Royal Princess: Talking with the Captain and Hotel Manager; Reviews

This week we talk to two of the people who are responsible for running Royal Princess, Princess Cruises' newest ship.

Captain Dino Sagani is a veteran Princess captain. We spoke with him about Royal Princess from a nautical perspective. He explained that the ship is not just innovative in its passenger amenities but also as marine technology. Among other things, Royal Princess is more fuel efficient and has more safety systems than previous cruise ships. Our conversation with Captain Sagani is at http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-captain.html

We also spoke Hotel General Manager Dirk Brand. On a cruise ship, the hotel department provides just about everything that makes up the guests' cruise experience including the accommodations, the dining, and the entertainment. Mr. Brand not only has manged Royal Princess' hotel department since the ship went into service but he was at the shipyard creating that department. Thus, he is in a unique position to talk about what the cruise experience on Royal Princess is all about and to point out some of the new features and amenities guests will encounter onboard. http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-hotel-general-manager.html

One feature that has been enhanced on Royal Princess is The Sanctuary. This is an adults-only retreat dedicated to pampering and relaxation. There are Sanctuaries on the other Princess ships. But like many things on Royal Princess, this one is larger and has more features than those on the earlier ships. We gave it a try and our review is at http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-sanctuary.html

Another enhanced venue is Alfredo's Pizzeria. Most cruises ships have a pizzeria but not like this one. Indeed, Alfredo's is so different from the type of pizzeria that guests expect to find on a cruise ship that Royal Princess has another pizzeria that is designed to meet such expectations. Alfredo's is a sit-down restaurant that serves gourmet, authentic Italian-style pizza. As discussed in our review, it is quite amazing. http://www.beyondships2.com/royal-princess-alfredos.html

Royal Princess profile and photo tour,

This week the focus is on Princess Cruises' latest ship, Royal Princess.

Royal Princess is a significant ship. Not only is she the first new ship brought into service by Princess Cruises since 2008 but she is the first new design implemented by Carnival Corporation in several years.

During this interim, competitors Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines have brought out ships that are a radical departure from the past - - Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas, Norwegian Epic and Norwegian Breakaway. Not only were these ships big but they offer a new model of cruising. One in which the guest has quality choices not just about dining but also about entertainment. How would Princess and its parent Carnival Corporation respond.

Royal Princess is a much bigger ship than the rest of the Princess fleet. Indeed, she is the biggest ship in the 100-plus ship Carnival Corporation fleet leaving aside Cunard's Queen Mary 2. At the time of her entry into service, Royal Princess was the ninth largest cruise ship in the world. Thus, she is competitive in size with the new ships launched by Princess' competitors.

She also offers guests more dining options and more entertainment options. However, Princess has been very successful with its existing formula. Therefore, Princess was careful to preserve the feel and style of its existing fleet. It has enhanced rather than abandoned its formula.

Technology underlies many of these enhancements. But an equally important ingredient was space. Princess has used the additional space provided by the great size of the ship to produce visually impressive rooms such as the Piazza but also to ensure that guests do not feel crowded. Passengers frequently have the impression that the ship is not full, even though all of the staterooms are usually occupied.

Beyondships's profile of Royal Princess, with menus, daily programs, information and photos of the ship is at http://beyondships.com/Princess-RP-Profile.html

The multi-page photo tour of the interior and the public spaces of the ship begins at http://beyondships.com/Princess-RP-Tour-1.html

Next, week we will be adding more to our Royal Princess' section including interviews with the captain and the hotel director.

Cruise destination Key West profile; Photos and video of Disney Wonder

This week we have added a new cruise destination profile about Key West, Florida.

When it came time to enter a link for this new profile on our cruise destination index page, I had to pause. Key West is often a port of call on Bahamas cruises but since it isn't in the Bahamas, it does not really fit under that heading. Key West is also a port of call on Caribbean cruises. But it isn't in the Caribbean either. Eventually, I put it under the heading “Eastern U.S.”, which is geographically correct but not entirely satisfactory because Key West is quite different than New York City, which is also under that heading.

All of this just points out that Key West is unique. It is an American city but it is on an island like those in the Bahamas and the Caribbean connected to the mainland by a series of bridges. It is unmistakeably American in character but blended with a relaxed unhurried tropical feel.

As a result, Key West is an attractive cruise port. You can relax, have something to eat and/or drink, shop or go to historic sites such as Ernest Hemingway's home or Harry Truman's winter White House. And it is all close to where the cruise ships dock.

Our multi-page profile of Key west includes information about the port, getting around and things to see. In addition, it has links to other websites with information about Key West. It all begins at http://www.beyondships3.com/key-west-cruise-destination.html

Also this week, we are introducing mini-profiles. We now have full profiles of more than 100 cruise ships on Beyondships. The mini-profiles will provide webpages for ships that we have not yet profiled but about which we have photos, video and other information.

We are beginning with the Disney Cruise Line ships, starting with Disney Wonder. http://www.beyondships2.com/disney-wonder.html

Linked to this new mini-profile are a photo/video feature on Disney Wonder in Key West http://www.beyondships2.com/disney-wonder-key-west-photo-essay.html and a photo feature of Disney Wonder in Nassau. http://www.beyondships2.com/disney-wonder-nassau-photo-essay.html

Carnival Paradise Profile, Photos, Menus and More

Let me begin by offering everyone best wishes for the New Year.

To begin the new year, we have a new cruise ship profile on Beyondships - - Carnival Paradise. It is the 106^th cruise ship profile to be added to Beyondships including 20 of Carnival Cruise Lines ships.

Carnival Paradise is one of the eight Fantasy class ships in the Carnival fleet. These ships are workhorses providing an affordable cruise experience, usually on a short itinerary (i.e. less than seven days). As a result, they are well-suited for young people and young families. Several are based outside of the major cruise ship ports and provide a convenient means of cruising for people living around the ports where these ships are based.

The Fantasy class ships are not new ships. Carnival Paradise is the youngest of them and she entered service in 1998. However, these ships have been constantly upgraded over the years. I was interested to see how well Carnival has been able to adapt them to new concepts developed and first implemented on Carnival's more recent ships. To illustrate, Paradise has a Serenity adults-only relaxation section, a tasting bar, and a comedy club.

When the Fantasy class ships first entered service, they were considered quite large at 70,000 gross tons. Today, they would be considered relatively small compared to say Carnival Breeze at 130,000 gross tons. While they may not have the space for all the facilities that the Breeze has, they do offer the compensation of being relatively intimate. Also, as above, Carnival has been clever in finding ways to fit size-appropriate versions of its new ideas into the Fantasy class ships.

The Paradise is one of the few ships in the Carnival fleet to have azipod propulsion. Most of her Fantasy class sisters and the newer Carnival ships have the traditional shafts and propellers. While the azipod concept did not catch on at Carnival Cruise Lines, it is preferred by many mariners. Indeed, sister company Cunard has nothing but azipod ships and all the newer ships at Holland America are azipod ships. So much for the notion that all of the Carnival companies move in lock-step.

I found Carnival Paradise to be well-maintained and efficiently run. A teenager but still a first tier cruise ship.

Our profile of Carnival Paradise is at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalParadise-Profile.html

The multi-page photo tour of the ship begins at http://beyondships.com/CarnivalParadise-Tour-1.html

We also have a menus page http://www.beyondships2.com/carnival-paradise-menus.html and a page with daily programs and other information distributed onboard. http://www.beyondships2.com/carnival-paradise-daily-programs.html

Finally, we have a short video showing the ship getting underway. http://www.beyondships2.com/carnival-paradise-video.html