I am thinking of purchasing a 2010 Princess v78. I would appreciate any insight or experience anyone might have with this boat! Thanks..
Have you been down in the engine room yet? Because on the boats like that I've been on they didn't leave much room for ease of maintenance. Personally I like the flybridge models better.
I agree, I was on a 74' Princess and the engine room was very very tight and hard to access various items.
princess quality since change of ownership, princess has developed a lot and in my opinion is now better than both sunseeker and azimut in quality of systems and finish. the sales figures also reflect this positive development. i was recently visiting dusseldorf both show, while azimut and sunseeker stands had limited visitors; princess booth was full and may be the only one really attracting people.
I would say above an Azimut and somewhere around even with a Sunseeker. Sunseeker does some things better like engine room access. I personally don't like the new Princess interiors and don't feel they're lasting in a marine environment, but it also seems to be the interior furnishings the buyers are looking for these days. I think it was a bad move for Princess to not renew their agreement with Viking Yachts. Viking is what helped put Princess on the map for several reasons (as the Viking SC). Viking yachts has an extensive dealer network. Viking yachts also stands behind the warranty really well and was very good at stocking the parts for the Princess/Viking SC's. Time will tell how the new dealer network is with them and warranty claims.....although several viking/viking sc dealers are now Princess dealers such as HMY.
Ownership of princess Princess is now owned by lvmh, the largest luxury goods supplier in the world. They also own royal van lent, a major part of feedship, who is may be one of the best shipyards in the world. Furthermore, they own fendi, again one of the leading brands in interior goods n design. They have the capacity to recall resources whenever necessary from these companies, hence the major change in princess. With their financial strength, they are able to support princess anywhere at the optimum market penetration and the move for complete independence in u.s. was also inevitable.
Hi. I have a 50 Viking SC flybridge model going on 5 seasons now. I recommend you look at the 72 flybridge model, beautiful boat with lots of room. I think the Princess is a step up from an Azimut. I dont believe the dealer network has changed at all. I still call Viking in New Gretna to get any parts or factory support. Brian C. knows everything about them. I was at thier Riviera Beach facility a couple of weeks ago for the Viking/Princess VIP event and they had several models for each brand to tour and sea trial. All of the same staff from the main locations were there. So no obvious change at all in support or staff. This is a great event to attend if you are serious about a purchase. I have found my boat to be very well engineered and reliable. The engine room is tight, especially on a 50, but they still have thought things out and put all of the fuel, oil, filters etc. accessible. The larger models of course have larger engine rooms, that few feet of extra beam makes a big difference. On my model, the salon floor is easily removed in sections to gain access for larger jobs like aftercoolers etc.
Having the financial strength to offer customer support (warranty) and successfully executing the support to the customer's satisfaction are two different things, it will remain to be seen how this next step plays out. The "move for complete independence" was also not obviuos as inevitable to many in the industry, and is certainly not without risk as compared to the previous business model. We will see how this new player deals with a complex and fickle motoryacht market, deep pockets et. al.
I think this information is inaccurate. There are no demonstrable changes obvious to the customer regarding the "North American business model". The New Gretna facility will still stock standard parts for all Princess and older Viking SC branded boats. There two main facilities in NJ and Riviera Beach that still provide full technical support and factory knowledge. Viking Sport Cruisers is still the "sole distributor" for Princess in North America. After many interactions with the Viking Sport Cruiser staff since the change of branding, it is inaccurate to imply that there is a change in the support or structure.
Point taken, it is not fair to speculate on my part on future performance, I was trying to respond to the "complete independence" portion of the previous comment.