Retirement of Old Princesses Perhaps??

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, GUT2407 said:

They seem a little more pricey, we just swapped 11 days on Solstice for 11 on Radiance, both in January, similar locations (in fact Radiance was slightly more mid ship) saved over $1000(the change was actually about LSL savings but still a tidy sum).

Yes but they have a great product and as such are priced accordingly, trouble is demand has kept their pricing up.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Our cuurent Solstice cruise with grats and drinks package included is cheaper per diem than the Majestic Princess cruise we did last year by the time we added drinks to that fare. Similar cabins on both.

 

I haven't looked at new Solstice fares as they have shortened the Auckland to Sydney itineraries so we'll have to look elsewhere for our 2021 friends and family catch-up trip. We're currently looking at Norwegian Jewel which has a suitable itinerary. 

 

56 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Where as we are paying less p.d. In a mini on Majestic than we were on Solstice for a balcony. I guess it all comes down the the itinerary and the timing.

 

Yes, I meant generally on all the season offerings, not specifically on individual cruises and even then on offering prices. I suppose each cruise will have a low point and a high point where comparisons at the time can make it beneficial to take advantage of.

[OzKiwiJJ]

58 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Where as we are paying less p.d. In a mini on Majestic than we were on Solstice for a balcony. I guess it all comes down the the itinerary and the timing.

 

Also I guess the difference is that you don't drink alcohol. That's why I do the comparison including drinks. We choose the drinks package as our perk on Celebrity, upgrade it to premium, and it seems to work out cheaper than the fare and buying drinks (not a package) on Princess.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Gut, did you do a cruise on Norwegian or was that one that got cancelled? If you did I'd be interested in your opinion.

[GUT2407]

10 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Also I guess the difference is that you don't drink alcohol. That's why I do the comparison including drinks. We choose the drinks package as our perk on Celebrity, upgrade it to premium, and it seems to work out cheaper than the fare and buying drinks (not a package) on Princess.

Yeah I get to save a bit by being a non drinker, but then the difference in non alcohol package prices is astounding from a low of about $8 to a high of $20, and then you need to check up what’s included, some add water, cans, mocktails, others just gun soda, and all points in between.

 

[GUT2407]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Gut, did you do a cruise on Norwegian or was that one that got cancelled? If you did I'd be interested in your opinion.

We did one on Jewel and had to cancel one.

 

it wouldn’t be my first pick of lines, all being equal but I’ll almost certainly sail with them again, I thought the price was a bit high, and the much touted freestyle in my opinion left a bit to be desired in that you still had to make a booking or just take a chance on getting in to the restaurant of your choice if you were after one in particular, we took the attitude of “oh well the Asian is full, let’s head to ...” it worked for us but maybe not for others.

 

had some great service, and some not so great, but on the whole no real problems.

 

Food was more or less what you’d find on any ship, some very well done, some, well less than impressive.

 

the cruise was a bit more expensive than I’d e xpect to pay on Princess or Celebrity, but I was prepared to pay the extra to try it, there was, to me, nothing to justify the extra, of course another day, another itinerary it may be a different story.

[MicCanberra]

We did the Epic on our last NCL cruise, I didn't mind the freestyle although as you say, if you wanted a particular restaurant, booking in was best.

[Brisbane41]

On 3/30/2019 at 12:23 PM, cruisermsoon said:

 

Holland America: ships are very attractive, and certainly not mega sized.

Wait until you see the enlarged Vista class ships. They are ships that can fit through the Panama Canal that just keep stacking decks on top making them full of people and taking away public space due to crowding issues. They are probably worst than the mega ships. If you look at a ship like P&O Arcadia and the versions Cunard has then look at how the later versions with HAL have gotten taller on the same frame with just decks stacked on top then you will see HAL is doing the same as all the other lines except worst because their ships have not gotten any bigger in physical dimensions length or width wise.

 

I am surprised Princess is holding on to the Sun and Sea Princess for this long. They have well passed their use by date and they seem to be getting rid of more popular ships like the Golden Princess and the Star Princess first which have better space ratios than the Sun and Sea. It is baffling. It is clear the Sun and Sea Princess is no longer popular with the North American market so we are stuck with them.

 

I will be finding out what the Majestic Princess is like this year and will know by October if it is worth sailing on that size a ship or going to a different cruise line once the regular Grand class is out of the Princess fleet.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Thank goodness Princess doesn't listen to you, Brisbane41. Sun and Sea are very suitable for some cruises in our region especially the longers cruises - world, Hawaii/Tahiti, Australian circumnavigation, and for cruises out of smaller embarkation ports like Perth. Princess also operates smaller ships out of the US, I believe, especially for the US-based world cruise. Just because a ship is a little older doesn't make it a bad ship. However if you don't like ships launched in 1995 then I suggest you avoid Crystal Symphony regardless of the fact that she is one of the best cruise ships in tbe world.

[Brisbane41]

49 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Thank goodness Princess doesn't listen to you, Brisbane41. Sun and Sea are very suitable for some cruises in our region especially the longers cruises - world, Hawaii/Tahiti, Australian circumnavigation, and for cruises out of smaller embarkation ports like Perth. Princess also operates smaller ships out of the US, I believe, especially for the US-based world cruise. Just because a ship is a little older doesn't make it a bad ship. However if you don't like ships launched in 1995 then I suggest you avoid Crystal Symphony regardless of the fact that she is one of the best cruise ships in tbe world.

Those ships are entirely unsuitable for long voyages. That is why North America does not have them. That is why Sea Princess (sailing as Adonia) failed miserably at its attempt in the P&O UK market. Entirely unsuited for long cruises. There are many Princess passengers who would never dream of going on those ships for long voyages.

 

It is not about the year it was built. Oriana was built in 1995 and it is one of my all time favourite ships. Compare it to the Sun class and it is exactly the same length, width and height. The only major difference is the Sun class have much smaller cabins, 400 more passengers and less public rooms. 

 

I have been through this issue before even posting photos as proof of the layout and size differences in public rooms.

 

Also there is a reason I waited until 2014 to do a 31 South America cruise and it is because it was on the Golden Princess which is more suited to longer voyages.

 

There is also a reason why I have not done the above cruises that you mention and that is because they are on the Sun class, a ship I would never consider for a long voyage.

 

Of course Princess knows that they are unsuitable which is why they are based in Australia of all places where people welcome mediocrity with open arms and thank them for it.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Wow! That must explain why those voyages on Sea Princess sell out, year after year, with many people doing those cruises multiple times! 🤔😲🤣

 

Get real, Brisbane41. Many Princess cruisers love those ships. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they aren't successful in Australia. Luckily the world doesn't operate according to your wishes! 🤣🤣🤣

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Some folk have a selective memory . He has been around long enough to remember the Cruise Talk of outrage from the North Americans at losing their beloved Sun Class ships.....

[Brisbane41]

4 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Wow! That must explain why those voyages on Sea Princess sell out, year after year, with many people doing those cruises multiple times! 🤔😲🤣

 

Get real, Brisbane41. Many Princess cruisers love those ships. Just because you don't like them doesn't mean they aren't successful in Australia. Luckily the world doesn't operate according to your wishes! 🤣🤣🤣

Probably only the bogan Australians that love and embrace mediocrity love them. At the moment those ships are mainly full of Australians unlike the other Princess ships in the fleet which draw a more international and dynamic passenger mix which certainly says a lot about the popularity of the Sun class ships.

 

I would bet money that any of those wonderful itineraries the Sea Princess has, if you put a Grand class ship on the same itinerary then it would most definitely sell out. It is the itinerary and not the ship that sell cruises to some people. Just remember that.

[MicCanberra]

Why haven't you moved to Japan yet seeing that you dislike Australian's so much? Perhaps you can escape all the bogans you seem to think fill Australia.

 

[GUT2407]

Wouldn’t you love to have him on a bus trip???

[MicCanberra]

3 minutes ago, GUT2407 said:

Wouldn’t you love to have him on a bus trip???

Not, but I would give him a tip although it wouldn't be monetary.

[OzKiwiJJ]

16 hours ago, Brisbane41 said:

Probably only the bogan Australians that love and embrace mediocrity love them. At the moment those ships are mainly full of Australians unlike the other Princess ships in the fleet which draw a more international and dynamic passenger mix which certainly says a lot about the popularity of the Sun class ships.

 

 

Hmmm. The Golden Princess cruise we went on was at least 90% Australians and, yes, some of them were bogans.The Diamond Princess cruise we went on was at least 90% Australians and, yes, some of them were bogans.  No different to the Sun Princess and Dawn Princess cruises we were on in fact. However the Majestic Princess cruise we did was quite different. Many more bogans, plus a couple of very loud and pushy Chinese tour groups. The only Princess cruise I've done that could be considered to have a more international and dynamic mix was the Mediterranean cruise we did on Royal Princess.

 

Celebrity has a much wider demographic mix, so you would probably class that as an international and dynamic mix but, even so, there are a few bogans on our current Solstice cruise.

[Brisbane41]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Hmmm. The Golden Princess cruise we went on was at least 90% Australians and, yes, some of them were bogans.The Diamond Princess cruise we went on was at least 90% Australians and, yes, some of them were bogans.  No different to the Sun Princess and Dawn Princess cruises we were on in fact. However the Majestic Princess cruise we did was quite different. Many more bogans, plus a couple of very loud and pushy Chinese tour groups. The only Princess cruise I've done that could be considered to have a more international and dynamic mix was the Mediterranean cruise we did on Royal Princess.

 

Celebrity has a much wider demographic mix, so you would probably class that as an international and dynamic mix but, even so, there are a few bogans on our current Solstice cruise.

You are going to get the undesirables everywhere no matter where you go.

 

At the moment Princess seems to think that they can attract the Chinese market. This may be a big mistake for them as the Chinese are often incredibly rude and more rude than any other nation. There was a recent news article in the last year about how some cruise line was regretting marketing to the Chinese but I cannot find it now. The Majestic Princess was made with the Chinese market in mind......

 

I am aware of what all the Princess ships are like when based in Australia. It has changed a lot 14 years since my first Princess ship based out of Australia to my more recent one. It was a more refined crowd 14 years ago compared to today. 

 

I always find it is the price of the cruise that keeps the undesirables away. One really good cruise I had was the 31 night Buenos Aires to Los Angeles cruise on Golden Princess. The fact that it was a long cruise and involved flights and cost money meant that there were extremely few undesirables on board. Also all of the Japan based cruises have been great as it involves a flight and people trying to get around in a country where they can't speak the language. That also keeps the undesirables away. Typically if you can find a cruise that is somewhere remote then there is less chance of encountering undesirable people.

It still does not change my opinion of the Sun class. I can handle them for short cruises but not for long ones. They were only designed for short 7 night cruises to Alaska, Mexico and Caribbean so it is expected that they are not suited to long voyages. When you compare the Sun class to say the Oriana or Aurora which were specifically designed to go around the world you will see a massive difference in space and arrangement on board. Once you have experienced something like Aurora or Oriana for a long cruise you simply cannot go to a ship like the Sun class. It is like a massive downgrade.

 

I will do the Sun class any time for a short cruise but definitely not for a long cruise.