Outside/Inside Promenades and Photo Gallery on Regal Princess

Regal Princess' outside promenade was designed, of necessity, as the safety deck for boarding lifeboats. Thus, it spans only the outside area beneath where the lifeboats are stored, running between the International Lounge, forward, to the Palm Court Dining Room, aft. Although fairly wide, and filled with comfortably padded chaise lounges, this beautifully maintained, teak covered deck does not circle the ship!

In the mentality of the 1980's, when large ships were considered to be those of 45,000 tons, the appearance of Royal Caribbean's 73,000 ton Sovereign of the Seas sent shock waves through the industry. Every cruise line felt the urgent need, not only to expand tonnage, but to do so with entirely new classes of huge vessels. Feedback reported back from passenger surveys indicated Atriums to be important features of this new class of vessel. Equally important were twin level showrooms and cafe areas featuring inside seating and serving. Most importantly, however, the surveys indicated passengers to be quite discerning about what it was that they considered to be a large ship. The magic number seemed to be 70,000 tons below which, ships were considered just mid-sized. With the calculation of tonnage being that of permanently enclosed INTERIOR space, in order to meet that target as expeditiously as possible, new ships coming down the skids were designed to maximize interior space, with the corresponding elimination of easily encloseable exterior space. Wrap around promenades were deemed to be expendable with the thinking: "Enclose that space, and you have a larger ship!" Even with the "game playing" Regal Princess, at 69,845 tons still fell slightly short of the target size. Thank goodness for rounding up. A quick check of the Princess brochures indicates her size as 70,000. BINGO!!

A more serious flaw that's always bothered me with these ships is the inclusion of two interior promenades on the same deck as that containing the outside promenades. At the points where these four promenades run parallel, they account for over half of the width of the ship, leaving little in the way for usable public space. Small lounges such as Adagio and the Bengal Bar are shoehorned into the remaining center area with neither providing the spaciousness that really is needed for the events often scheduled. There is more to marine architecture than just filling space. It's sad that Princess didn't consider that and hire professionals before committing to build these ships!

Aft on both sides of the interior promenades are located the photo galleries where the numerous photos taken during the cruise are displayed for purchase. Also here available are film supplies, developing and photo frames and albums. A limited selection of photo equipment is also available for purchase. Understandably, this space, situated as it is just outside of the dining room along corridors through which just about everyone on board will pass, becomes very congested prior to dinner seating.


	Outside/Inside Promenades and Photo Gallery on Regal Princess A PARNAMI Cruise Page Regal Princess' outside promenade was designed, of necessity, as the safety deck for boarding lifeboats. Thus, it spans only the outside area beneath where the lifeboats are stored, running between the International Lounge, forward, to the Palm Court Dining Room, aft. Although fairly wide, and filled with comfortably padded chaise lounges, this beautifully maintained, teak covered deck does not circle the ship! In the mentality of the 1980's, when large ships were considered to be those of 45,000 tons, the appearance of Royal Caribbean's 73,000 ton Sovereign of the Seas sent shock waves through the industry. Every cruise line felt the urgent need, not only to expand tonnage, but to do so with entirely new classes of huge vessels. Feedback reported back from passenger surveys indicated Atriums to be important features of this new class of vessel. Equally important were twin level showrooms and cafe areas featuring inside seating and serving. Most importantly, however, the surveys indicated passengers to be quite discerning about what it was that they considered to be a large ship. The magic number seemed to be 70,000 tons below which, ships were considered just mid-sized. With the calculation of tonnage being that of permanently enclosed INTERIOR space, in order to meet that target as expeditiously as possible, new ships coming down the skids were designed to maximize interior space, with the corresponding elimination of easily encloseable exterior space. Wrap around promenades were deemed to be expendable with the thinking: "Enclose that space, and you have a larger ship!" Even with the "game playing" Regal Princess, at 69,845 tons still fell slightly short of the target size. Thank goodness for rounding up. A quick check of the Princess brochures indicates her size as 70,000. BINGO!! A more serious flaw that's always bothered me with these ships is the inclusion of two interior promenades on the same deck as that containing the outside promenades. At the points where these four promenades run parallel, they account for over half of the width of the ship, leaving little in the way for usable public space. Small lounges such as Adagio and the Bengal Bar are shoehorned into the remaining center area with neither providing the spaciousness that really is needed for the events often scheduled. There is more to marine architecture than just filling space. It's sad that Princess didn't consider that and hire professionals before committing to build these ships! Aft on both sides of the interior promenades are located the photo galleries where the numerous photos taken during the cruise are displayed for purchase. Also here available are film supplies, developing and photo frames and albums. A limited selection of photo equipment is also available for purchase. Understandably, this space, situated as it is just outside of the dining room along corridors through which just about everyone on board will pass, becomes very congested prior to dinner seating. Copyright © 2001 Mel Litzenberger. All Rights Reserved Continue Tour: The Bengal Bar Reverse Tour: International Show Lounge Return to Regal Princess E-mail: PARNAMI@aol.com