I sailed her twice, and although in the annals of cruise ship history, she wasn't the best; she definitely was the one to set the trend for so many of the great ships to follow.

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Originally posted by jeremya:
What will her next incarnation be???

I may have missed that piece of news.

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But you know, the German Market does well, if they market her as well as Mein Schiff. (sp)

It will be interesting to see how they pull off new balconies and add dining space, and if I am not mistaken they remove the casino, hopefully it will be relocated.

She was a beautiful ship. I remember seeing her on the Love Boat with Menudo, when those boys were still young. That was a great episode. So long ago...

I worked on this ship for two contracts in 88/89 when she was still on of the largest most advanced cruiseships around. Very well designed ship with a very good atmosphere. This was the first ships with a lot of balconies and a lower promenade deck with lower public rooms

I can remember when we did her very first European season in 1989, there were quite a lot of crowds around.

The cabins might be small compared to today's standard but I don't think they were in the eighties. Certainly the fact that they were all outside and had large picture windows instead of portholes. All were equiped with a bathtub, also new at that time.

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Originally posted by LeBarryboat:
The most pivotal new ships back then were the Seaward, Royal Princess, Empress of the Seas and the Tropicale. Then of course there was the Song of America and the Sovereign of the Seas.

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Don't forget the ship that was the #1 competitor to ROYAL PRINCESS. That would be FAIRSKY of course. While FAIRSKY was not innovative in any way, she and ROYAL PRINCESS went head to head with each other. Both were roughly the same size, both made their debut in the same year, both competed for the same customer base, and both had their home offices only blocks apart in Los Angeles. The competition between them was fierce, and passengers became very loyal to either one or the other. Most felt FAIRSKY was more comfortable, but ROYAL PRINCESS had a certain elegance about her. RP was also so innovative and that cannot be overlooked. She was a game changer in the industry. All outside cabins; bathtubs in all cabins; an unprecedented number of private balconies; a two level atrium; almost all cabins located above the lounges; a promenade deck free of any mechanical obstructions or davits (of course this meant almost three decks of obstructed view cabins which was a huge headache); and I believe what was touted as the largest pool afloat upon her introduction (the forward lap pool).

Besides the obstructed view cabins (which were regraded almost every year), the other downfall of RP was she offered no smaller, intimate lounges. That was always a major complaint by her passengers and a downfall that FAIRSKY did not share.

I started working for Princess in the head office just a couple years after the introduction of ROYAL PRINCESS. The hype about the ship was still going strong two years after her introduction, and she was demanding very high per diems (as did all Princess ships at the time). There were plenty of rumors about a second ROYAL PRINCESS, but we know what really happened was the merger of Sitmar Cruises.

In a way, there is a sister to RP as the CRYSTAL HARMONY was almost a near replica. The similarities were uncanny considering this new start up had many ex-Princess executives, and they decided to have their headquarters just a few blocks from Princess. At one time I recall hearing that Princess was considering legal action regarding the design of CRYSTAL HARMONY. I don't think that ever came to pass.

Anyway, it was all a very interesting time in the cruise industry.

30-5-2011 in Rotterdam with fleetmate Albatros the next day in Vlissingen
1-6-2011 both ships in Amsterdam
2-6-2011 Artania back in Rotterdam together with MS Rotterdam

Not sure yet what I 'll do, depends on work schedule.

Also planning to go to Zeebrugge on 30-4-2011 to see Ryndam