What will Island Princess look like after May 2015?

[Brisbane41]

The following is a direct quote from Princess:

 

Island Princess®

 

"Custom-built to sail through the Panama Canal, this cruise ship offers exclusive features for a unique cruise experience."

 

Certainly many other ships of other lines also have the capability to transit the Panama Canal. As stated, Princess built the Island class specifically for that purpose.

 

 

 

It was not built entirely for that purpose. The term most lines usually use is Panamax. The Iowa class Battleships were designed to transit the Panama Canal too but they certainly were not built to stay there permanently. It gave the US Navy the ability for a quick transit from the Atlantic to Pacific for operational reasons. The width of the Iowa class Battleships was considerably narrower than the German and Japanese equivalent. What you are doing to just taking sales pitch literally.

 

The quotation does not say that Princess built the ships exclusively for the Panama Canal. If so they would stay there and not venture elsewhere.

 

The idea that it needs a design change to operate elsewhere in the world is foolish and irrational.

 

If people really believe that sales pitch then they really were born yesterday!

Edited February 28, 2015 by Brisbane41

[Roses2]

Neither Princes nor I said the Island and Coral were built exclusively to sail the Panama canal. They, as well as many other ships were built as Panamax ships to be able to transit the canal.

 

Both ships always have had multiple itineraries in addition to their Canal transits

 

When Princess built this class of ships they were purposely built to Panamax specifications as Princes stated as their first large ships with this capability and I repeated, not as a sales pitch or for any other purpose but to state fact.

[Pushka]

While on the Regal we were told the Coral is next. Most likely next year. :mad:

 

 

If that's the case I need to rethink the Alaska cruise for 2106 when it opens in March.

[Colo Cruiser]

If that's the case I need to rethink the Alaska cruise for 2106 when it opens in March.

 

I am hoping they come to their senses. :(

[Pushka]

I am hoping they come to their senses. :(

 

Mmm. I tried looking at cruises post May 2016 and there is no information. Why do people mess with a good product? I know, more suites but sometimes the $$ dont work out as planned - or lets make that, assumed! Guess we will know in 3 weeks time as they start selling the cruise.

 

That picture above reminds me of Celebrity Equinox as it moved into Istanbul.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Pushka

[Brisbane41]

When Princess built this class of ships they were purposely built to Panamax specifications as Princes stated as their first large ships with this capability and I repeated, not as a sales pitch or for any other purpose but to state fact.

 

That is totally incorrect and just "sales pitch"

 

They were not the first large ships to be built for the Panama Canal.

 

The Sun class were as in the Sun Princess, Dawn Princess, Sea Princess and Ocean Princess (now Oceana), The Radiance class were built for it as were the Vista class and Spirit class. Many of these ships entered service before the Coral and Island Princess and some even offer a larger passenger capacity.

 

P&O had built Aurora and Oriana to specifically transit the Panama Canal due to their regular World Cruise schedule. Again these ships are comparable in size to the Coral and Island Princess and have a very similar cruise ship layout with no unique features that separates them from other contemporary ships.

 

There is absolutely nothing unique about the design and layout of the Coral and Island Princess that sets them aside from every other ship built within the dimensions to transit the Panama Canal.

 

What you are doing is falling for "sales pitch". Companies will say anything to sell consumers a product and they pay millions of dollars to experts to come up with slogans and choice phrases to entice the public into investing and purchasing with them. It is like that old saying "big ship choice, small ship feel" which we all know is BS.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Brisbane41

[Pushka]

Does it really matter why? The outcome is all that's important to most.

[Corfe Mixture]

DUPLICATE deleted

Edited March 1, 2015 by Corfe Mixture

[Corfe Mixture]

IMHO, this will be the biggest non-event of the cruising year.

 

Unless you regard the walk around at the aft of the Promenade deck as a viewing point (I don't as anyone trying to spend the day there is going to have folks doing laps of the ship disturbing them every ten seconds), apart from the sanctuary the sanctuary pool, which we never use, I can't really see what we are losing in terms of aft views.

 

Yes we are losing the Universal lounge, and one show which could only be performed in that lounge, but, again IMHO, the French designed Island and Coral always had relatively more lounge / theatre space per passengers than other classes in the fleet and it was never properly utilised In fact I don't think we have ever been to the Universal except when it was used as the Elite disembarkation lounge.

 

I appreciate that I am about to be shot down in flames by the many contributors to this thread who believe this refit will be a monumental disaster, but posters on this forum are the minority of folks cruising and it appears to me that all this thread has really done is to wind up dissent.

 

So be it, we all have a right to our opinion, but mine is quite firmly that, by the time I am next on Island at Christmas, this debate will be a long forgotten non-event.

 

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be - Never mind, it soon will be!

Edited March 1, 2015 by Corfe Mixture

[Roses2]

Ad Hominem arguments result from lack of a solid basis of fact or knowledge.

 

Corfe Mixture has it exactly right. "Much ado about very little"

 

.

[shepp]

Yes we are losing the Universal lounge, and one show which could only be performed in that lounge, but, again IMHO, the French designed Island and Coral always had relatively more lounge / theatre space per passengers than other classes in the fleet and it was never properly utilised In fact I don't think we have ever been to the Universal except when it was used as the Elite disembarkation lounge.

 

You said that before, so I'll say this again: I guess you don't play Bingo, Zumba, line dance, play trivia, go to shows other than in the Princess theater, go to indoor movies, attend nighttime game shows, or go to the Captain's Circle parties. On my cruise last week, all those activities (and more) were held in the "improperly utilized" lounge. (Admittedly, the Vista on the Star, but it was the same in the Coral's Universe in December.) Precisely where do you propose Princess put all that stuff on the post-refit Island? OK, I'm sure that Bingo will make it to the Princess Theater, since it's a profit center. But as for the rest… well, it's not like Princess makes money on line dancing. Adding a lot more pax while doing away with a major space that most of us use for onboard activities seems really passenger-unfriendly. Fewer venues, fewer activities, more crowds. Yippee! It's about degrading the cruising experience in search of more revenue. Period.

Edited March 1, 2015 by shepp

[Astro Flyer]

You said that before, so I'll say this again: I guess you don't play Bingo, Zumba, line dance, play trivia, go to shows other than in the Princess theater, go to indoor movies, attend nighttime game shows, or go to the Captain's Circle parties. On my cruise last week, all those activities (and more) were held in the "improperly utilized" lounge. (Admittedly, the Vista on the Star, but it was the same in the Coral's Universe in December.) Precisely where do you propose Princess put all that stuff on the post-refit Island? OK, I'm sure that Bingo will make it to the Princess Theater, since it's a profit center. But as for the rest... adding a lot more pax while doing away with a major space that most of us use for onboard activities seems really passenger-unfriendly. It's about degrading the cruising experience in search of more revenue. Period.

In addition "Corfe Mixture" didn't mention the removal of the great aft viewing decks on Baja & Caribe decks. :rolleyes: Opinions will vary however posting wrong info results in corrections.

 

And to say that losing one of the two main entertainment venues won't affect the cruise experiences is ludicrous to me.

 

I agree with him that "posters on this forum are the minority of the folks cruising" however it appears that Princess uses CC discussions as a factor when making decisions. I have no way to know how much it influences them however recent experience leads me to believe they consider it. Unhappiness about some things with the Royal (no aft pool, no Princess Theater aisles along the wall) were expressed and VOILA...they were added to the Regal. Someone I know at Princess said they've heard that on the 3rd Royal-class ship the midship stairways will be completed above deck 7 for passenger use. Only time will tell if that happens but it appears to me that sometimes Princess considers things said by this "minority of folks" on Cruise Critic.

 

I've read enough posts from people I feel are very credible who have been told that Princess definitely considers things on CC. It's not a scientific sampling & sometimes it comes with hyperbole however it's a free source of info for all cruiselines to consider when making decisions.

 

I am one of those who are very unhappy with the changes to the Island but not to the point of some who will "boycott" the ship. If the price & itinerary are good then I'd consider the Island & only time will tell if it will be cost-effective for Princess. Having sailed the Island & Coral several times I do not need to sail the Island again knowing how much the changes would would affect my cruise experience.

 

That's merely my opinion & I realize that others will have different opinions.

[Corfe Mixture]

To the person who said that I said that before, may I say that whilst I may have said something similar ONCE on a thread about Coral, unlike that person, it was my first contribution to this thread.

 

As I said, I expected to be shot down. I was not wrong.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Corfe Mixture

[Pushka]

To the person who said that I said that before, may I say that whilst I may have said something similar ONCE on a thread about Coral, unlike that person, it was my first contribution to this thread.

 

 

 

As I said, I expected to be shot down. I was not wrong.

 

 

Ok. Now I'm really confused by what you just posted. :p

 

I was planning my Alaska cruise on the basis of those aft areas so if the same thing happens to the Coral I'll need to think about that.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Pushka

[Colo Cruiser]

You said that before, so I'll say this again: I guess you don't play Bingo, Zumba, line dance, play trivia, go to shows other than in the Princess theater, go to indoor movies, attend nighttime game shows, or go to the Captain's Circle parties. On my cruise last week, all those activities (and more) were held in the "improperly utilized" lounge. (Admittedly, the Vista on the Star, but it was the same in the Coral's Universe in December.) Precisely where do you propose Princess put all that stuff on the post-refit Island? OK, I'm sure that Bingo will make it to the Princess Theater, since it's a profit center. But as for the rest… well, it's not like Princess makes money on line dancing. Adding a lot more pax while doing away with a major space that most of us use for onboard activities seems really passenger-unfriendly. Fewer venues, fewer activities, more crowds. Yippee! It's about degrading the cruising experience in search of more revenue. Period.

 

 

Its always been very busy everytime we have used the Universe Lounge.

Taking away an entire venue and adding 200 plus passengers does bode well. :(

There really is no way to downplay all the changes. IMO

[Brisbane41]

You said that before, so I'll say this again: I guess you don't play Bingo, Zumba, line dance, play trivia, go to shows other than in the Princess theater, go to indoor movies, attend nighttime game shows, or go to the Captain's Circle parties. On my cruise last week, all those activities (and more) were held in the "improperly utilized" lounge. (Admittedly, the Vista on the Star, but it was the same in the Coral's Universe in December.) Precisely where do you propose Princess put all that stuff on the post-refit Island? OK, I'm sure that Bingo will make it to the Princess Theater, since it's a profit center. But as for the rest… well, it's not like Princess makes money on line dancing. Adding a lot more pax while doing away with a major space that most of us use for onboard activities seems really passenger-unfriendly. Fewer venues, fewer activities, more crowds. Yippee! It's about degrading the cruising experience in search of more revenue. Period.

 

Could not have out it better myself. That is how I am feeling and I am sure many others are feeling about the change.

 

One thing that slightly irritates me is the fact that there are so many gullible people out there that buy all this PR spin from Princess and prophesise it like the gospel.

 

We are all regular cruisers here and many of us know for a fact that there is nothing unique, no extra features and absolutely nothing that sets the Coral and Island Princess apart from any other cruise ship in service. That spin that they were custom built for the Panama canal is PR BS and nothing more than sales pitch they are using to justify their un-rational excuse that they must change the ship because it is no longer sailing the Panama waters. If people believe BS like that then nothing can help them and I have no sympathy for them when they have a bad cruise experience.

 

For the majority of us that know better and know ships well, I for one will not be sailing the ship again and I have seen others proclaim they will cancel future bookings. I can only hope that people have the same sentiment as me. Vote with your bookings and send a strong message to Princess that this garbage will not be tolerated.

[Astro Flyer]

As I said, I expected to be shot down. I was not wrong.

 

You consider it "shot down" or "flamed" when anyone expresses a different point of view. :rolleyes:

 

Unless you regard the walk around at the aft of the Promenade deck as a viewing point (I don't as anyone trying to spend the day there is going to have folks doing laps of the ship disturbing them every ten seconds), apart from the sanctuary the sanctuary pool, which we never use, I can't really see what we are losing in terms of aft views.

When posting something inaccurate then it's to be expected to see a post contradicting such statements. The promenade deck aft viewing area isn't nearly as good as the wonderful views from the aft section of Baja & Caribe decks which will no longer be available on the Island. :(

Edited March 2, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[skrodle]

To the person who said that I said that before, may I say that whilst I may have said something similar ONCE on a thread about Coral, unlike that person, it was my first contribution to this thread.

 

As I said, I expected to be shot down. I was not wrong.

 

I think they mistook you for me, as I had made that point about 6 pages ago. I have sailed on Island/Coral twice and only been in the universe lounge once (cooking demo)... so no love lost...

[Corfe Mixture]

When posting something inaccurate then it's to be expected to see a post contradicting such statements. The promenade deck aft viewing area isn't nearly as good as the wonderful views from the aft section of Baja & Caribe decks which will no longer be available on the Island. :(

 

You are correct in my omission, but those areas are not really that large, have never been publicised (in the sense of naming them) and are generally known only to 'the few'. Personally when going through the canal, I prefer to be in the forward facing viewing areas.

 

I was aiming my comment at folks who say that they will never ever cruise in Island again because of these changes. What I should have said was 'I can't really see what we are losing in terms of aft views in comparison with other ships in the fleet' (which have no aft viewing public areas on accommodation decks).

 

I still think it will be long forgotten, except by 'the few', by the time I go through the Panama Canal on her this Christmas. I just hope I don't have to listen to too many moaners.

[LabGuy64]

Well, the only thing you might hope is that by adding all the additional cabins princess will be able to maintain lower pricing then they might if they had built a new ship as a replacement.

 

 

I guess that I'm fortunate not to have been on the Island prior to its makeover so I won't miss what isn't there when we do our Grand Med cruise next September. Having said that, it will be odd to be on a Princess ship without an aft lounge of some kind.

 

Of course, they're doing it to make money :rolleyes:, they are a business after all. With the closure of Venice to all larger ships they either have change the itineraries to skip using Venice as a embarkation/disembarkation port, modify the smaller ships to make them cost effective for the existing itineraries, or shell out the money (not to mention the time it would take) to build a new cruise port near enough to Venice to be practical.

 

Princess execs probably figure that the risk of changing the Island to be more profitable is the least risky plan at this point. Would you do a Grand Med tour if you couldn't take extra time at the beginning or end to spend more time in Venice?

[daydreamer62]

Well, the only thing you might hope is that by adding all the additional cabins princess will be able to maintain lower pricing then they might if they had built a new ship as a replacement.

 

I'm absolutely sure that it won't be the ONLY good thing about our cruise !!! Such doom and gloom in this thread . I'm sure I will be happy those who will be boycotting the ship wont be sailing with me !! Vacations are happy times . I'm intending to relish every minute and enjoy myself to the max .This being my first cruise I wont miss what ive never had and from what I read of the 2016 Mediterranean itineraries here on Cruise Critic it seems it's a great thing I booked my Grand Med cruise this year as it will be no more . That alone makes me want to enjoy it even more as it was the itinerary above everything else that enticed me to book the trip over the scores of other European and Mediterranean vacation itineraries.

Edited March 2, 2015 by daydreamer62

[Kennykat]

Also added 13 oceanview cabins where part of the casiuno used to be.

 

And tucked in between them is the fitness center (***!). We were on her in January and this ship is in desperate need of a dry dock, but to move the fitness center to deck 6 behind Explorers is a head scratcher. I remember when the gyms were in deck 4 and were like a dungeon and this looks like the same as there will be no outside light. Definitely a deal breaker for me. Ken

[Kennykat]

Just looked at what used to be the promenade deck. Wow! I wonder how Princess will explain this. On the Royal, I was told it was for "safety reasons"....I guess this will be the ever popular "operational reasons" K

[Colo Cruiser]

Just looked at what used to be the promenade deck. Wow! I wonder how Princess will explain this. On the Royal, I was told it was for "safety reasons"....I guess this will be the ever popular "operational reasons" K

 

 

They explain it with new cabins and $$$$ signs.

[Astro Flyer]

They explain it with new cabins and $$$$ signs.

 

It's a tough balancing act between generating additional income from the new cabins & passenger satisfaction with the Island.

 

Only time will tell if this was a good decision; if not, they may have to offer more discounts that could offset the additional passengers.

 

The changes have moved the Island from near the top of our favorite ships to near the bottom. Although if there was a great price on an itinerary we enjoy we would consider the Island.