catgirl411

Thanks! Good to know about the rooms…after some debate we decided that they would book two Oceanview cabins and our adult stepdaughter booked an interior. DH and I have a balcony. They are doing 7 days and we are doing B2B so that we can enjoy whatever doesn’t work for them in our second week.

So thankful that you have provided this very balanced view of your experience on Sun Princess. We recently booked for a Caribbean cruise next February. We are experienced cruisers but this is the first cruise for some of our family group which includes our 13 year old granddaughter and 15 year old grandson. Have you seen many teenagers onboard and are they allowed in Princess Live for trivia etc? The other thing they will love is Umai for teppanaki. I can’t recall if you tried that.

I love this philosophy. We’ve booked our first ever family cruise for next February and I am really going to try to relax and let everyone enjoy it in their own way. And as an additional way of coping, we will be doing it B2B while the others are only doing the first 7 days. That should allow us to do anything we missed in the second week.

A few years ago we were in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur in July. It felt hotter than the surface of the sun (lol). I don’t think I’ve ever been so hot, even in summer in the Caribbean. Loved that trip, hated the heat and humidity. We were originally scheduled to do a Viet Nam, Thailand, Singapore ocean cruise in February 2021 but it was cancelled and we never got around to rescheduling for a variety of reasons. Looking forward to travelling along with you!

Really enjoying your posts. This is a bucket list trip for me so I will be following along. How do you find the heat?

So sorry to hear about Bella. It is so hard to lose a fur baby. We have a 17 1/2 year old cat who I worry about every time we are planning a trip.

It was awesome…loved the entertainment particularly Jayne Curry. Great Halloween party too! We were lucky enough to be in the Retreat (we got a wonderful price).

Completely agree! We had Dave and Angela on our TA in October, they were a major highlight!

I see that Dave Clark is your cruise director. We were on a TA on Reflection in October. His wife Angela was CD and he was assistant. They were so much fun. We just loved them. It was an awesome cruise with great entertainment. It didn’t hurt that it was our first experience in the Retreat ( we got an awesome deal..sigh…may not ever be able to repeat …loved those pistachio danish in Luminae). As always I am loving your posts…keep up the great work!

Seems like for her to have the “real” experience, it would have to be like the TV show Undercover Boss!

Thanks again! I love seeing your future plans. My DH thinks I’m crazy because we have three future cruises booked now. (Regal Princess British Isles May 2024, Apex Canaries, Spain and Portugal October 2024 and Ascent Greece, Croatia and Italy October 2024 with out daughter). I want to be more like you, booked out far into the future! Look forward to your next live.

I love your yellow backpack. I’m looking for a new packable one. What kind is that one? Do you like it?

I will miss reading your wonderful reports with my breakfast each morning. Do you have your next trip planned? Thanks again for taking us along!

Oh I really miss those pistachio danish…sooooo good. The dulche du leche croissants are wonderful too (but messy). And the peach French toast …yum.

So ugly! They fired the OC Dorsey this morning.

Well, it was superior on Reflection but that was our only experience with the Retreat. Never had a problem with the promptness of the housekeeping. Your experience so far makes me happier that we can’t afford the Retreat on future cruises. (We had an amazing deal on our Reflection TA…never to be seen again, I’m afraid).

If I remember correctly, you are doing two legs of a four leg Grand Voyage. If that’s the case, it is even more disappointing that the B2B aspects are not operating smoothly. I feel sorry for those who are doing the whole thing if that doesn’t improve. Do you think that part of what you are experiencing is because of the move up to The Retreat?

Sorry that your first night at Luminae wasn’t great. On Reflection we loved Luminae for all our meals and the service was very good. Alison was the dining room hostess and she made everything smooth for us. We had tables at or near the window every night so no I-95! The food was lovely. Hope things get better for you.

If Dave is onboard he will be part of the daily broadcast on your tv. They are so great together.

Just got off the Reflection on November 2. Are Angela and Dave Clarke still the CD and Activity Manager ? We just loved them.

One of the things we loved about Luminae on Reflection was that most tables are for two. We got to meet a lot of our fellow diners over the 14 days just by having dinner time conversations. I imagine Luminae in the Edge is a lot bigger so it may not have that same somewhat intimate feeling.

It is going to be really interesting for you to experience the Retreat right after Concierge Class. We just did the Retreat on Reflection. I know that the S Class Retreat experience isn’t the same as Edge but we really enjoyed the dining in Luminae. On the S Class ships it is right next door to the MDR so we were always able to choose from either menu. We really liked the Luminae menu and while at sea we ate there for breakfast lunch and dinner. At breakfast the pastries were superior to those in the Oceanview (pistachio danish, dulche du leche croissants) and DH had his customized omelette every morning. He even dragged himself out of bed earlier than normal to have breakfast at Luminae (not normally an early riser). We are spoiled forever. Sadly currently pricing makes it unlikely that we will do the Retreat in the near future.😢

Totally agree about how the captain and the CD dynamic makes a big difference. We just got off the TA on Reflection. We just loved Captain Kirk ((great rock show) and the dynamic between him, Angela Clarke the CD and her husband Dave the Activity Manager was a highlight!

Just wanted to thank you for your great report and in particular, bringing the pistachio danishes in Luminae to my attention. Just got off 14 nights on Reflection and i am missing them (and the dulche de leche croissants) seriously!

Just got off Reflection Transatlantic and he was one of our headliners…awesome.