Princess Live vs. Explorer's Lounge

[Oh2B@C]

To those of you who have sailed on Royal, would you please comment on what you think of Princess Live? One of my favorite venues on Princess ships is the Explorer's Lounge, and I was very disappointed when the new ship's layout showed that Princess Live had taken over that space. Hoping to hear about your experiences, whether positive or negative. Not that one venue would make me skip a particular ship. I'm mainly curious to hear what others have to say. Thank you.

[johnmik1]

To those of you who have sailed on Royal, would you please comment on what you think of Princess Live? One of my favorite venues on Princess ships is the Explorer's Lounge, and I was very disappointed when the new ship's layout showed that Princess Live had taken over that space. Hoping to hear about your experiences, whether positive or negative. Not that one venue would make me skip a particular ship. I'm mainly curious to hear what others have to say. Thank you.

 

IMHO the Princess live is a waste of space.I much prefer Explorers!

[Pia1913]

Princess Live is fun. I like it. Explorers is better for trivia, but Live is manageable. And of course there's no band in Live like in Explorers, but I don't go in there to listen to music or dance anyway.

[kenzie]

I was not impressed with the Princess Live, IMHO it is like sitting in a cinema, row upon row, I much prefer a venue like a bar, with seating around tables so you can socialize with you companions and enjoy the entertainment whilst relaxing. One of the main reasons, I am avoiding the Royal/Regal in the future, as much as I can.

Surely Princess is losing revenue, as although there is a bar outside and a waiter bringing drinks, if you can catch him, it did appear that not many were drinking in the Princess Live, much more drinking going on in Explorers. Cant wait for Caribbean Princess and Ruby in the Xmas/ NewYear.

[PE Cruisers]

We were on Royal in April do not Live at all ! Seating is crowed & uncomfortable and the attendance of most shows in there seem to back that up.It also seems Princess must be loosing drink revenue vs. Explores,as there weren't any severs in the room & only a small bar outside.

Pat

[shepp]

Not to argue with Pia (always a losing proposition ;) ), but PL is crummy for trivia because the fixed rows means that half the team has to swivel around. (Long, skinny, too-small Club 6 isn't all that much better.) On the TA, the absolute worst use of the space was when outdoor Zumba wasn't possible, and we ended up in PL, with monitors and lights hanging just above our heads as we waved our arms around. Ouch!

 

PL seems, along with the glass sidewalk and dancing fountains, to be a Royal-class feature that some marketing genius at Princess dreamt up more because they sound spiffy than because most pax would in fact enjoy them. "What shall we do this morning, dear?" "Why, let's go to the TV studio and watch the Wake Show in person!" "Whoopee!"

Edited September 21, 2014 by shepp

[antsp]

Do they use the rear lounge club vista more on the regal/royal more due to the unpopular set up in princess live.

[Pia1913]

Not to argue with Pia (always a losing proposition ;) ), but PL is crummy for trivia because the fixed rows means that half the team has to swivel around. (Long, skinny, too-small Club 6 isn't all that much better.) On the TA, the absolute worst use of the space was when outdoor Zumba wasn't possible, and we ended up in PL, with monitors and lights hanging just above our heads as we waved our arms around. Ouch!

 

!"

 

LOL. And I saw you "zumba-ing" in there. :D Club 6, IMO, is a total waste. But we did win in there, didn't we?

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Never thought Princess live was a replacement for Explorers

However nice to see Vista back again.

 

Yours Shogun

 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Forums mobile app

[shepp]

LOL. And I saw you "zumba-ing" in there. :D Club 6, IMO, is a total waste. But we did win in there, didn't we?

 

Sure did!

[dedosr]

I liked Live!! Maybe it is because I won the "Yes/No Game" in that venue and instantly became a star! LOL

[High C's]

Add another vote in the "dislike Princess Live" column. We did not find it comfortable. To us, we felt like we were back in a lecture hall at university.

 

We LOVE Explorers and find ourselves in there for at least a portion of the evening every night. When we sailed on the maiden transatlantic on the Royal last fall, we found we really missed Explorers. It is one (but not the only) reason we will always look for a Grand-class ship over the Royal/Regal.

[tothemall&beyond]

Not to argue with Pia (always a losing proposition ;) ), but PL is crummy for trivia because the fixed rows means that half the team has to swivel around. (Long, skinny, too-small Club 6 isn't all that much better.) On the TA, the absolute worst use of the space was when outdoor Zumba wasn't possible, and we ended up in PL, with monitors and lights hanging just above our heads as we waved our arms around. Ouch!

 

PL seems, along with the glass sidewalk and dancing fountains, to be a Royal-class feature that some marketing genius at Princess dreamt up more because they sound spiffy than because most pax would in fact enjoy them. "What shall we do this morning, dear?" "Why, let's go to the TV studio and watch the Wake Show in person!" "Whoopee!"

 

Completely agree with you on all points. Not having Explorers also forced "Art" Auctions into Vista Lounge, which resulted in all dance classes (which were very, very well attended on TA) into Atrium. Lack of Explorers also put all the bands into Atrium. I did the dance classes and enjoyed them. But did not enjoy that Atrium was always, always noisily in use or that IC was so poorly laid out. Princess Live was awful for trivia and other games that needed members to run down to floor. Passageway area outside PL also way too narrow and congested. Egress from PL through only one door was also terrible.

Edited September 21, 2014 by tothemall&beyond

[sashas_mom]

Even though I really liked the Royal, I have to agree Princess Live is set up very poorly. I don't mind the concept, but it isn't comfortable and not a good location for trivia for stated reasons. One thing that I found very annoying is if you arrived for an event, such as karaoke, you couldn't get to where you needed to be to sign up, since the cameras were in the front and you couldn't get past them. Same if you wanted to watch a game going on in there...the cameras should be placed where they are not blocking people's entry. I think Explorers is better, but was looking forward to something new, it was a disappointment. I enjoyed so much about the Royal we booked a cruise on the Regal, with the ship being the destination more than the itinerary. I can't wait to get back on that class of ship. It is simply stunning, although I also agree with some other design flaws.

[f-mattox]

I have to agree with tothemall&beyond's point about so much winding up in the Piazza due to Princess Live taking the Explorer's Lounge space. On the Grand Class ships the Piazza/Atrium is a nice place to relax, have a cappuccino and a treat from the International Café, have a conversation and listen to a little tasteful piano music. On the Royal, by contrast, the "entertainment" was almost non-stop--dance classes, acrobats, you name it. I cruised on Golden Princess before and after my Royal Princess cruise and the contrast was stunning. I will take Grand Class any time.

[Mom33]

We tried to attend activities in Princess Live, but we were never early enough to get a seat. It was very popular on our Royal cruise.

 

We didn't find the entertainment lacking in any venue. Didn't miss the Explorers Lounge.:D

[Tuscan]

I have yet to understand why Princess would take away a large, multi-purpose venue like Explorers and replace it with a small College Lecture Hall. The cheap resin chairs are uncomfortable, and the fixed stadium seating precluded us from playing trivia or other team games there.

 

PL also has a very small bar outside of it, but there are no tables inside PL on which to place a drink. Unlike Explorers, the little bar juts out into the hallway and is cut off from viewing inside the venue. (PL only has one little doorway)

 

I just don't get who thought this would be such a great addition. The whole set-up just didn't make any sense to us.

 

One time was enough for us, as this and several other reasons are why we plan on avoiding the Royal & the Regal.

[helenb]

I haven't been on the Royal/Regal, but the venue you guys are describing sounds a lot like Celebrity Central on the Celebrity Solstice class ships. That venue is used mostly for movie showings, for educational lectures, and sometimes for certain game shows (never trivia) or small shows, such as the children's talent show. It's relatively small and tucked into a corner near the entrance to the main theatre. There are other lounges/spaces that are used for trivia and dancing lessons.

 

Maybe Princess was trying to copy that concept? But yes, removing Explorers seems like a horrible choice! We spend so much of our time there, every cruise!

[Solara]

Another one who did not like Princess Live at all. I really missed Explorer's & was so glad the next ship we sailed on had it. Princess made a poor choice IMO.

[Oh2B@C]

Thanks to those who replied. You not only confirmed my worries about PL but you brought up other issues I hadn't even considered, such as spillage to other venues, Vista getting overrun by the art auction and dance classes getting affected. Since Explorer's is my favorite venue on the other ships, and I love to play trivia, I'll have to give Royal/Regal a pass unless the itinerary is a "can't miss".

[cruisequeen4ever]

Princess Live is OK, but Explorers is way better because it's spacious and has comfortable seating. You're crammed right up against people in Live. The Art Auction was notorious for running late in Vista, so the Casino switched all Bingo games to Live and had to give us clipboards on which to play, since there were no tables. Speaking of no tables, having a drink in there is difficult without tables, too. Trying to play Bingo with a drink was almost impossible. Another negative is the noise; the volume is LOUD in there because of the acoustics. The only nice thing about Live is the ability to film the shows to watch on the TV later.

[dorisis]

IMHO the Princess live is a waste of space.I much prefer Explorers!

 

Ditto. Live is a studio not a lounge.

[skynight]

To those of you who have sailed on Royal, would you please comment on what you think of Princess Live?

Thank you.[/quote

It’s not a lounge. It’s an ill conceived, uncomfortable, dark, poorly accessed, limited use, claustrophobic, non revenue producing venue. The CD tries to use it for game shows, trivia, Zumba, mini concerts, etc. because they have no other venues. It doesn’t work well for any activity that I saw. The bar in front isn’t really a bar. It has no bar stools. It is mainly used to serve coffee drinks. No bar service in Princess Live. If you carry a drink into the venue you have to place it on the floor where people trying to access seats will kick it over. There are a few stools in a very dark area in the back that have a counter in front. Princess should consider ripping it out on the first dry dock and replacing it with a real multi-use, revenue producing lounge, similar to the Explorer’s Lounge. With today’s technology, you don’t need a TV studio to produce a ship’s TV show. It can be done in any lounge with proper lighting. What were the designers thinking?

 

A note on the Vista Lounge. It has fixed tables and over-sized barrel chairs that are too large for the space. Access to seating is very difficult without bumping your shins. It is difficult to get in an out of the seats. The chairs are placed facing away from the stage (???), and when you turn them around they can’t be moved back to provide leg room since the fixed tables are in the way. Princess needs to fix this by removing the fixed tables and replacing them with movable ones.