Royal Princess- Lack of a Walkable Promenade Deck

Honest to God we were on the Majestic(first time on the Royal class) for 3 weeks and I never even noticed there was not a "full" promenade.

OP glad you are going to voice your concerns to Princess....but unfortunately they care little about repeat clients, it comes down to the mightly dollar and a full promenade doesn't generate any dollars at all.

When I register a concern to Princess I never speak of how many cruises I have or my status etc......according to them it doesn't matter and I truly believe that.

Well stay off The Island Princess because you cannot walk all the way around either on that ship. Why not walk the decks inside the Ship? I do that if it's raining out or too hot. Walk the stairs for exercise, better Yet! On the Royal, I walked the Promenade deck and went through the doors at the other end and across. No big deal. Secret is to keep moving.

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The promenade deck is no longer in fashion (passe'), unfortunately.

An Open Posting to Princess Cruises- The lack of a walkable promenade deck on the Royal Princess will result in us cancelling our scheduled December cruise.

 

 

 

As background, my wife and I have been on 14 Princess Cruises over the last 20 years all over the world (Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Panama, Norway and elsewhere). Regardless of our itinerary, one of the most important things to us to do on every Princess cruise was our daily exercise walks on the covered promenade deck.

 

 

 

I was very disappointed to learn that the Royal Princess does not have a walker friendly promenade deck for people like us. I understand that it is cut off in the front and back of the ship and is too narrow in parts to do exercise walks. For us, the jogging trail at the top of the ship does not work due to my wife's sun sensitivity plus it not being the same quiet ambience of a promenade deck.

 

 

 

 

 

As a result of this Royal Princess design feature, we will for the first time in years start looking at other cruise lines. We may continuing to go on some of the older Princess Ships, but that fleet is aging. Our hearts are broken over this as we were one cruise away from Elite Status. We were looking forward to the other innovations of the Royal Princess class of ships. However, for us, this promenade issue is a deal breaker as it is a very important part of our cruise we thought would never be taken away.

Nothing says "SHIP" like the Promenade Deck. Nothing. [emoji1417]

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Nothing says "SHIP" like the Promenade Deck. Nothing. [emoji1417]

 

 

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I heartily agreed, but the reality is, that it is us middle aged people whom enjoy a walk around the promenade, and we are happy to watch the sea, like others a century ago. But the cruise industry is about money, and trying to attract younger people, a lot whom are easily board, so water slides, rock climbing walls , and all manner of things were introduced to amuse the people who kneed amusing, to the point were some forget they are on a ship at all.

The golden years are gone, but at least there are plenty of cruise ship to choose from...

So it the golden princess for us

Cheers Don

I'm on the Royal princess right now and agree that the lack of the nice walking path is a big disappointment. Check Holland America. They have a nice one. My other disappointment is the lack of ice! The machines in the buffet run out every meal and the dining room gives you 2 cubes. Not a huge thing, but you see people trudging around the ship with empty cups looking for ice. I can't enjoy iced tea without ice!

I'm back reading this thread again as I find the comments interesting. Having sailed 6 cruise lines, 28 times, I'm happy to be my age (70), good health, able to afford a cruise as sailing single is expensive. I've sailed on the Norway, which had a true, old fashioned promenade, inside and out. I absolutely loved it.

Promenades are nice but I want to see new places, can't wrap my head around not going on a ship because it is too big, no promenade, whatever other reason. As I said before, itinerary is important, I'm not on a cruise just to cruise, don't go to the Caribbean or take short cruises (short to me is 15 days). The Caribbean was great in the 80s, early 90s, now way too crowded. I enjoy sea days, love positioning and transatlantic cruises, still do those, promenade or not! :)

Thanks. I've never seen this information anywhere.

Stenciled on the wall like the GC ships.

I'm on the Royal princess right now and agree that the lack of the nice walking path is a big disappointment. Check Holland America. They have a nice one. My other disappointment is the lack of ice! The machines in the buffet run out every meal and the dining room gives you 2 cubes. Not a huge thing, but you see people trudging around the ship with empty cups looking for ice. I can't enjoy iced tea without ice!

Is it possible for you to post the list of officers on the front page of the first day Embarkation Patter?

Thanks in advance and enjoy the rest of your cruise. :cool:

Did the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess and loved the single level, full length promenade. Will be on the Royal Princess later this week and was disappointed to learn there is no full length promenade. We will see how it goes but will likely avoid it on future cruises and check before booking other ships. It may not be a big deal for most people but it certainly is to me and my wife.

HI coloradobill,

I agreed the promenade, is great, but newer big ship don't have. Grand class ships still have a promenade but it is over two decks but the view round the bow on deck 8 is great.

Here is just something about walking round the promenade deck, looking at the sea.. maybe it reminds us the golden age of cruise liners

Cheers Don

Well stay off The Island Princess because you cannot walk all the way around either on that ship. Why not walk the decks inside the Ship? I do that if it's raining out or too hot. Walk the stairs for exercise, better Yet! On the Royal, I walked the Promenade deck and went through the doors at the other end and across. No big deal. Secret is to keep moving.

 

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Totally agree....we have been or the Royal, Regal and Majestic and have seen plenty of people walking and strolling all over these ships. Treadmills in the Royal Class ships are in front of big picture windows that face the sea.....no problem! We like the Royal Class ships out of all the Princess ships and are happy they are building more. I loved flying in 747's but most airlines are retiring them and moving on and to a new type of aircraft. It does not mean I am going to stop flying....:cool:

Sailed ten days on the Royal in April... the lack of a promenade deck really was something we missed. We knew it going in, but missed it even more than we thought. The running/walking track is too hot, no shade and very windy being so high up. We might try the Regal as I think they have done something to help with this by connecting the bits of outdoor deck areas. As to using the fitness center.. not the same thing at all. We won't say we would never sail on the Royal again.. but we will certainly hesitate and probably try to avoid it.

Sailed ten days on the Royal in April... the lack of a promenade deck really was something we missed. We knew it going in, but missed it even more than we thought. The running/walking track is too hot, no shade and very windy being so high up. We might try the Regal as I think they have done something to help with this by connecting the bits of outdoor deck areas. As to using the fitness center.. not the same thing at all. We won't say we would never sail on the Royal again.. but we will certainly hesitate and probably try to avoid it.

We have been on the Regal several times, I haven’t noticed any difference from the Royal.

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Sailed ten days on the Royal in April... the lack of a promenade deck really was something we missed. We knew it going in, but missed it even more than we thought. The running/walking track is too hot, no shade and very windy being so high up. We might try the Regal as I think they have done something to help with this by connecting the bits of outdoor deck areas. As to using the fitness center.. not the same thing at all. We won't say we would never sail on the Royal again.. but we will certainly hesitate and probably try to avoid it.

Ahh, a kindred spirit. We sailed on the Royal and really missed the promenade deck. We did a Panama Canal cruise in March and were very happy to get back to our beloved Coral with its full promenade deck.

We have been on the Regal several times, I haven’t noticed any difference from the Royal.

I just wish they would prohibit any runners and joggers from the promenade deck..how many times have I seen runners literally hit people as they are walking along with "coming though" loudly proclaimed. Apparently the promenade is the new jogging track on the ships before the Regal and Royal, and now Majesty.

I'm surprised about the number of people who don't care about the promenade deck. It's really one of the things that separate a ship from a boat in my humble opinion..but at least one won't have to deal with the people who insist on walking side by side no matter what. It's always  been a surprise to to notice how few people spend any time on their balcony as well. A few people mentioned using the treadmill ....I mean really...that's just something you do so that you can not feel guilty about the buffet..not because it's fun

Promenades are out of favor for new ships for the simple reason that too many folks fell from them into to the sea.  Newer designs have it so that if you do fall, it's onto the ship, avoiding the 7-figure cost of searching for someone who hadn't been noticed for 12+ hours.

That's the reason for the wedding-cake setbacks on balconies, too.

2 hours ago, hiflyer201 said:

I'm surprised about the number of people who don't care about the promenade deck. It's really one of the things that separate a ship from a boat in my humble opinion..but at least one won't have to deal with the people who insist on walking side by side no matter what. It's always  been a surprise to to notice how few people spend any time on their balcony as well. A few people mentioned using the treadmill ....I mean really...that's just something you do so that you can not feel guilty about the buffet..not because it's fun

We like all Princess ships but particularly the Royal Class ships.....to us they offer way more than the other ships....and strolling around a ship is something we have no interest in doing just to do it....

2 hours ago, Haboob said:

Promenades are out of favor for new ships for the simple reason that too many folks fell from them into to the sea. 

Cite?  I’ve heard dozens of reasons for the disappearance of promenades but never this one. Lifeboat placement. Revenue generation. But passengers falling overboard? Never heard this before. Presumably you have some industry literature to support this theory. 

1.  Walking on an indoor treadmill has little resemblance to walking an open air promenade deck hearing the ocean nearby, feeling the air temperature and ocean breezes, pausing to look out at the horizon, watching birds and the occasional sea life close up.

2.  Walking indoor corridors is about as exciting as going to a local Holiday Inn and walking up and down  the hallways.  I tr to walk about ten miles a day , five in a.m and five in the p.m......try walking ten  miles in the corridors or on a treadmill.  Not my cup of chai.

3, Walking an open air uncovered sport deck 15 or so decks above the sea looking through often dirty plexiglass with 8 laps to a mile in often windy or too sunny conditions is not the same as walking a nice promenade deck a few levels above the sea looking through open air rails , seeing, smelling, and sensing the ocean mere feet away.

4.  Sorry but I really don't buy the argument that new designs have much to do with lifeboat placements.  Seems to have more to do with using a good chunk of what could be a proper prom deck to add extra square footage for the shops.

5.  Recently spent a month on the Royal.  Really missed a proper prom deck. .

6.  Continue to try and pick cruises on ships that still have a proper prom deck for walking as well as nice teak or lounger chairs to sit , relax, and enjoy being close to the ocean.  More shop space selling a variety of stuff that i have zero interest in may make the bean counters happy but not me.

7.  Obviously prom decks are not important to many cruisers. On the other hand it does seem important to many people.  Only real solution seems to sail on older ships that were built in a time when a cruise was more about a connection to the sea and not about seeing how many more shops can be crammed inside.

8. Bottom line is i do make a conscious effort to pick ships with proper prom decks and will continue to do so even though the options no doubt will continue to diminish as more ships are built at the instructions of execs who seem to think more people are interested in floating shopping centers.  And they are probably right.

I guess one good thing about being older is that hopefully I will still be able to find a few older ships that provide what many of the newer ships don't provide.

It's about the money, not the experience now.

It's understandable if you like the full prom. It's important to you.

For me it's not

But I'm not real thrilled with how the prom has been almost eliminated on the Sky by the restaurant seating. I guess I'll find out in two weeks.

1 hour ago, dockman said:

A lot of good points

Dockman pretty much summed it up.... 

Do you go on a floating hotel or a ship.....

I like going on a ship,  looking out to sea, the motion, nothing like standing or walking on the top deck watching the sunrise..    It makes you feel alive......

But that me.....   love a sea day......

Cheers Don

ps Monday is the start of 3 sea days  .. got love it... with a promenade ( but with stairs at the bow )