build different style ships

[brovol]

my wife and i have sailed with princess six times over the last several years (with our two kids). we like the caribbean, but do not usually care what part of the caribbean we sail. the last four princess cruises we have taken have been on grand class ships. we both think these ships are great, but we are getting a little bored with the same ship design every time. it seems like princess only puts grand class ships in the caribbean. part of the fun of going on a cruise is checking out the ship. you loose that excitement when it is the same layout every cruise. it would be nice if princess built new ships with a different design. what do the rest of you think?

[chrysalis]

There area a couple of Sun Class ships..the Sun and the Sea in the Caribbean right now,.....they are wonderful ships to cruise on.

[Druke I]

I'm not wild about the Grand and modified Grand class ships, and would like to see more ships like Coral and Island - ships that are small enough to fit through the current Panama Canal.

 

If I were King of Princess, I would build several in the 50,000GRT 1200 PAX range, but recognize that the "bean counters" totally subscribe to the Economy of Scale theory.

[marinearchit]

I'd like it if Princess built a more classical-designed ship. Like the QM2 but with the front of the grand Class' superstructure and lifeboats stretching the entire side of the Promenade. Also, possibly with a central atrium. I don't really like how they have the 3 main stairwells/elevators without a direct connection between them.

[mii]

I agree totally with Druke in that I love the size of the Coral/Island. (1950 passengers). I have sailed on the Sky Princess(1200) and the old Coral; sister to the Regal and love all of those sizes. I have been on the big ones and I agree if it cannot go through the Panama Canal it is too darn big. I just wish that some future ships would a little smaller rather than the behemouths they are making now.

 

Marilyn

[Toto2Kansas]

I'm not wild about the Grand and modified Grand class ships, and would like to see more ships like Coral and Island - ships that are small enough to fit through the current Panama Canal.

 

I totally agree with this and the OP's observatons. We grew very tired of the Grand Class and modified Grand Class ships after 6-8 sailings on them. We do not seem to ever get tired of the design of the Sun Class ships though. Maybe it is just us but we feel that each Sun Class ship is pretty much the same as the next, but they change the decor enough to keep them all interesting. We don't feel they do enough of this on ships like the Grand, Star, etc.

 

Only problem is, it won't be long before we only have one sun class ship left to choose. (the Dawn) :( Not sure what we are going to do then.

[LARGIN]

I urge all cruisers tired of the Grand class to try the Coral/Island. You will be in for a pleasant surprise.

[negc]

I think that you will find that economics is one of the major reasons why cruiselines continue to build multiple copies of a particular class of ship. It is far less expensive for them to reuse the ship plans than to pay to have new or different designs. It is one reason that more than one line in a large corporation like Carnival uses the same basic ship plan for newbuilds of its various cruiselines. It also helps when they have to rotate staff among a particular class of ship, to have them already familiar with the deckplans and special features of their ships. I understand and share to a degree, your feelings but there are also some guests who prefer the familiar and like knowing where everthing is before they board the ship. Perhaps when RCI publishes more details about its Genesis project we will see whether they have come up with new and innovative ideas, or have simply designed an even larger version of the current ships in their fleet. :)

[TCF]

There are always three things at play in the decisions the cruise corporations have to make.

First, is competition within the industry, but that is becoming less of an issue as more corporate consolidation takes place.

Second, is the economics of the industry...judging where costs of operation will be five or ten years from now can be a dangerous game for a corporation in what is essentially a service industry.

Third, is the global market economy...are there going to be jobs, in many countries not just the US, that pay wages that will allow people disposable income to spend on vacations? Will the economy be such that a working class family can save enough in a year to take a cruise? If not, mass market consumer service industries, like crusie ship companies, will go right into the tank!

To over simplify it...it's like three-legged stool...as long as all three legs remain strong the company does well. One leg sags or breaks and the whole company comes down.

Design your ships for ten years from today. Design them with innovations and efficiencies that save fuel, time and money. Design them so maintaining them is cheap and fast, dry docking and wet docking are kept to an absolute minimum.

And when they do all that the only thing they have is the shell...now they have to figure out what the market trends will be...what will attract people and keep them coming back to the ship time and again? MUTS, rock climbing walls, water slides, bowling, golf courses, wave pools...when do all these things become Ho! Hum! to the cruiser?

It's easy for me to say I want the cruise companies to come up with new ship designs...I'm just glad I am not the guy that has to do it.:D

Tom:)

[brovol]

i agree that economics dictates that they continue to use the same cookie cutter. it is a good design for a ship that size. on the other hand, repeat customer business is also important. it seems that nothing other than grand class ships are available when and where we want to cruise. we would be happy with any other princess option; but would love to see something new. i like the 70,000 ton range, but anything new will do. we loved the hal westerdam. we like the princess product, but are being drawn to other lines just for freshness.

[marinearchit]

This would probably work better for a line that is part of a big corporation and retiring all of the old ships and introducing a completely new fleet, but I'll say it anyway.

 

Exterior...

Start with a rough idea of an exterior profile of the ship. Then begin to design a class. After you've basically come up with a brand-new design concept never seen before. Then, make that design somewhat of a company trademark. (This would be the funnel, superstructure, general exterior design.)

 

Interior...

Include the most popular onboard amenities/attractions from the cruise and land industries. Make sure you establish a general flow throughout the ship itself. (Interior decor, room names, basic layout with rooms branching off a central atrium/stairwell.)

 

Destinations...

Design the class so they can travel to a wide array of ports. Make sure they can attract the kind of crowd for the ports they are visiting.

 

Stats...

Keep the new class within 800-900ft. long. About 180-200ft.wide(Depending on ports of call.)

The first class with a passengers capacity of about 2500.

Make the amenities large with fewer passengers so the ships are unique but economical.

 

Fleet...

Depending ont he succes of the first class.

Have the second class follow roughly the same design inside. But almost identical outside.(To further the line's trademark.)

Have enough ships to travel to different ports, and make sure the line's ships can cover many itineraries. This way passengers can have sort od the same onboard experience with dif. ports. But the ships would also be different.

[marinearchit]

This would probably work better for a line that is part of a big corporation and retiring all of the old ships and introducing a completely new fleet, but I'll say it anyway.

 

Exterior...

Start with a rough idea of an exterior profile of the ship. Then begin to design a class. After you've basically come up with a brand-new design concept never seen before. Then, make that design somewhat of a company trademark. (This would be the funnel, superstructure, general exterior design.)

 

Interior...

Include the most popular onboard amenities/attractions from the cruise and land industries. Make sure you establish a general flow throughout the ship itself. (Interior decor, room names, basic layout with rooms branching off a central atrium/stairwell.)

 

Destinations...

Design the class so they can travel to a wide array of ports. Make sure they can attract the kind of crowd for the ports they are visiting.

 

Stats...

Keep the new class within 800-900ft. long. About 180-200ft.wide(Depending on ports of call.)

The first class with a passengers capacity of about 2500.

Make the amenities large with fewer passengers so the ships are unique but economical.

 

Fleet...

Depending ont he succes of the first class.

Have the second class follow roughly the same design inside. But almost identical outside.(To further the line's trademark.)

Have enough ships to travel to different ports, and make sure the line's ships can cover many itineraries. This way passengers can have sort od the same onboard experience with dif. ports. But the ships would also be different.

 

Sorry if I posted this twice.

[marinearchit]

This would probably work better for a line that is part of a big corporation and retiring all of the old ships and introducing a completely new fleet, but I'll say it anyway.

 

Exterior...

Start with a rough idea of an exterior profile of the ship. Then begin to design a class. After you've basically come up with a brand-new design concept never seen before. Then, make that design somewhat of a company trademark. (This would be the funnel, superstructure, general exterior design.)

 

Interior...

Include the most popular onboard amenities/attractions from the cruise and land industries. Make sure you establish a general flow throughout the ship itself. (Interior decor, room names, basic layout with rooms branching off a central atrium/stairwell.)

 

Destinations...

Design the class so they can travel to a wide array of ports. Make sure they can attract the kind of crowd for the ports they are visiting.

 

Stats...

Keep the new class within 800-900ft. long. About 180-200ft.wide(Depending on ports of call.)

The first class with a passengers capacity of about 2500.

Make the amenities large with fewer passengers so the ships are unique but economical.

 

Fleet...

Depending ont he succes of the first class.

Have the second class follow roughly the same design inside. But almost identical outside.(To further the line's trademark.)

Have enough ships to travel to different ports, and make sure the line's ships can cover many itineraries. This way passengers can have sort od the same onboard experience with dif. ports. But the ships would also be different.

 

Sorry if I posted this twice.