SEA PRINCESS is Back!!! ROYAL PRINCESS to leave fleet, become P&O ARTEMIS

[Druke I]

Very interesting indeed.

 

What the article from WOCLS did not state was the fate of the current Arcadia (formerly Star Princess, laid down as Fairstar or Fair Majesty for Sitmar I believe).

 

Reference a Vista class ship - P&O is getting (from Cunard) what was to have been Queen Victoria. Cunard now will get a new build.

 

Michael

[Guest]

The Royal Princess has only one main dining room and was not suitable for Anytime Dining...The Sea Princess has two main dining rooms...It seems to be that Princess is getting closer to a fleet that is all suitable for Anytime Dining...I believe that is one of the reasons for this move.

[whiterose]

My heart is broken. We love the Royal and can't imagine sailing round Cape Horn on any other Princess ship - even the Regal does not sail as well as the Royal in rough seas. Princess knows how many loyal fans this ship has but they are still getting rid of her, not a smart decision.

[Coral]

I actually thought that the Regal would go before the Royal. I thought they would keep the Royal around for niche markets such as Antarctica, etc. .

 

I wonder if the next move would be to get rid of the Regal and bring back the Ocean? If they were to do this - they would have one of the newest fleets out there. Actually, just getting rid of the Regal would give Princess one of the newest fleet. (((Not that I am in favor of getting rid of the Regal -- I have nothing against the Regal)))

 

I actually would welcome a Vista class, or more to my favor --another Coral/Island class. I love this ship!

 

I am still sad - I had a chance to sail the Royal in May with some friends and turned it down.

[Coral]

In hindsight, do you think it was economical to take the Sea Princess and retrofit her for P&O and then a few years later have to retrofit her again for Princess?

 

It is my understanding that many of the interior public rooms (Wheelhouse Lounge, Pizzeria) are entirely different for P&O ships.

 

[This message was edited by Coral on 04-05-04 at 08:28 PM.]

[Murphey]

Bringing the Sea back, letting the Royal go...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They let the Sea and the Ocean go in the first place for good reasons...

 

[edited only to eliminate the distortion being caused by so many OOO's]

 

[This message was edited by Host Walt on 04-06-04 at 08:36 PM.]

[CRUZGAL53]

We have sailed on the Royal 5 times and love the ship, but she is getting older and need some TLC. We sailed her in So America last year.As for the couple from Beverly Hills who live in the Penthouse most of the year, he passed away about a year ago and she is still sailing. I believe their last name is something like Arte, so maybe that is wy the name of the P & O will be Artemis???

[CGT]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JoyceC:

We have sailed on the Royal 5 times and love the ship, but she is getting older and need some TLC. We sailed her in So America last year.As for the couple from Beverly Hills who live in the Penthouse most of the year, he passed away about a year ago and she is still sailing. I believe their last name is something like Arte, so maybe that is wy the name of the P & O will be Artemis???<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Artemis is the Greek version of Diana (Roman). Princess Diana christened the ROYAL PRINCESS.

[Tania]

We had planned our next cruise to be on the Royal again...Very disappointed in this decision. Goes contrary to what the Captain of the Royal said at the Captain's Circle party in August 2002: to paraphrase...

 

"In acquiring the Pacific and Tahitian Princess, Princess is listening to its customers who prefer smaller ships."

 

NOT!

 

Ona a humourous note...I wonder what the passenger who has has sailed over 3,000 days in the Princess suite will do??? I picture her rather homeless.

 

Diamond Princess 03/04

Sun Princess 12/03

Grand Princess 12/02

Royal Princess 08/02

Ocean Princess 08/01

Pacific Princess 12/00

Carla C. 03/83

[Guest]

I am happy to hear Sea Princess is comming back, I for one think the Sun class is so much nicer than the Grand Princess class ships (floating hyatt hotels). I hope Princess does not fall to the levels of entry level cruising on mega ships. OUr last cruise on the Golden was crowded and unspecial. Off on the Sun in May, looking forward to getting on a more ship like ship!

[Guest]

Cruise News Daily today indicates that Regal Princess will take over Royal Princess' role on the exotic itineraries. They also indicate one of the reasons for Royal being moved out of the Princess fleet is that her design is more suitable for the British who prefer a "traditional" cruise experience rather than the Personal Choice experience that Princess offers. This from the new Princess President...sorry, don't have his name, but I'm not sure I like him yet.

 

I too remember a talk by the Captain of Pacific Princess indicating how the line listens to their customers and presents them with smaller ships...while the move of Royal Princess out of the fleet doesn't necessarily negate that statement, one has to wonder.

 

As for the old Arcadia (ex Star Princess) she is now sailing as Ocean Village. Saw her in Isla Margarita last week and I can't say I like the magenta and orange paint job.

 

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Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993

[CGT]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Murphey:

Bringing the Sea back, letting the Royal go...NOOOO..<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Because of you the display of this thread is screwed up. Thanks, dolt!

[jsea]

bdjam, thanks for all the info. Sorry to hear Mr. Artz (I think that was their name) died.

 

I like the prospects of Regal taking over the far-reaching exotic itineraries. She is probably better-suited for it, anyway, as her staterooms are much larger and have more storage. Regal is a great ship.

 

Coral, I have read on other boards that actually many things still say 'Sea Princess' on Adonia. Apparently the conversion was not that extensive so switching her back shouldn't be too costly.

 

CGT, are you okay buddy?

[llandaff]

Do you think there is any chance the Sea Princess will remain an adults-only ship, as Adonia is now?

[KenAndJulie]

The one piece of the puzzle that is missing is which ship is to be the Ocean Village II. There has been a lot of rumour about this including the Royal Princess (not now), the Regal Princess, the Sun Princess (would that work if its sister ship is still with Princess), the Oriana or possibly one of the older Carnival ships ?

 

We did the Panama Canal on the Royal in 2002 and loved every minute of it. At least it still going to be available.

 

Ken

[Coral]

I doubt the ship will be all adults. Seems to be a P&O theme, not a Princess theme.

Jsea - I read on Cruise News Daily awhile back all the changes they made to the Ocean Princess and I assume the same were made to the Sea Princess. They were mostly like changing the Pizzeria to a restaurant the Brits would like, changing the Wheelhouse to a lounge the Brits would like, etc . .Not necessairly massive but still a changing of some of the public rooms.

Now this is strange - I have a friend on the Island Princess right now who just emailed me and said "we heard that Princess is selling the Dawn Princess?". She didn't specify where she heard that - I sent her an email reply to say the Royal is leaving, Sea coming back and to find out where she heard about the Dawn. That would make no sense to me to bring the Sea back and sell the Dawn but stranger things have happened.

I will let you know when she investigates further and responds.

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Now this is strange - I have a friend on the Island Princess right now who just emailed me and said "we heard that Princess is selling the Dawn Princess?". She didn't specify where she heard that - I sent her an email reply to say the Royal is leaving, Sea coming back and to find out where she heard about the Dawn. That would make no sense to me to bring the Sea back and sell the Dawn but stranger things have happened. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> That's for sure...I thought it strange when they transferred the newer Sea and Ocean to P&O instead of the older Sun and Dawn. Something - I think - about strength of hull and GRT for Panama Canal transits...or at least that's what I heard. Anyway, it will be interesting to hear about Dawn...

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Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993

[jsea]

[b]Coral[/b], I need to find some interior shots of Sea/Ocean to see what they did. I had heard that half the casino was taken away for a lounge and the children's center (at least on Sea) was replaced by another lounge.

[b]bdjam[/b], that is the first logical explanation I have heard for why Sea and Ocean were transferred. Now I get it! Sea and Ocean have the enclosed bridge wings which up the GRT (probably amongst other things), so of course they would want P&O to have them since they won't be running them through the Canal. It saves Princess money! Thank you for posting that.

[Coral]

Jsea and CGT -

One of my good friends sailed to Alaska in May last year (on the Sun or Dawn) and asked the officers at the Captain's Circle brunch about why they kept the Sun and Dawn and not the newer sisters - their response was that they used better/stronger materials on the first two ships.

So, two weeks later - I sailed on the Coral Princess and asked the same question at my Captain Circle lunch and the answer for me was that "there was something in the design of the first 2 ships that changed on the later 2 ships which caused the last 2 ships to cost MORE when passenging through the canal". Thus, the newer ships went to P&O.

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Coral:
Jsea and BDJAM -

One of my good friends sailed to Alaska in May last year (on the Sun or Dawn) and asked the officers at the Captain's Circle brunch about why they kept the Sun and Dawn and not the newer sisters - their response was that they used better/stronger materials on the first two ships.

So, two weeks later - I sailed on the Coral Princess and asked the same question at my Captain Circle lunch and the answer for me was that "there was something in the design of the first 2 ships that changed on the later 2 ships which caused the last 2 ships to cost MORE when passenging through the canal". Thus, the newer ships went to P&O.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hey Coral - not that I mind being confused with my brethen CGT, but I changed a little of your quote [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif[/img]

Anyway, if they're positioning Sea Princess in the Caribbean in winter and Europe in summer, they'll get around that Panama Canal issue. Interesting about the strength of the four sisters, though...I would think they'd be made cookie cutter style and would be the same. I wonder why Princess would accept differences in the specifications? I guess because of how they intended to use the ships, but it seems if Sea Princess is going to cross the Atlantic a couple of times of year, a stronger hull would be appropriate. Seems she also did Hawaii before she left Princess...?

OK - I'm rambling... [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

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Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993

[Coral]

CGT - there was a Cruise News Daily article in Oct 2002 (I can't believe I still keep these) which details the public rooms that were changed when the Ocean became the Oceana. Quite a few were changed but most were probably costmetic. The kids area was removed.

Not surprisngly, they had to convert the electrical outlets in the cabins to power and outlets that the UK uses. So now they get to convert them back. That has to be quite the chore!

[This message was edited by Coral on 04-06-04 at 08:32 PM.]

[Coral]

Me again:

Here are some good pics of the Oceana:

[url="http://home.tiscali.nl/~t411310/indx.htm"]http://home.tiscali.nl/~t411310/indx.htm[/url]

Things were not as drastic as I thought they would be. I knew the Wheelhouse Lounge was gone but the new lounge looks a lot like the Wheelhouse Lounge. Make sure you look at the second page.

[This message was edited by Coral on 04-06-04 at 08:53 PM.]

[Coral]

Brian - so sorry for mixing you up with CGT! Thanks for setting the record straight.

Such a cool thread with some of my favorite posters posting (bdjam, CGT, Druke and Jsea)!

[B]Long live the Sun Class![/B]

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Things were not as drastic as I thought they would be. I knew the Wheelhouse Lounge was gone but the new lounge looks a lot like the Wheelhouse Lounge. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I wonder if they just renamed the Wheelhouse...just of Sun Princess, it really doesn't look much different.

I wonder, since the ship will be marketed in Britian, if they'll lose the neat Casino Lounge...it really has a nice look to it...assuming of course they have the same thing in Adonia/Sea Princess.

-------------------------
Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993

[Guest]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Brian - so sorry for mixing you up with CGT! Thanks for setting the record straight. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> No worries - we're more often than not flamed together, so it's not like I'm not used to it! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

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Sun Princess, 03/2004; Pacific Princess, 07/2003; Star Princess, 05/2003; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Grand Princess, 10/2002; Sun Princess, 05/2001; Sun Princess, 04/2001; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Sun Princess, 09/2000; Regal Princess, 10/1999; Sun Princess, 08/1998; Holiday, 05/1998; Westerdam, 09/1997; Regal Princess, 11/1996; Royal Odyssey, 09/1995; Starward, 11/1993