ROYAL Princess - no Central Staircase a Royal Pain

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

This has me confused. Why would you have to do that?

 

Take another look at the deck plans. You get off the tender on Deck 4 immediately adjacent to the center elevator banks that will take you all the way up. I am not sure why you need to go forward or aft to get to an elevator up to your deck.

 

Because of the "log jam" at the mid-ship elevators when Tenders unload.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Because of the "log jam" at the mid-ship elevators when Tenders unload.

OK, I follow you. You lost me at going forward to get an elevator, because you can get an elevator mid ship. But, you're saying you used to take the stairs all the way up to your cabin, and now you'll have to wait for an elevator, the lines for which will be even longer because of all those other people who also used to take the stairs all the way up to the deck their cabins are on. You're right...it will be mass of humanity in that mid-ship elevator lobby on Deck 4 when a tender arrives (even more than before).

 

You can still hope you'll disembark your tender at the forward tender platform, instead of the mid ship tender platform.

 

I hadn't thought about it until now, but it's funny that Princess, in changing their cabin categories this year, made the upper decks forward and aft less expensive than the lower decks mid ship. Because, from an accessibility perspective, the forward and aft cabins will be less frustrating to get to than the mid ship cabins.

 

Interesting...

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

OK, I follow you. You lost me at going forward to get an elevator, because you can get an elevator mid ship. But, you're saying you used to take the stairs all the way up to your cabin, and now you'll have to wait for an elevator, the lines for which will be even longer because of all those other people who also used to take the stairs all the way up to the deck their cabins are on. You're right...it will be mass of humanity in that mid-ship elevator lobby on Deck 4 when a tender arrives (even more than before).

 

You can still hope you'll disembark your tender at the forward tender platform, instead of the mid ship tender platform.

 

I hadn't thought about it until now, but it's funny that Princess, in changing their cabin categories this year, made the upper decks forward and aft less expensive than the lower decks mid ship. Because, from an accessibility perspective, the forward and aft cabins will be less frustrating to get to than the mid ship cabins.

 

Interesting...

 

That is correct. Should have been more specific on my Post.:o

We usually took the stairs up to our deck.

We got a little upset being "beat up" by back packs.

(One person + back pack = Two)

That is unless we lucked out and were able to get an elevator right away.

[CruisenOne]

But, you're saying you used to take the stairs all the way up to your cabin, and now you'll have to wait for an elevator, the lines for which will be even longer because of all those other people who also used to take the stairs all the way up to the deck their cabins are on. You're right...it will be mass of humanity in that mid-ship elevator lobby on Deck 4 when a tender arrives (even more than before).

Interesting...

 

We usually took the stairs up to our deck.

That is unless we lucked out and were able to get an elevator right away.

 

Very interesting. Haven't sailed on the Grand yet.

Found out that the mid-ship stairs shown on the deck plan are Crew Only.

Can just visualize Princess Cays when the Tenders return very close to weighing anchor.

Two/three Tenders unloading within minutes of each other.

Foresee many folks walking the stairs up to deck 5/6 and then walking fore/aft for an elevator.

[Rinderoo]

Thank you everyone for pointing out the stair and 'ledge' situation on the Royal; the stair thing is a total deal breaker for me. While I usually use stairs 98% of the time on a ship, I don't like going forward or back to get somewhere in the middle. And to think I was originally annoyed because there were no OV staterooms. :p

 

What a disappointment in ship design, and it sure makes me wonder what they were thinking. Nice that the crew has such a lovely midship stairwell though.

[antsp]

Obviously the complaints of the Grand Princess stairs are a long time ago. I guess whoever designed the mess that the Royal is in wasn't around that long ago.

[Meggysmum]

The lack of the stair well didn't bother me much as we took a cabin in the aft for exactly that reason but when I was trying to book the cabin over the phone the person I spoke to didn't seem to have any idea that there were no stairs mid-ships. I know this because my mother is terribly claustrophobic so we only use the stairs and I had said I needed a cabin close to stairs and she kept trying to sell me Midship (obviously because of the higher price) and I don't believe she was convinced even though I told her the plans didn't seem to show stairs!

 

However I don't see the logic of not having stairs Midship at all.

[lor74]

The reality is that the majority won't care. They use the elevators, never go out on the Promenade deck, haven't found Skywalkers, never use the walking track, etc. They board the ship, go to the buffet/grill/Prego's, lay out by the pool, have dinner and go to a show or other entertainment. quote]

 

This is so true! I remember how excited we were to be on our first cruise.....I was up early every morning so I could video the entire ship while most people were still sleeping. I explored every inch! Now that the novelty has worn off and we just LOVE CRUISING, we go about our routine and completely ignore the aspects of the ship which don't appeal to us.

[billco]

Now that the novelty has worn off and we just LOVE CRUISING, we go about our routine and completely ignore the aspects of the ship which don't appeal to us.

 

Same here, which includes the Sanctuary, Lotus Spa, Crown Grill, Sabatinis, Pastry Shop, Ocean Terrace, Gelato, Vines, Club 6, Casino, Churchills.

[Rick-cruiser]

I would never book a midship cabin on this ship.. We often zip between our cabin the activites on decks 5-7 (especially the International Cafe, Atrium, casino, customer relations, etc.., not to mention getting from our cabin to quickly meet up for a shore excursion off the ship.. Can you imagine having to walk all the way to the back/front of the ship... and then all the way BACK to the middle...?. each and every time?. Especially when getting back to the ship after a long day in port, and even worse when you arrive at the same time with a lot of other people after a shore excursion.... all you want to do is get back to your cabin.. There's no way we'd want to wait with the massive throngs of people at the elevator banks, and be dependant on them, just to go up a few decks.. There are no stairs above deck 7 though, so we'd have to traverse ths ship - each and every time.. Mindlessly crazy.. And needlessly inconvenient to the passengers.

 

- Rick

.

[antsp]

The big qusetion now is, will they fix this on the Regal

[dmwnc1959]

The big qusetion now is, will they fix this on the Regal

 

Short answer: No.

[antsp]

They did with the Golden and there are stairs there so maybe

[wadswatcher]

I would never book a midship cabin on this ship.. We often zip between our cabin the activites on decks 5-7 (especially the International Cafe, Atrium, casino, customer relations, etc.., not to mention getting from our cabin to quickly meet up for a shore excursion off the ship.. Can you imagine having to walk all the way to the back/front of the ship... and then all the way BACK to the middle...?. each and every time?. Especially when getting back to the ship after a long day in port, and even worse when you arrive at the same time with a lot of other people after a shore excursion.... all you want to do is get back to your cabin.. There's no way we'd want to wait with the massive throngs of people at the elevator banks, and be dependant on them, just to go up a few decks.. There are no stairs above deck 7 though, so we'd have to traverse ths ship - each and every time.. Mindlessly crazy.. And needlessly inconvenient to the passengers.

 

- Rick

.

 

If i recall correctly, the Ruby and the Crown do not have center stairs beyond deck seven. I would imagine the cost of stairs vs the number of people who really use them may be why the newer ships don't have them.

[dmwnc1959]

They did with the Golden and there are stairs there so maybe

 

There was also a three year time span between the Grand Princess and the Golden Princess. There is only one year between Royal Princess and Regal Princess, and the latter has already been launched.

[PescadoAmarillo]

If i recall correctly, the Ruby and the Crown do not have center stairs beyond deck seven. I would imagine the cost of stairs vs the number of people who really use them may be why the newer ships don't have them.

 

Yes, the Ruby and Crown do have passenger-accessible midship stairs. And the Royal has the stairs; they're just not accessible by passengers.

[cruisergal1978]

I am booked on an upcoming royal cruise in A410. It get to the forward stairs, I will walk past approx 16 cabins to reach this. The lack of a set of

Midship stairs does seen to be that upsetting or daunting. Those staying in a forward S5 suite have to walk further to reach the forward stairs. Looks to me like princess has tried to space the stairs adequately.

 

 

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[dmwnc1959]

I am booked on an upcoming royal cruise in A410. It get to the forward stairs, I will walk past approx 16 cabins to reach this. The lack of a set of

Midship stairs does seen to be that upsetting or daunting. Those staying in a forward S5 suite have to walk further to reach the forward stairs. Looks to me like princess has tried to space the stairs adequately.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

I'm also in a midship Aloha Deck cabin literally across the hall from your cabin. I sail on her in December for two weeks.

[cruisergal1978]

I'm also in a midship Aloha Deck cabin literally across the hall from your cabin. I sail on her in December for two weeks.

 

Two weeks would be so nice! I'll only be on for one week in November. I figure I'll keep all the calories off walking around everywhere!

 

 

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[pablo222]

Short answer: No.

 

How can you know this?

 

I presume one would have to know the current design for Regal,

have access to summaries of Royal passenger comments, and

have an idea of the costs of modifying the stairs.

 

How does a casual poster here on cruise critic happen to have

that access?

[FolksOfMeans - ByNoMeans]

How can you know this?

 

I presume one would have to know the current design for Regal,

have access to summaries of Royal passenger comments, and

have an idea of the costs of modifying the stairs.

 

How does a casual poster here on cruise critic happen to have

that access?

 

Earth to Pablo

 

Where have you been for the last several months?

[BarbinMich]

I am booked on an upcoming royal cruise in A410. It get to the forward stairs, I will walk past approx 16 cabins to reach this. The lack of a set of

Midship stairs does seen to be that upsetting or daunting. Those staying in a forward S5 suite have to walk further to reach the forward stairs. Looks to me like princess has tried to space the stairs adequately.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

We always have tried to get a midship cabin on Deck 8 near the elevators. On the Royal we would have to walk past more than 25 cabins to get the forward elevators. It is a longer walk towards the aft elevators because Princess has never put the "middle" stairs/elevators exactly in the middle. It's 35 cabins from the mid-ships elevators to the aft elevators.

 

When we're only going down one deck we need to allow at least 5-10 minutes more than if we could just run down a nearby flight of stairs.

[BarbinMich]

Short answer: No.

 

We're only talking about decorating costs, nothing structural. How much would carpeting, wall covering and some artwork at every mid-landing cost in the scheme of things? Plus, they wouldn't have to pay for the doors blocking the stairways on every deck as the Royal has. Seems like it would be worth the improved PR and, more importantly, the convenience of mid-ship pax.

[Photojunkie_I_am]

Does not having stairs force traffic through revenue generating areas?

 

 

 

 

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[rdsqrl]

Does not having stairs force traffic through revenue generating areas?

 

 

 

 

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No, because on the public decks, where there are revenue-producing areas (decks 5, 6, and 7), those stairs are available. That staircase is closed off above deck 7, where there are only passenger decks. So it's hard to see how it's a revenue-enhancing decision.