2021 World Cruise will not be on the Pacific Princess

[PescadoAmarillo]

Following a blog by someone on the current Pacific Princess World Cruise, she says that they had a presentation yesterday on the 2021 World Cruise and it will take place on the Island Princess. 

 

This doesn’t bode well for the future of the Pacific Princess in the Princess fleet, does it?

 

Mods, please move this post if this topic has already been discussed. 

[hillslife]

That is sad news... we loved the Pacific size ships and they could get into the smaller ports ... but knew this was inevitable when they got rid of the smaller Ocean, Royal and Tahitian Princess over the last several years 😩😳

 

our WC in 2009 on the TP was perfect 😢

[queensquared]

Jeannie.....we would hate for this ship to leave the fleet. We loved her!

Could you share the link to the blog? I would love to follow along.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yeah there is a thread about the Island taking over.

Thats really too bad.

Pacific may leave the fleet within a couple of years.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I don’t think they’d mind. I first found out about it when they posted their blog address here two years ago. 

 

http://agretirednomads.blogspot.com/

 

Too bad Princess isn’t at least going to use the Coral!  But since there are sometimes great last minute deals on World Cruise segments on the Pacific Princess, there should be even more of them on the Island. 

[queensquared]

Thanks for the link!!!!

[frugaltravel]

I would never sail on the Island Princess again even if I got it at a reduced cost.  The ship was butchered beyond repair.

 

Edited March 12, 2019 by frugaltravel

[cnd crsr]

That is a disappointment, so many of us loved the small ships. The least desirable of all the Princess ships is the Island, IMHO.

[Georgie562]

My first ever Princess cruise was on Pacific Princess in November of 2014 when it was doing the Tahiti runs. She was my first ever small ship experience and I was amazed how less crowded it felt and how the crew took their service more personal and recognized you by name by day 2.  It felt more like a small hotel experience rather than a cruise ship.

[miagirl]

Oh such sad news, but thanks for sharing Jeannie.  We've been more or less expecting her to leave the fleet since Princess is so committed to giant ships.  We've been eyeing Viking Ocean as a possible switch over.

 

Nan

[spyro1952]

Sounds to me like world cruise ships have gone from bad to worse.  

[damiross]

Kind of on the subject:  Does anyone know how many people on a world cruise are actually, on average, onboard for the entire cruise.  Just curious.

[caribill]

That the Island would be doing the world cruise was announced a few months ago.

 

But there has been no announcement about the Pacific leaving the fleet or being assigned other itineraries.

 

So any thoughts about what will happen with the Pacific are pure speculation.

 

Since the world cruise is also sold in a series of shorter , it is possible (here I go speculating) that the Island is taking over to meet the demand for itineraries of these shorter segments.

[brucedodge]

If the Coral were to do the RTW, we might be interested.  The Island, no way!

[donaldsc]

So desert Princess and do your cruising on the lines that still love the R class ships such as Azamara or Oceania.  Much better cruising experience on those lines anyway.

 

DON

[mediator]

On 3/12/2019 at 9:24 PM, damiross said:

Kind of on the subject:  Does anyone know how many people on a world cruise are actually, on average, onboard for the entire cruise.  Just curious.

We were on the world cruise in 2015 for 94 days.  At that time it was sold from La to LA for 111 days or LA to Fort Lauderdale for 94 days.  A lot of people bailed out  in FL which is no surprise. Princess got smart and now offers the cruise for 111 days from LA to LA or FLl to FLL.  There were as I remember about 4 segments and people came on and off.  I don’t recall that we lost many of the initial group.  It was an experience for sure.  Unfortunately due to my husbands health we had to cancel our 2018 and 2020 reservation fo the WC.   Hoping to make it one more time hopefully picking up some different ports.

[Steelers36]

I wonder if the World Cruise change to a larger ship is due to increased demand for that cruise and/or its segments.  I think the info on Island is likely true as some longer cruise options on it for 2020 have been cancelled within the past week and instead of heading thru the Suez and across Indian Ocean to Singapore and Australia, it is being returned to FLL and will be there on Dec 20, 2020.  No postings of cruises to book beyond that date. 

 

Now, I have read a gazillion posts complaining about Island.  Of all ships in the fleet, I would think it to be the least desirable based on that (except Sea isn't very attractive at all to me).  However, we booked a 60-night S.A. cruise for last winter because of the strong itinerary and the perceived value. 

 

The Island was not that bad at all and the trip itself was wonderful.  It had been updated in several areas and looked pretty good.  It was quite serviceable for that size of ship.  Pretty much anyone I spoke to on that trip thought it was a great trip and weren't complaining about the ship.  Do I wish it had been the Coral instead?  Sure, why not?  Or how about Ruby (or sister)? 

 

But an attractive itinerary and price would not keep us from sailing on Island again, and in fact we were booked on a Grand Voyage from Rome in the Med, back to Rome and then some more Med, thru Suez Canal and end in Dubai.  It has been taken away and we are considering other option for fall 2020 (Regal's version) or see what 2021 schedules offer.

 

[AF-1]

Steelers36,  you make a good point. Maybe more people want to do RTW cruise so Princess decides to use a larger ship.  I have not sailed Island. Is the ship layout hat horrible that people refuse to sail her?  

[BarbinMich]

The last Pacific Princess cruise on the cruise line's website is a cruise in Alaska departing Anchorage on Sep 9 2020.  The ship was launched in 1999 as the Renaissance 3.  That cruise line lasted only a few years before its ships were seized by the line's creditors.  Princess initially leased what became Pacific Princess and her R3 sister, the Ocean Princess; they bought the ships a few years later.  At one time there were 8 R ships.  They've all been sold to other lines.  (Source:  Wikipedia).

 

Imagine the PP was the oldest ship in Princess' fleet, but don't know for sure.

Edited March 14, 2019 by BarbinMich

[Coral]

37 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

 

Imagine the PP was the oldest ship in Princess' fleet, but don't know for sure.

There are older ships - The Grand is from 1998, Sun Princess 1995 and Sea Princess 1998.

[BarbinMich]

33 minutes ago, Coral said:

There are older ships - The Grand is from 1998, Sun Princess 1995 and Sea Princess 1998.

Thanks for the correction.  We sailed on the Grand in 2010 on a 14-day "Circle the Caribbean" itinerary.  It seemed "old" then!  I see it's doing west coast itineraries now.  Aren't the Sun and Sea down in Australia now?  We were on the Sun in 2005 and 2007 in the Carib., never on the Sea.  Our first Princess cruise was on the Dawn in 2000 in the Carib.

Edited March 14, 2019 by BarbinMich

[LarryL]

First, I want to thank Steelers36. Your insightful information on this, and the Island Princess, thread. I think, while change may be uncomfortable for some, there is always a silver lining somewhere. Your information was nicely prepared.

 

We have sailed on the Coral and enjoyed the ship although she was not our favorite. We tend to gravitate towards the Grand Class. I don't think we even knew of the Caribe aft viewing area and didn't go into the Universal Lounge that much. Although I think the public areas provide more opportunities for entertainment it would not be a deal breaker for me. The Fitness center being on the lower and in the middle section of the ship may just be a blessing in disguise. In spite of the loss of beautiful views, the workout area should be far more stable for those on the treadmill (I've rocked a few times on them) as well as those involved in Yoga or other classes.

 

While we really enjoyed our transatlantic cruise on the Pacific last December, we had to think seriously if we would want to spend 111 days on such a small ship. We walk a lot and exercise but the space to do so on that ship was limited. For the first time in many cruises, I gained 8 pounds during our 17 days onboard. Even with the loss of the wraparound Promenade we could make due, plus there are more stairs to climb. When we left the ship we looked into different ways to complete our circumnavigation by taking different cruises. It's doable but requires 3 months in Australia or New Zealand. I think I would reconsider the WC now that the Island is in play.  

[caribill]

8 hours ago, AF-1 said:

  I have not sailed Island. Is the ship layout hat horrible that people refuse to sail her?  

 

It is not the layout, it is how Princess modified the ship a couple of years ago:

a) Removed the aft entertainment venue (Universe Lounge) to put in more staterooms

b) The additional staterooms meant you could no longer walk all round the Promenade deck on the outside

c) Reduced the size of the casino to put in more cabins

d) Converted the card room to the shore excursion desk

e) Eliminated the aft public viewing area on three decks to add staterooms

f) Did not install the International Cafe

g) Changed one level of the Sanctuary into additional cabins

h) Overall has less public space to be shared with the additional passengers in the added cabins

[TheRabbit]

I understand the layout differences, but didn't notice it the first time on the island. Didn't really notice it until we got on the Coral. That said, how the Coral handled the open sea in storms makes taking a RTW on the Island much more appealing.

Edited March 14, 2019 by TheRabbit

[Micahs Grandad]

1 hour ago, LarryL said:

First, I want to thank Steelers36. Your insightful information on this, and the Island Princess, thread. I think, while change may be uncomfortable for some, there is always a silver lining somewhere. Your information was nicely prepared.

 

We have sailed on the Coral and enjoyed the ship although she was not our favorite. We tend to gravitate towards the Grand Class. I don't think we even knew of the Caribe aft viewing area and didn't go into the Universal Lounge that much. Although I think the public areas provide more opportunities for entertainment it would not be a deal breaker for me. The Fitness center being on the lower and in the middle section of the ship may just be a blessing in disguise. In spite of the loss of beautiful views, the workout area should be far more stable for those on the treadmill (I've rocked a few times on them) as well as those involved in Yoga or other classes.

 

While we really enjoyed our transatlantic cruise on the Pacific last December, we had to think seriously if we would want to spend 111 days on such a small ship. We walk a lot and exercise but the space to do so on that ship was limited. For the first time in many cruises, I gained 8 pounds during our 17 days onboard. Even with the loss of the wraparound Promenade we could make due, plus there are more stairs to climb. When we left the ship we looked into different ways to complete our circumnavigation by taking different cruises. It's doable but requires 3 months in Australia or New Zealand. I think I would reconsider the WC now that the Island is in play.  

Hi Larry enjoyed our time together on the Pacific.

 

Very nice cruise but we thought it was too small in a number of ways and would never want to do a world cruise on her. 

 

Crew was great and got to meet and get to know quite a few entertainment folks during the crossing.

 

I thought entertainment was lacking. Nice to have an Explorers Lounge as well as a rear lounge so as to have more entertainment venues instead of just one.

 

We much prefer larger ships such as the Crown Princess class or Royal Class. More variety in the buffet.

 

Biggest peeve was the main show lounge was basically flat and if you didnt get seats in the first or second row very difficult to see the performers. For some reason taller folks gravitated to those rows.