Royal Princess

[IndesignGr]

I find it sad that Princess Cruises have elected to cram more passengers on their new Royal Princess cruise ship. She is beautiful in everyway except for one MAJOR problem, Princess has eliminated the GRAND SUITE, and OWNERS SUITE from this and other of the more recent new builds, and have added much, much more basic cabins as well. I can understand adding more cabins for revenue but why delete your upper level cabins, WHY?????? I have cruised with Princess a few times over the last 10 years, and have enjoyed the Grand Suite on Sapphire and Diamond Princess and am totally upset that this new grand ship does not have a Grand suite on it, and I am totally puzzled on why not???? The Grand Suite books out atleast a year in advance, and is next to impossible to get, so I am really confused on why they are not on Princess's new builds, they are always wanted and never discounted.....so they are not a money loser! I love the space in the Grand Suite as well as the first class treatment I get while in the Grand Suite, and if this is the direction Princess is going, I will have to find another cruise line to cruise with. I hope they get the message before it is too late!

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

I assume its down to money, for a grand suite to work if 6 times the size of a standard outside then it would have to priced at that level,

 

yours shogun

[Tak8]

I think it's already too late for this build. I was disappointed in no Vista Suites aft. They ony have a couple of forward Vista type suites. Potentially more money for Princess, but harder for soe of us to afford an aft suite.

[Astro Flyer]

With the Royal being about 30,000 tons larger than other Princess ships & with only about 500 additional passengers, the Royal will provide more space for everyone to enjoy. :)

[Coral]

I think it's already too late for this build. I was disappointed in no Vista Suites aft. They ony have a couple of forward Vista type suites. Potentially more money for Princess, but harder for soe of us to afford an aft suite.

 

Considering Princess left off the Grand Suites on their last few builds, I wouldn't get too optimistic about future builds.

[Loonbeam]

And to make it simple, here goes. Like Business Class on international flights, suites on cruise ships and in hotels are very often used as rewards for frequent travelers and/or perks then they are actually purchased at price (of course, it does happen). The benefit is in the hope they may purchase the same class again in the future.

 

Using airlines as an example, on a typical long haul flight, US to Europe, at least 50 percent of the people in BC/FC have not paid business class fares. Most of the others have used miles (which does have some value) or certificates, etc and a few may be bumped up. I'm willing to say at least 30 percent of suites on any cruise are an upgrade. It may be more, on our AK cruise in 2009, we met 3 seperate couples who had been upgraded to suites, and there are only about 6 suites total on the Coral.

 

With that said, it simply makes no economic sense to tie up prime areas for suites anymore. Instead, put them in OK locations, make them a little smaller, and people who get bumped will still be very happy. If you happen to annoy a few cruisers who might have purchased that suite, well you will offset that from the higher cabin revenues on the smaller ones.

[RickEk]

And to make it simple, here goes. Like Business Class on international flights, suites on cruise ships and in hotels are very often used as rewards for frequent travelers and/or perks then they are actually purchased at price (of course, it does happen). The benefit is in the hope they may purchase the same class again in the future.

 

Using airlines as an example, on a typical long haul flight, US to Europe, at least 50 percent of the people in BC/FC have not paid business class fares. Most of the others have used miles (which does have some value) or certificates, etc and a few may be bumped up. I'm willing to say at least 30 percent of suites on any cruise are an upgrade. It may be more, on our AK cruise in 2009, we met 3 seperate couples who had been upgraded to suites, and there are only about 6 suites total on the Coral.

 

With that said, it simply makes no economic sense to tie up prime areas for suites anymore. Instead, put them in OK locations, make them a little smaller, and people who get bumped will still be very happy. If you happen to annoy a few cruisers who might have purchased that suite, well you will offset that from the higher cabin revenues on the smaller ones.

 

And ya know... if the OP is looking for a full-blown totally expensive suite experience, then maybe he should try NCL. I think the big suites on their ships are bigger than my house! :eek: :D :)

[Cruisin' Chick]

I would feel grateful about being in a lowly inside cabin. :)

[Bippie]

As Shogun stated, this most likely is a financial decision. If the suite is six times the size of a standard cabin, Princess would not only need to recoup the cost of the five additional cabins they could have sold but they also miss out on the onboard spending for all those other passengers. My guess is that the extra large suites just didn't make financial sense anymore. Guess you'll have to settle for a smaller suite if you cruise Princess. There are worse problems.....