The maiden voyage is scheduled for Nov. 15, 2008. Ruby Princess will sail to Ocho Rios, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Princess Cays in a Caribbean season that runs through April 2009.

The ship will feature a piazza-style atrium with small-bite eateries and a changing lineup of ‘street’ entertainers. Dining venues include the signature Sabatini’s Italian trattoria and the Crown Grill steak and seafood restaurant, plus an adults-only deck area called The Sanctuary.

Nearly 900 staterooms will offer balconies.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Westerdam:
The ship will feature a piazza-style atrium with small-bite eateries...

---

I read that as 'pizza-style'!

If they all have the same name then when one has a fire/sinks or some other catastrophe, in years to come people will not remember which line it was. Star had a fire; people know now it was Princess, but in 19 years time they may well just remember 'Star' and not know the line. If Ruby Princess sinks, people may link to Louis' Ruby as they have not had a good year. Then again they may think of Saga.

People often just refer to Dawn, Sun, Star etc and no-one has a clue who they are referrring to without some other reference.

Does not anyone within Princess, Carnival/RCI/NCL have any imagination where names are concerned? I would have thought they wanted something different for each line.

Granite Princess
Slate Princess
Marble Princess

Now we just need

Carnival Ruby
Ruby of the Seas
Noriegan Ruby
Coasta Rubia

on top of

Beyond that, since nearly the beginning Princess ships have been "Something Princess". Not like other lines that had more original naming schemes that later changed to become boring. For example, NCL's "-ward" names become "Norwegian (blank)". The samething happened to Carnival, and Royal Caribbean's more imaginative names eventually all became "-of the Seas."

At one time they were doing the whole "Royal" thing, Crown, Regal, Royal etc. I also liked the idea of naming them after regoins, Pacific, Caribbean etc.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Thad:
I wonder if they will pick other semi-precious stones to go with Coral Princess as well, maybe Turquoise Princess, Amber Princess, Jade Princess, Crystal Princess....

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fairsky:
Oh give them a break, people. Princess has so many ships- its not easy coming up with names for all of them. I don't see any of you coming up with better suggestionos.

---

quote:

---

A single sister to Caribbean Princess should be Antillean Princess.

Alternatively, as a longer series, the following names could be used (to all of which seas Princess sails):-
Adriatic Princess
Aegean Princess
Baltic Princess
Ionian Princess
Ligurian Princess
Mediterranean Princess
Tyrrhenian Princess

---

One of Princess' problems is that they have not devised a naming strategy. They seem to scurry around like headless chickens every time a new name needs to be found, which results in sister ships having unrelated names. This is disappointing, given that at one point there seemed to be some consistency in strategy, with the following pairs in existence: Crown and Regal; Sun and Dawn; Ocean and Sea; and Sapphire and Diamond.

But it's all gone to pot since.

[ 06-05-2007: Message edited by: Globaliser ]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fairsky:
... its not easy coming up with names for all of them.

---

It's probably done by a senior committee of managers all collecting salaries which equal a small fortune.

I can live with Pacific Princess mostly because of the heritage of the name. I wouldn't mind Atlantic Princess either. These names are general enough to not limit their usefulness.

Apart for recycling some older names (Sky, Ocean, Fair, and Regal) here are some other ideas:

quote:

---

Originally posted by mike sa:
Globaliser, you are assuming that the rest of the world can spell or even pronounce.........

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Fairsky:
I am not a fan of geographic names unless they are very vague.. This seems foolish if they ever decide to redeploy the ships.

---

As seen w/Royal Carribean adding International to their name. Even so we got some strange looks from tourists in Florence when our tour guide held up her Royal Caribbean flag. I could hear a few people ask others in our group if we were on a cruise from the Carribean!

As for Princess names I'd add;

quote:

---

I've always thought Oriental Princess and Occidental Princess were attractive sounding names.

---

I like Oriental Princess but Occidental Princess sounds like the name of an insurance company.

FWIW, I think Princess should re-use some of their retired names. They recycled Crown Princess and Royal Princess so I don't know why Regal, Sky etc aren't being considered.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Magic Pipe:
I've always thought Oriental Princess and Occidental Princess were attractive sounding names.

---