IMO, I don't think the ad is even remotely successful as all it does is play one gimmick up against another. I'm talking about "Movies by Moonlight" against rock climbing walls.

The ad starts out by saying "If their last Caribbean cruise had your clients climbing the walls..." (turn the page) "... remind them that only Princess will have Movies by Moonlight". There is a large picture of about 12 passengers total watching a movie over the pool with moonlight in the distance. Of course in reality the scene will be quite different.

At the bottom of the ad, it states: "Princess. The only truly Royal experience in the Caribbean."

The logo shows the seawitch, the word "Princess", and underneath the logo, "Love Boats of the Caribbean". I guess the old slogan "i belong" is out, and "Love Boats" is back in.

Of course the ad touts the "big ship choice, small ship feel"... but with CARIBBEAN PRINCESS having an extra deck of cabins and NO additional public rooms or deck space, I really don't think there will be much of a small ship feel! The Voyager Class has a far more respectable space ratio.

Also, the ads touts the "renowned Princess Service", with one Princess staff member for every three passengers. Is this something to brag about? Princess used to have a much better staff/passenger ratio from what I remember.

Basically, the ad comes across to me as being rather tacky. It seems Princess can't promote itself on it's own merits, but would rather put down the most popular ships in the Caribbean, which also happen the earn the highest per diems in the 7-day Caribbean market. Of course I'm talking about the Voyager Class.

There is certainly no question where Princess is positioning itself in the marketplace. It's mass-market all the way!

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The logo shows the seawitch, the word "Princess", and underneath the logo, "Love Boats of the Caribbean". I guess the old slogan "i belong" is out, and "Love Boats" is back in.

Of course the ad touts the "big ship choice, small ship feel"... but with CARIBBEAN PRINCESS having an extra deck of cabins and NO additional public rooms or deck space, I really don't think there will be much of a small ship feel! The Voyager Class has a far more respectable space ratio.

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[ 07-11-2003: Message edited by: Keitaro ]

I don't know what Princess is thinking. Cramming hundreds of extra passengers on a ship without adding any new public areas and simply featuring a tacky LCD movie screen on the pool deck is in my opinion not a good way to compete against RCI. Who knows, maybe Caribbean Princess will be a fine ship, but as of now I would much rather pay (and pay more) to sail on a Voyager Class ship than any Caribbean Class vessel.

Princess had previously targeted RCI in a press release about Caribbean and CPII from April of this year. Peter Ratcliffe was quoted in the release as saying:

We believe the Caribbean is a largely-untapped market for the Princess Cruises brand, and that the opportunity for growth is substantial for a product like ours, which is quite different from any Caribbean operator there today, especially our primary rival, Royal Caribbean/Celebrity. [...] We like to say that Princess offers the ‘only truly royal experience' in the Caribbean.

Full press release from princess.com.

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Originally posted by eroller:
The ad makes not so subtle hints about the superiority of Princess Cruises over Royal Caribbean.

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In the UK we rarely seen to get adverts which attack other products. Maybe our advertisers are easily not permitted to do it?

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

In the UK we rarely seen to get adverts which attack other products. Maybe our advertisers are easily not permitted to do it?

With RCI and Princess; At the end of the the day the best product will win! Or prehaps they will both will find their own niche, without too much overlap?

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Malcolm,
It's actually fairly rare in the US as well (at least for the cruise industry). Of course Princess never names names, but basically they have done everything but.

In other industries it is rather common to make direct comparisons (auto, over the counter medicines).

I find it interesting that the same company Princess was so eager to merge with is now the target of their extreme marketing. Tacky on the part of Princess. I hope RCI rises above it and bases their marketing on the many attributes of their product. The Voyager Class pretty much sells itself with little discounting, and this is the one thorn in Carnival Corps. side, as they really have nothing that compares. RCI is pretty much the only powerhouse that can go up against Carnival Corp. , and without them there is relatively nothing for Carnival Corp. to compete against. Let's hope they stay around (and independent) for a long, long time!

Who knows what "Ultra Caribbean-Princess" will be? Probably nothing more than a stretched version of CARIBBEAN PRINCESS with an even lower passenger space ratio and crew/passenger ratio. For Princess, this seems to be progress.

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Originally posted by cabinclass:
And what happens to the Royal Princess, what I think is a very special ship?

Donald

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Hi Donald,
I agree. RP is very special, and certainly is the Princess of past. She has always been one of my favorite ships.

Frankly, she no longer fits in with the "new" Princess, and eventually I would not be surprised to see her transferred to another Carnival Corp. brand.

It saddens me the direction Princess has taken.

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Originally posted by CGT:
P.S. I think the ads are Carnival Corps way of rubbing it in the face of RCI that Canrival got P&O Princess and RCI didn't.

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I think you are right. I couldn't help but think that either.

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Originally posted by eroller:
RP is very special, and certainly is the Princess of past.

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The real question - is the onboard product the Princess of the past, too?

And does anyone know how her condition is these days? She's almost 20 years old now...

Anyhow I agree, she sticks out like a sore thumb in the present Princess fleet. So does REGAL. Even PACIFIC and TAHITIAN just don't seem to fit in with the mega-ship model. I have to wonder if those two might eventually go to Swan Hellenic. Don't know where REGAL would go as A'Rosa hardly seems to be a runaway success, but Costa was suggested on this board, which would be a fine choice I think.

But ROYAL... Just where COULD she go? She doesn't fit in at Princess, woudln't fit in at HAL, or the new Cunard, or Costa, or anywhere else I could think of. A couple of years ago I'd have said P&O, but they seem to have abandoned their short-lived push into the upper market segments, and are now advertising an "all-superliner" fleet (like Princess). Smaller ships in the UK are now Swan's area, except that they would do better with "R" ships than with ROYAL.

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Originally posted by Keitaro:
They could always sell off the ROYAL for Meds service...

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The days of the Greeks who would "buy anything that floats" are over today. Now in the Med we have Costa, Festival, and MSC, all of whom have newbuilds and would likely not be interested in her.

Today what the Greeks used to be is now the gambling industry in Asia, except that by the time these people are done with the ships, they usually DON'T float. But I think ROYAL would be worth too much to sell to one of these companies. Maybe in a few years...

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even a new Asian cruise line to rub against Star Cruises

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Cruiseny said:
I guess she could compete with some of Star's smaller, older tonnage... But what's the point then? If Carnival was to launch an Asian offensive I think would have to be on a large scale.

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[ 07-13-2003: Message edited by: Keitaro ]

[ 07-13-2003: Message edited by: cncservo ]

Noordam
Costa Europa
Costa Tropicale
Costa Allegra
Costa Marina
Holiday
Jubilee
Celebration
Pacific Sky

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Noordam said: There are a few Carnival Corp ships that should go before the Royal...
Noordam
Costa Europa
Costa Tropicale
Costa Allegra
Costa Marina
Holiday
Jubilee
Celebration
Pacific Sky

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Although the Royal may not be the newest of the named ships - she is by far the best. I am a huge fan of her vast sun decks, her wrap around deck, and her overrall design... I love the Royal - I hope she stays at Princess as the baby of the fleet - as the Pacific stayed for so many years...

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[ 07-13-2003: Message edited by: Keitaro ]

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Originally posted by Keitaro:
I don't see where she could fit in any Carnival's brands. Costa maybe?

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She would be a tremendous misfit at Costa... Her mild Scandinavian interiors wouldn't translate very well into Italian modern.

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Cruiseny said:
What with her expensive-to-operate turbines, I would not be surprised to see her go soon. JUBILEE will at least initially supplement her, but could her sister CELEBRATION eventually join her in the South Pacific?

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Originally posted by Commodore:
Besides if it weren't for those darn Rock Climbing walls RCCL couldn't offer much in the entertainment category.

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Couldn't offer much in the entertainment category?

Just what sort of entertainment are you thinking of?

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Originally posted by Commodore:
I like the ads. They're rather humurous. Well who wants to climb a ship's funnel to get some nice fresh-diesel fumes. Hmm, sounds soo fun. Movies by moonlight may be a gimmick but as far as gimmicks go this one's not bad. Besides if it weren't for those darn Rock Climbing walls RCCL couldn't offer much in the entertainment category.

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FYI, outdoor movies on cruise ships in nothing new, and Princess certainly did not come up with the idea.

Royal Caribbean actually had movies under the stars long before Princess came along. There was a movie screen above the pool on SUN VIKING, and possibly NORDIC PRINCE and SONG OF NORWAY as well (pre-stretch) but I'm not 100% sure of that.

In any case, watching an outdoor movie is not going to make me pick Princess over any other line. A rock climbing wall, ice skating, miniture golf, inline skating course, basketball court, Royal Promenade, Johnny Rockets, and parades all on a single ship just might.

If Princess wants to be like Royal Caribbean, they have a long way to go. The Grand Class is not even in the same league as the Voyager Class.

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Originally posted by eroller:

A rock climbing wall, ice skating, miniture golf, inline skating course, basketball court, Royal Promenade, Johnny Rockets, and parades all on a single ship just might.

Ernie

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...and those are all things that would make me avoid a ship, except by the time you add all those things, it's not a ship anymore but (say it with me now, you know what's coming ) a FLOATING THEME PARK/SHOPPING MALL.

[ 07-14-2003: Message edited by: CGT ]