i have no knowledge about situation in the US

but i hardly remember any publicity at all when Emerald Princess was inaugurated last year, well this time with Ruby it seems that they can do EVEN better, no one is to know about this new ship

hardly special, only another 116.000 tons added..
in an "old" and existing design, pretty amazing i feel for a ship, price only 570 m USD, have not seen a single pic...

so are we getting bored? too many new ships around??

Despite the great interest in CELEBRITY SOLSTICE, I can't get excited or interested in this ship, nor indeed in most of those due out in the next year or so, with one or two exceptions.

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so mid market and mainstream.

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What is so wrong with this? That is exactly where Princess is pitched. Do you really think they would enhance their brand by doing something completely outside their positioning? All this would do is confuse consumers, potentially alienate existing customers and devalue its existing brand.

Losing sight of your brand's strengths is a critical mistake.

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Originally posted by eroller:
Yes I'm afraid RUBY PRINCESS is so boring the most it will get out of me is a big yawn. I don't even think Princess is commanding higher fares for RUBY PRINCESS and there is very little hype regarding the ship.

Ernie

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Originally posted by Ernst:

She might not be as 'exciting' as other vessel launched this year but not every ship HAS to be exciting. Like her sisters she is a contemporary cruise ship so why should Princess change anything on a design that works for them especially as it is very likely an advantage to have a homogeneous fleet?
Princess obviously thinks that they need more capacity - and that's what she is - more (Grand class) capacity.

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I'm sure she will be just fine for most cruisers but I am not most cruisers. I like variety and innovation. Having sailed on CROWN PRINCESS, a sister of RUBY PRINCESS, the experience left me a bit dry.

Princess is what it is and that is fine. There are other better choices for me and that is my point. For any product to survive and thrive, they have to continue to evolve, change, and hopefully improve. The competition and market demand it, especially in the cruise industry. You cannot rest on your laurels or you will be left in the dust in no time. Personally I feel Princess has not kept up with the competition. One thing they do have is consistency, which is why they are popular with many passengers.

As for Princess needing more capacity, I suspect they would prefer not to take delivery of RUBY PRINCESS at this time if they had the opportunity. Per diems are quite low for this brand new ship, and of course there will be no more growth for Princess in quite some time.

I might also add that a new ship (even if it is a repeat) should garner some excitement. If it doesn't, then the marketing department isn't doing their job. Every new ship that has come out has received a fair bit of attention, even some that probably don't deserve it. I can't say the same about RUBY PRINCESS. I can't even tell you where or who will be christening the ship. There is absolutely no hype surrounding this ship and there should be.

Perhaps since RUBY PRINCESS can date her design to over 10 years ago, there is little left to "hype"?

Ernie

[ 10-27-2008: Message edited by: eroller ]

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Originally posted by eroller:

I'm sure she will be just fine for most cruisers but I am not most cruisers. I like variety and innovation. Having sailed on CROWN PRINCESS, a sister of RUBY PRINCESS, the experience left me a bit dry. Princess is what it is and that is fine. There are other better choices for me and that is my point.

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That's of course another story.

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Originally posted by eroller:

For any product to survive and thrive, they have to continue to evolve, change, and hopefully improve. The competition and market demand it, especially in the cruise industry. You cannot rest on your laurels or you will be left in the dust in no time. Personally I feel Princess has not kept up with the competition. One thing they do have is consistency, which is why they are popular with many passengers.

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I agree. However, it's not that we have seen too many major innovations from other lines either. (there were some) Mind you, adding (interesting) 'gags' like lawns are at best a bit more innovative but not much.
Not going into detail whether they are a good or bad design, the Grand class has all crucial features (balconies etc.) that define a contemporary cruise ship. The design might be more than 10 years old, but sadly not much has changed since then. (nothing a Grand class vessel could not be retrofitted with - I guess they could even add some grass if they wanted to )

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Originally posted by eroller:

As for Princess needing more capacity, I suspect they would prefer not to take delivery of RUBY PRINCESS at this time if they had the opportunity. Per diems are quite low for this brand new ship, and of course there will be no more growth for Princess in quite some time.

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This will indeed be interesting. (not only for Princess but the cruise and travel industry as a whole)

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Originally posted by eroller:

I might also add that a new ship (even if it is a repeat) should garner some excitement. If it doesn't, then the marketing department isn't doing their job. Every new ship that has come out has received a fair bit of attention, even some that probably don't deserve it. I can't say the same about RUBY PRINCESS. I can't even tell you where or who will be christening the ship. There is absolutely no hype surrounding this ship and there should be.

Perhaps since RUBY PRINCESS can date her design to over 10 years ago, there is little left to "hype"?

Ernie

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This should be the last of the "Grand" class derived designs for Princess. I believe the next generation will be a modification on the Diamond / Sapphire which while similar are diffently a differnt ship (wider).

For some reason my attention has only been on existing ships and my own personal future cruises. I am more interested now in finding new cruise destinations. P&O still has allot of my attention. Princess gets attention but not as much as before. The Ruby Princess is exactly the same as the others. If there was a newly designed ship I would be interested.

Cunard has grabbed my attention with QM2 and QV and the new QE I am intrigued about.

well not for everyone here but nevertheless i spotted some Ruby pics.. a very interesting site though with brilliant pics of nearly all cruiseships in the world...

http://www.fotosdebarcos.com/viewtopic.php?t=17748&highlight=ruby+princess

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Originally posted by buddhaJoe:
hi there,

well not for everyone here but nevertheless i spotted some Ruby pics.. a very interesting site though with brilliant pics of nearly all cruiseships in the world...

http://www.fotosdebarcos.com/viewtopic.php?t=17748&highlight=ruby+princess

enjoy
regards,
buddhaJoe

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Well, we are excited about the Ruby - we are sailing her Maiden Voyage this coming weekend.

Thank you so much for posting this link - we really appreciate it!