Well..along with the transatlantic cruise that we are considering are two other cruises...I'm so anxious to do a Mediterranean cruise next year and I was looking at two particular ones with similar itineraries..one is on the Emerald and one on the Royal..now..since these ships are not active yet..it's impossible to read any reader reviews (which I always love to do) and there's some information out there but..to all of you experts out there..what is the main difference between these two ships and which would you choose if you could and why? I'd really appreciate some insights..I'm catching the "booking" fever ..lol..but I want to make the right choice..though..with Princess..there really isn't a wrong choice is there??
These 2 ships could not be further apart as far as size goes. The Emerald will be a brand new ship and about the same size as the Caribbean and the Crown Princess. She will carry a little more that 3,100 passengers. The Royal is one of the old Renasence (sic) ships and will carry about 650 passengers. When I say "old", it is not really an old ship. It is a sister to the Tahitian and the Pacific Princess. I am sure whichever one you decide to go on you will have a great cruise.
Jim..
I am not really sure but I don't think the size would effect tendering. It would all depend on the port facilities. If the itineraries are that same they would probably both do the same thing. I would think the cruise brochure would tell you if they tied up or tendered.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.
Jim.
The Emerald will be the exact design and size of the Crown.
If you want to cruise on a large ship, then I'd choose the Emerald. (3,000 +)
If you'd rather the smaller 650 passenger Royal Princess, then this is the ship for you.
Ahh... The classic "big ship or small ship" dilemma.
I sailed on the Star Princess a few years ago and I had a wonderful time. While the Star is a slightly smaller sister of the Emerald, She's definitely a big ship. There were... 2,600 people - I think - on my cruise. I never felt crowded even though there were always lots of people around.
For my next cruise I'm eager to try the small ship experience. I really want to try one of the old Renaissance Ships (Pacific, Tahitian or the new Royal Princess). 650 passengers sounds very cozy.
A note about tendering and how it relates to ship size:
Most modern ports can handle the big ships at their main docks. The new RCCL behemoths might have some trouble, but all of Princess' fleet is sized right. In most cases where a ship has to tender it's simply because the docks are full.
Local governments often charge more fees for the privilege and convenience of using the dock, and less for tendering. They'll give preference to a big ship with more passengers to tax than a small one. So often times even the small ships that have no trouble at all with the docks have to tender.
I don't know where they’re going to put all 220,000 tons of the soon to be launched RCCL Genesis of the Seas and her 5,400 passengers. And who knows what they'll do with the rumored RCCL Giganticus of the Seas and her 1,500,000 tons and 25,000 passengers who will no doubt love riding the Jacques Cousteau themed tram the 2.5 miles from one end of the ship to the other. It won't have just a rock climbing wall, but an actual mountain on board for climbing and downhill skiing. The equestrian pasture is sure to be a popular activity on days at sea and the kids are sure to love roller coaster and petting zoo. Make your reservations early.
Ahh... The classic "big ship or small ship" dilemma.
For my next cruise I'm eager to try the small ship experience. I really want to try one of the old Renaissance Ships (Pacific, Tahitian or the new Royal Princess). 650 passengers sounds very cozy.
Or, you can try cruising with Oceania, which was Renaissance Cruises before they filed for bankruptcy in 2001. They retained three of those 650 passenger ships, and are luxury at a very, very affordable price. They have a special now offering free airfare for 2 to the cruise ship.
Yes, Nucruzer, Oceania is on my list too. If I can afford to splurge on my next vacation, I'll consider that line over Princess. Those ships from the now defunct Renassiance Cruise Line are beautiful. There were 8 identical ships, I think. Oceania got 3, Princess got 3, and I think Celebrity got the last 2. If I could I'd sample all three to see the difference between the lines. Identical ships is a good way to compare lines. I haven't checked the lottery numbers for this weeks drawing yet, so just maybe...
We chose Royal Princess because she can get into the smaller ports. For example, in Naples, Emerald would have to dock in Naples, we're going into Sorrento which I much prefer. We also get to do ports such as Portofino and St.Tropez because she's small. We did Millennium last year and she was pretty big so I'm looking forward to the experience of a smaller ship. For ports such as Rome and Florence, Athens, size doesn't really matter. Why don't you post the itineraries so we can compare?
Forgot to mention Oceania..... when we did our research for the med. this year...comparing Royal Princess to Oceania, very similar itinerary, Oceania was around $750 more per person for a balcony.
Is the "new" royal princess a new constuction or a rehab of the royal that princess tookover from renassiance and had been operating for the last few years? I just returned from a cruise on the crown and they had a trivia question " what are the 2 new princess ships coming out in 2007". Their answer was the emerald and the royal. They seemed to be implying that the royal was a new build and it is a princess tradition to name new ships with the same name as ships that left the fleet as they just did with the crown princess.
The Royal Princess, joining Princess' fleet later this year, is NOT a new ship. She was launched in 2001 as the "R8" and was the last of the 8 identical ships of the now defunct Renaissance Cruise Line.
Three of the ships went to Oceania. Two went to Celbrity. Three went to Princess and were renamed Pacific Princess, Tahitian Princess, and Royal Princess.
Re the tendering query about the EMERALD. In 06 we took the GRAND to the Med and stopped in Barcelona,Marseille,Naples,Roma,Florence,Mykonos,I stanbul,Kusadasi,Athens and Venice.There was NO tendering for the GRAND which is basically the same size as EMERALD.
If u want a mega ship with tons of things to do do the EMERALD, if you want to chill and have a slow paced cruise and very low keyed do the R class ship, the ROYAL.
CIAO,
__________________
CORAL PRIN~ALASKA~LAND-SEA/CRUISE-TOUR~8/04
GOLDEN PRIN~CLASSIC SO. CARIB.~4/05
GRAND PRIN~GRAND MEDITERRANEAN~5/06
NCL's~PRIDE OF HAWAII~HAWAIIAN ISL's~9/07
OCEANIA's INSIGNIA~more MEDITERRANEAN, part II~6/08
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Emerald or Royal?
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