Do not depend on Crown Library for books

[phonejock]

Hi  Heads up to all the readers out there who prefer books.  

I forgot to mention something important in my review of the Crown Princess voyage March 7-17^th.  I was VERY disappointed in the library on the Crown.  I went down on the first afternoon and found very few books there.  Each shelf  was only about a third full.  I know they were not all taken out, as I went down there on the last morning to drop off a just finished paperback and the shelves were still empty.    It appears that Princess is not buying any new books in this age of e-readers.  Is it like this on other ships?  Looks like I may have to pack a couple more paperbacks for the next cruise.    Also, the room was tiny with no comfortable chairs to sit in.  I miss the library on the Coral with those wonderful oversized yellow chairs by the window.

 

[Happy2cruise]

Found the same situation on our December sailing on the Caribbean Princess.

[desiro]

Did you notice on the Crown last week if they had the Princess Book Club?

[phonejock]

Sorry. I did not notice ..too many gin and tonics

 

[DrivesLikeMario]

I've learned the hard way never to rely on a ship's library.  I always over-stock my Kindle.  I ran out of books in the middle of the Atlantic before and had to rely on the QM2's library.  Thankfully, it was adequate but most Princess ships never are. 

[waltd]

Unfortunately  this is the case on all the Princess ships we have been on lately.  There was a better selections of paperbacks left by passengers .   

[jagsfan]

I remember sailing on Carnival several years ago. The bookshelves were lovely. You could see them very well because they were empty. 

[Astro Flyer]

7 minutes ago, waltd said:

Unfortunately  this is the case on all the Princess ships we have been on lately.  There was a better selections of paperbacks left by passengers .   

I recently read a post that Princess is in the process of eliminating libraries fleetwide & based on the OP’s experience it appears to indicate they are beginning to phase out libraries.

 

Each of us can speculate about why Princess decided to make the change...my guess it’s an underutilized space because many use e-readers.

[Coral]

12 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

Each of us can speculate about why Princess decided to make the change...my guess it’s an underutilized space because many use e-readers.

My guess is "unprofitable space". The libraries used to be well used once upon a time.

[c-boy]

50 minutes ago, phonejock said:

Sorry. I did not notice ..too many gin and tonics

 

nothing like a  g & t  and a good book

[TheRabbit]

30 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

I recently read a post that Princess is in the process of eliminating libraries fleetwide & based on the OP’s experience it appears to indicate they are beginning to phase out libraries.

 

Each of us can speculate about why Princess decided to make the change...my guess it’s an underutilized space because many use e-readers.

My DW writes Princess all the time on this subject. Others should also. Rarely have I found a book I want to read that I haven't read already as we frequent the library every one to two weeks and order book to be picked up at them all the time.

 

We have found you need to go to the library first thing before 12 noon if possible to get a book or two. That is what we did on the Coral in the fall and my DW was able to get a few books. a few hours later it was wiped out.

 

There were 4 books for the book club on our 60 day cruise and there were more people there to get one than they had books, even though there were almost 25 each time to give out. The host set up a wait list that worked. At the discussions, 20 to 30 plus showed up each time.

[Astro Flyer]

35 minutes ago, Coral said:

My guess is "unprofitable space". The libraries used to be well used once upon a time.

 

10 minutes ago, TheRabbit said:

My DW writes Princess all the time on this subject. Others should also. Rarely have I found a book I want to read that I haven't read already as we frequent the library every one to two weeks and order book to be picked up at them all the time.

 

We have found you need to go to the library first thing before 12 noon if possible to get a book or two. That is what we did on the Coral in the fall and my DW was able to get a few books. a few hours later it was wiped out.

 

There were 4 books for the book club on our 60 day cruise and there were more people there to get one than they had books, even though there were almost 25 each time to give out. The host set up a wait list that worked. At the discussions, 20 to 30 plus showed up each time.

I think Coral’s guess is correct.

[TheRabbit]

3 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

 

I think Coral’s guess is correct.

I believe she is correct also. It is my opinion to change it you need to write.

[Georgie562]

Sadly like a lot of other things, books are now becoming electronic (kindle, ipad) for peoples choice of read. Not surprised that library is not fully stocked.

Edited March 22, 2019 by Georgie562

[RDC1]

Not just Princess, but most mainstream lines are eliminating libraries.  Pretty much obsolete in the days of e-book readers and when you can use 2-3 minutes of internet time to select, purchase and download a new book.

[gottagocit]

I usually donate two copies of my first novel to the ships library on our first day onboard and will typically check back multiple times throughout the voyage to see if copies are still there. Only twice have I found a copy on the shelves after the first day and I’ve never found one onboard a ship that I’ve donated to on an prior cruise. 

 

I’d like to think people will being them back after reading them but can't verify that’s the case. I have seen multiple posts here over the years by people openly admitting they take books hoe from the ship with some saying they bring others to donate as well. 

 

Chris 

[wheezedr]

The era of cruise ship libraries is sadly coming to an end or least subject to shrinkage.  With Kindles, iPads, etc. fewer people are reading and carrying bound books.

[idahospud]

2 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

I usually donate two copies of my first novel to the ships library on our first day onboard and will typically check back multiple times throughout the voyage to see if copies are still there. Only twice have I found a copy on the shelves after the first day and I’ve never found one onboard a ship that I’ve donated to on an prior cruise. 

 

I’d like to think people will being them back after reading them but can't verify that’s the case. I have seen multiple posts here over the years by people openly admitting they take books hoe from the ship with some saying they bring others to donate as well. 

 

Chris 

Chris, thanks for the info on that. It never occurred to me that someone would take it and not return it. Do you sign it or add a note that you are the author and you're donating it or anything? I've been starting to donate my book onboard as well but have just been dropping it off. Wonder if I should be adding a note in it or something. 

[Colo Cruiser]

We have never relied on Princess ships libraries.........

IMO I think the onboard libraries are headed the way of the barrel chair.

[voljeep]

11 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

I usually donate two copies of my first novel to the ships library on our first day onboard and will typically check back multiple times throughout the voyage to see if copies are still there. Only twice have I found a copy on the shelves after the first day and I’ve never found one onboard a ship that I’ve donated to on an prior cruise. 

 

I’d like to think people will being them back after reading them but can't verify that’s the case. I have seen multiple posts here over the years by people openly admitting they take books hoe from the ship with some saying they bring others to donate as well. 

 

Chris 

put a "chip" in the books and track them - could be interesting to see where they actually end up ... or not

[Coral]

I used to bring 3-4 books for a one week cruise and double that for a 2 week cruise. I would then donate the books to the library when I was done. I remember one time the person in there indicated that they didn't want my books. These were all recent top selling books.

 

I think they checked out of the library business years ago.

 

So while some may have taken some home, many of us donated them also.

Edited March 22, 2019 by Coral

[gottagocit]

15 minutes ago, idahospud said:

Chris, thanks for the info on that. It never occurred to me that someone would take it and not return it. Do you sign it or add a note that you are the author and you're donating it or anything? I've been starting to donate my book onboard as well but have just been dropping it off. Wonder if I should be adding a note in it or something. 

 

I’ve done it in a variety of ways. At first I gave them to the passenger services desk after boarding and did sign them with a note indicating they were donated to the ships library and asking readers to please return them to the library after reading them.

After doing it this way a few times I was asked by the P.S. staff to simply place them on the shelves myself. Eventually I simply began taken them directly to the library. I stopped signing these copies some time ago but still usually put the note in them asking that they be returned after reading. 

 

Occasionally someone onboard will stop me after recognizing me from the ‘about the author’ page photo and tell me how much they’re enjoying reading it. On a couple voyages a group of readers put together a book review or informal discussion for it while onboard which I attended. 

 

In any case it’s fun hearing from those who read it and knowing it gives several hours of enjoyment. 

 

[paul929207]

800 books were in the Royal Princess library when we boarded in Fort Lauderdale. All were gone the next afternoon 

[idahospud]

23 minutes ago, gottagocit said:

 

I’ve done it in a variety of ways. At first I gave them to the passenger services desk after boarding and did sign them with a note indicating they were donated to the ships library and asking readers to please return them to the library after reading them.

After doing it this way a few times I was asked by the P.S. staff to simply place them on the shelves myself. Eventually I simply began taken them directly to the library. I stopped signing these copies some time ago but still usually put the note in them asking that they be returned after reading. 

 

Occasionally someone onboard will stop me after recognizing me from the ‘about the author’ page photo and tell me how much they’re enjoying reading it. On a couple voyages a group of readers put together a book review or informal discussion for it while onboard which I attended. 

 

In any case it’s fun hearing from those who read it and knowing it gives several hours of enjoyment. 

 

Thanks for your thoughts. I think I'll add a note about them being donated and asking they be returned.

 

Sounds like you almost had your own little book club onboard. Nice!

[Thrak]

Two comments here:

 

1. I agree that Princess sees the library as an area that doesn't generate any sort of profit and is therefore, in the corporate mind, of no value and actually a loss.

 

2. There are a lot of folks who will see a book that has been signed by the author as "collectable" and will therefore take it home. They will rationalize it to themselves somehow so that they won't consider it stealing the book - although that is actually the case.