]

I’ll put myself in the promenade-loving group, though I know they’re an endangered species..  I have to admit, though, that the path on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class that spends some time at the water’s edge before winding right through the middle of the ship to get to the other side is a clever workaround, and the running track on Celebrity’s Edge class gets extra points for bobbing up and down across two decks, with great ocean and ship views all the way around - arguably better than a line of lifeboats.  So if we can’t have a simple deck around the outside edge, at least it seems possible to have a lovely outdoor walk with a little creativity.

 

[Thrak]

39 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

I love and miss the promenade deck also when sailing on Royal Class ships. I think the Sapphire is my favorite promenade deck.

 

Like Sapphire, Coral Princess has the extra wide promenade that can handle both walkers and loungers (rather than just chairs). Our first ever cruise was on Sea Princess and we just assumed all ships had that wide promenade. We were surprised when we sailed later and found the promenade to be narrower on most ships.

Edited October 13 by Thrak
Corrected Sun to Sea - D'Oh!

[Purple Gallinule]

In January, we will be spending 17 days on the Coral, SF to FLL, and we will be out on the promenade a lot. Enjoying the weather, watching for seabirds, and lowering revenue by not spending time shopping!

[Tranquility Base]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

Coral Princess has the extra wide promenade that can handle both walkers and loungers (rather than just chairs).

Unfortunately these were replaced with hard chairs last year.

Diamond also only has chairs.

[Dunchues]

5 hours ago, Xrayal said:

Agreed.  Promenade designs are outdated and a poor use of space that makes no revenue.

 

There are plenty of alternative options for those who want to walk with sea views.

But he's asking the question as a customer,  not a shareholder or one responsible to the board. Why would he care care about modern fashion trends or corporate revenues, he just wants to go for a walk looking at the sea ffs.

[Cruise Raider]

I am in the category of I don’t care about the promenade deck one bit. I absolutely love the ship design of the Royal class ship. 

What is nice, is we all have a choice.  Now, if I could talk Princess into putting a Royal class ship into San Francisco permanently, I’d be a very happy camper.. I mean, cruiser!  
 

 

[NownZen]

11 hours ago, Xrayal said:

Agreed.  Promenade designs are outdated and a poor use of space that makes no revenue.

 

There are plenty of alternative options for those who want to walk with sea views.

Such as? The walking track is nowhere near the ocean. The promenade view is very different from the remote view from above 

[dockman]

13 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

Not really.  Love how they use the space on the Royal and Sphere class ships.  Promenade is really a waste of valuable space on a ship. 

yes i really wish they would take more promenade open air outdoor space where you can actually smell and feel the nearby sea, stroll along  for nice long exercise walks, sit and watch sunsets and sunrises, get away from piped in music  and turn it into shop space selling a bunch of overpriced garbage.

 

Recent cruise from japan to australia on diamond princes the promenade deck was always busy with many people sitting, standing, walking, and enjoying the wrap around teak deck....i guess some people just prefer to sail around in a giant shopping center rather than get the experience of being on a ship in the ocean surrounded by smells sights and sounds you can experience on a proper promenade deck...i now look very carefully and avoid ships with no prom decks...a walking track 15 stories above the water line looking through often dirty plexiglass to the sea below is not at all the same experience as being on a prom deck... with no plexiglas where the sea spray mist is feet away, the mystery and wonders of the deep blue are real, any birds or wildlife are mere feet away and nobody is trying to sell you anything.

[Esprit]

Don’t miss them at all, but what they have done on Sun Princess (deck 9) is brilliant.

[dockman]

1 hour ago, Esprit said:

Don’t miss them at all, but what they have done on Sun Princess (deck 9) is brilliant.

good luck with that layout if raining or extra windy