vjmatty

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

So basically your view is thst the rules do not matter and that you will ignore them if they let you get away with it.

Read it again.  She wants the areas to actually be adult only but without having to pay for the sanctuary. 

6 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Unable to accept delivery of what’s already been delivered and installed 🙄

4 hours ago, Biker19 said:

With seven Oasis and three Icon class ships in the fleet by 2027 needing dry dock every 5 years, there's bound to be at least two of them in Med every year - that's assuming RCI doesn't find/use a dry dock facility in the Americas.

What a waste. Mega ships are great for transatlantic and Caribbean cruises but so limited in where they can go in the Mediterranean. Maybe RC can follow sister Celebrity’s example and keep some smaller ships in the Mediterranean year round. There’s more of a market than people would think. 

58 minutes ago, Its the journey said:

 

And I'm told (not going on this ship until November) that at one end, people can look down at the sun bathers in the sanctuary.  

 

 

That’s going to be unavoidable no matter what they put up there. I’m thinking Park 19 will just go back to being the sports deck of older ships with basketball, golf and other outdoor activities. 

3 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Note ... My post was regarding a shorten CA/NE cruise on Liberty, not Anthem.

So sorry… I seem to have lost track of which ship was being discussed 🤦🏻‍♀️

On 7/21/2024 at 12:49 AM, TheBeardedCruiser said:

Please forgive me if this question is rude, but why do you want to get off early?

 

I'm the kind of passenger that gets on as early as possible on embarkation day, and gets off as late as possible on disembarkation day! I love hearing other people's perspectives though!

Everybody perceives value differently I guess. For me, not having access to my cabin and carrying stuff around at the start and finish of my trip when there are limited activities and few open venues doesn’t factor into the dollars per day equation. Also, if the sailing involves a flight to Europe or other distant destination, I’m going to book us several days or a week land vacation, either before or after the cruise (or both if time allows), so there’s really no hurry to get on or off the ship. YMMV 🤷🏻‍♀️

6 hours ago, c-leg5 said:

Was that the first point of entry into US? They would have had customs and  immigration set up there.

Yes it was the first US entry point with Halifax two days earlier. 

18 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

And that was a cluster*.  😞  But debarking the next day was a breeze.  🙂

 

* Thru the smoke filled casino, back thru the smoke filled casino, thru the dining room, out on the promenade deck, thru the "jetway" into the terminal, thru immigration, out of the terminal, around the terminal, walk to the ship, and finally back on board.

Wow that’s another thing that changed. The casino was smoke free on our 2022 transatlantic and we used to go back to the elevators through it from the Music Hall at the end of the night. It was always pretty empty though. 

6 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

That is my fear! 

 

I'm sure there's a correlation between people who smoke and people who gamble, but I wish they'd have a separate casino for smokers like some other cruise lines.

 

We went to Vegas last year and my wife was coughing for a week following our trip and her doctor said it wasn't a cold/COVID, it was just due to breathing in the smoke in the casinos for a week when her body wasn't used to it. 

 

On a positive note - it's great to hear your grandkids still enjoyed the Sun... I'm confident mine will as well as I know Park 19 would have only filled a few hours of 7 days at most anyways!

There is definitely a correlation. When we sailed on Anthem OTS we’d frequently go through the casino from the Music Hall in order to get to the elevators back to our room. It was like a short cut, and there was no smoking so the air was very clear and no odor. However, it was always empty 🤷🏻‍♀️

11 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Was this prior to covid days?   Since the restart of cruising I have heard it is no longer permitted.

After Covid….October 2022. 

56 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

 

It would not be a good idea for Princess to delay the Star in 2025.  It's already delayed by a few months as it is.  It has 2 Med cruises (a 10 and a 7 day) before the the Transatlantic.  If they delay the inaugural, Princess will have to sail an TA empty to reposition her to the Caribbean.  The cruising season in Europe ends at the end of October so it wouldn't make sense to keep the Star there into November and December.  TAs are very hard to get to capacity as it is; there are usually several price drops before and after final payment.  While cruises over Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to go full, cruises immediately before Thanksgiving and Christmas are hard to fill because people spending those holidays at home want to use that time to prep.

 

I will say though that given that the Sun was such a cluster, I wouldn't be surprised.  

Agree, I can’t see a TA being the inaugural so I’m hoping you’re right. 

2 minutes ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

I'm not saying you're wrong, but don't you think they would have known about the costs and associated risks with this in advance?

 

I suspect it's something different they didn't anticipate (i.e. maybe the rides were louder than they thought it would be and they realized it would upset a lot of their passengers). Either that or there was a defect in the construction that they determined could not be overcome.

 

The press release also seems to blame the builder (they won't accept delivery), which I don't think they could get away with if it was related to liability or maintenance.

 

I'm guessing we'll never know for sure. 

 

 

When considering that Carnival ships have similar rope courses and other activities that are not much different from Park 19, it would seem there should have been some frame of reference for what they were getting into.  
 

The Sun has been the source of more “why” questions than any Princess ship for some time now. Between the dramatic changes in access to the  sanctuary, suite perk upcharges for premier, dining room relocations, removing reserve dining from deck 9 cabana minis, and creating new categories of cabins, all less than 6 months into their sailing schedule, no one seems to know what to expect anymore.

I’ve booked the Star 2025 transatlantic for next fall, but NGL I have also booked a backup sailing on the same date as I watch developments, and have a year from now until final payment to make up my mind.  If I end up making the wrong choice and the Star is delayed I’ll just have to spend two weeks in Europe 🤷🏻‍♀️

14 hours ago, seaandsea said:

Our cruise ends in Seattle. We dock at 11:00 AM and overnight in Seattle. Would we be able to disembark on the day we dock to catch an earlier flight? Or do we need to wait until the next day?

Thanks

I’ve done it but not in the US, I believe it was Athens.

That being said, I was on an Anthem TA where about 200 passengers disembarked in Boston instead of waiting for Bayonne.  

Bottom line, you won’t know until you ask. 

5 hours ago, Coral said:

Yes it definitely is getting shared between sister lines. I have received promos from Cunard with my Captain Circle number and referencing that I am a Princess cruiser and this promo is targeted towards me.

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/legal/legal-privacy 

Your Princess and Cunard numbers are the same between the two cruiselines, so it is very likely. 

14 minutes ago, Leo37 said:

Don't want to take this Park 19 discussion off topic, but just on the "No open adult area", the Sea View area at the front of the ship is adults (16+) only. Has a good bar, pool, two hot tubs and wide range of loungers and seats. Some areas open to sun and some cover. One of our favourite areas when we were on the Sun this past week.

Oh that’s good to know….thanks!

9 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Isn't this space above the current sanctuary area?  yep, if so, then that's a perfect place for a pickleball court ...🙄

Only one end of it, probably to be allocated to the lowly DO category 😉

2 hours ago, Pixelskaya said:

Any news on Park 19? I’m embarking in a few weeks and my travel mates are getting restless; we picked this ship in part for the new outdoor areas.

Latest info says it won’t be open until the Sun comes to the US in October. 

1 minute ago, TRLD said:

SEC filings such as the 10k and 10Q tend to be a bit different since incorrect statements in those filings have legal ramifications.

 

 

Well if their goal truly is as you say a higher EU/UK market than US, judging by the population onboard, they’re not doing so well with that.   But that could be based on what cruising.mark.uk is talking about….the brand has changed dramatically since CCL took over. Switching to USD, relaxing on formal wear and catering more and more to American tastes isn’t helping.

57 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Suggest you contact them and convince them of its focus 

 

Yes I suppose I could send them their own marketing materials that they distribute to us travel agents and remind them of their markets as communicated to us. Also, Princess, HAL and Cunard are sold on the same TA website and booking engine, separate from CCL and the other CCL lines.   As for the one statement you read, we all know cruiselines always make accurate statements lol. Ask the people on Sun Princess looking for Park 19 😉

57 minutes ago, TRLD said:

So do other lines. Does not change where CCL positions and considers them. Read their 10k.

 

Just as the NA focused line have ships in Europe and Asia, those lines are still NA focused.

 

In either case they accept passengers from any area, but their targeted markets is clear.

 

Also does not change how and where they market.  The majority of their marketing focus and spend is UK.

I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree, especially if you won’t even acknowledge that the line is at least equally represented in both markets and is not the same UK base as P&O. I don’t know when your last Cunard sailing was, but as a part time TA who has Commodore status selling both Cunard and Princess, I can assure you that Cunard is very NA based and not the same category as P&O. Onboard currency, even in EU sailings, is in US dollars, not sterling. I don’t know what could make it more clear than that. If you wish to limit your adult cruising to two lines instead of three based on your perceptions, I won’t disabuse you of that belief 🤷🏻‍♀️

54 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

"Pretty Good Day".

The sheer number of ships porting monthly in Ensenada doesn't justify too much investment into the port. Around 200 ships year.(?)

Especially when you consider that for most of those sailings, Ensenada is only on the itinerary to satisfy the PVSA.

”Perfunctory Day at Ensenada”

1 hour ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

I always smile at the cheerleaders on the Cunard board who assert that Cunard provides a quintessential British experience and appear to completely miss the irony associated with paying for that in US$.  So far as I can tell from my 5 cruises on Cunard, the ship board culture etc is primarily focused on playing up to the fantasies of those who believe that Downton Abbey is a documentary programme showing how the middle classes live in contemporary Britain.  In reality, the ships are about as British as Disney World.   But, good luck to Cunard because this marketing strategy clearly works to a certain extent because they are persuading passengers to pay about 50% more than on their other mainstream lines for pretty much the same experience, but with more restrictive dress regs and no reasonably priced drinks, wifi and service charge packages a la Princess.  

And this is the other element I had in mind, but only made a passing reference to in my last response to TLDR. 

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

While they sail to many places and have guests from many countries they are primarily UK focused.  Their ship board culture, dining structure etc  is UK focused.  Their marketing spend is primarily UK focused.

On any given cruise there will be more UK that US guests on board.

 

Just because they sail to some places in NA and have some NA guests does not make them a NA focused line.

 

Read the CCL 10k. Cunard is listed in the EU cruise segment. Pretty clear where CCL considers Cunard to be focused.

It’s not that they just sail to NA ports. They are based in and sail from multiple US ports year round, unlike Costa and P&O.  There are more NA passengers than UK and the experience has become more Americanized since the days of the old British steam ships. Just because they serve afternoon tea and started out 200 years ago as a British company doesn’t mean they aren’t NA based. You could say they have equal presence in both NA and Europe, but they are no longer UK based like P&O. It is understandable, however, why those who don’t sail Cunard would assume otherwise, given the history. 

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

Cunard is UK focused. HAL and Princess are NA focused So only 2 NA focused adult lines.

This is incorrect. Their onboard currency is USD, they sail to Alaska, Panama Canal, Caribbean in addition to their  Europe based itineraries, and their passenger base is both UK and US as well Canadian. They also do regular crossings between NY and Southampton. I know it has an image of being UK based, and historically that may have been true, but their ships are now registered in Bermuda like most US based cruise lines rather than Liverpool, and they definitely cater to a NA market as much as if not more than UK. Having sailed at least 7 Cunard itineraries they are definitely not UK based.  Equating the base and market with P&O is inaccurate at best. 

On 7/15/2024 at 7:40 PM, TRLD said:

 

 

Because CCL has 2 adult focused lines there is some competition between HAL and Princess. Recent changes with Princess is putting a bit more space between them. Princess is adding some of the features that Celebrity put in place years ago, but they seem to not be sure how they want to really implement. Might be a cultural issue.

 

 CCL has THREE adult focused cruise lines. You forgot Cunard 😉