Piazza life and stops in Houston two of cruising’s hot trends
Ports and Bows Phil Reimer is on assignment this week. Cruise writers Bob and Nancy Dunn just returned from a cruise on the Crown Princess. Here is their report.
When the Crown Princess first touched the shores of North America more than six years ago, the cruise line wanted to create a splash, as cruise lines always do for inaugural sailings. Because this ship was then based in New York City, the strategy was to create a New York state of mind: street musicians, places to snack and have a drink, a hub of activity.
It was a one-off experience that took on a life of its own and turned the “atrium” into the “piazza” — in keeping with the cruise line’s Italian motif, first on the Crown Princess and since then, quietly, on more than half of the 16-ship fleet. When the Royal Princess makes its debut — June in Europe and November in North America — it will have the biggest and most modern piazza, 50 per cent larger than any of its predecessors.
Fuelled by consumer response from that Crown Princess inaugural, the Princess piazzas now include pizza (arguably the best of any cruise line), and the everchanging acts of versatile performers in these floating Italian squares are billed as “pizzazz in the piazza.” As director of entertainment Roger Hawk puts it: “We’re addicted to alliteration.”
To enhance life in the piazza, shows in the Princess Theater have been shortened from 45 minutes to 35, allowing three shows a night instead of two and freeing up passengers to make more of an evening than just dinner and a show. What would be a more appealing place to go to than a piazza?
These days, the Crown Princess piazza appeals to passengers on Western Caribbean cruises from Galveston, Texas. However, this ship leaves Galveston in April after just a five-month stay and it won’t return. After a summer season in Europe, the Crown Princess will cruise the Eastern Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., until February next year, then embark on a 49-day grand adventure around South America.
Once the Crown Princess sails away from Galveston this spring, so will Princess Cruises, which is moving to Houston. The Princess announcement was made last November and since then the Port of Houston Authority has confirmed it will pay Princess $685,000 to sail 27 departures from the city’s modern but empty five-year-old terminal. That seemed like a good deal, until the same P of H Authority admitted Norwegian Cruise Line will be reimbursed to the tune of $6 million for 75 departures.
For Canadians, especially Western Canadians, the more ships sailing from the Lone Star State the better. The word on the water is cruises from Texas perform well, so whether that’s Galveston or Houston it probably doesn’t matter. Houston is closer to the airport, and more accessible from anywhere in Canada on departure day. That’s not usually possible if you’re going to Galveston from outside Texas, nor to an Eastern cruise departure point like New York or Miami from Western Canada.