New2cruise2022

I’ll be staying on Deck 6 on my Sun sailing, so I can practically step out my door and walk to the Enclave in a robe if the deck plans are accurate. 

8 hours ago, aussiecruiser275 said:

Yes to the first three questions, unsure of the hours but was open until  9pm on the Enchanted

Thanks! Never used it before but our next cruise I think it might be a must. 

Also, 

4) Hours for the Enclave?

If anyone has experience, would love to see pics or have your thoughts. 
 

The Enclave looks great.

1) Does the week pass give you access to the change room?

2) Does the change room include showers?

3) Are there lockers that lock in the change room?

On 3/5/2024 at 7:36 PM, Potstech said:

On the Enchanted the hours are:

11:00am-Late

(Food)11:30am-2:30pm &

5:30pm-9:00pm

 

Right from today’s edition of the official Princess event listings to answer OP's question.

These hours are for Enchanted. All of the Patters I have seen for Sun (albeit less than a dozen of them) the hours for food at O’Malley’s is only 5:30 PM-9 PM. 
 

Being closed for lunch is not going to help Princess sell Plus and Premier packages. Alfredo’s is left to do all of the heavy lifting with almost 8 hours of available casual dining compared to 3.5 hours in O’Malleys where space comes at a premium. 
 

It’s possible this is temporary until Sun is at capacity and then we will see lunch hours at O’Malley’s. It might also make sense to offer a pre fixe bento box at the sushi place for lunch/afternoons. 

29 minutes ago, BigWaveDave87 said:

I too was just on Discovery in mid February and was disappointed that Churchills was just converted to an arcade. Had to have my cigars on Deck 17 aft. I will concur with New2cruise that the area seems forgotten by the crew and is a mess and the furniture old, worn, and burn marks in the cushions. It was much nicer in the lounge. 

 

Happy Trails 

 

Nub Nuance! I like the Machiatto one quite a bit. Good taste, friend!

41 minutes ago, Teechur said:

Since ships like these are not built in the U.S., inaugural cruises will never happen here.

I understand that. So, unless I find myself living overseas, I will wait until the risk for delays and cancellation subsides. It never goes away, but the first few months can be turbulent on any line. 

If I could drive to a port an inaugural cruise is leaving from … I would do it.  I’m not sure I would invest in other variables (flights and lodging) that might complicate the situation more in the event of delay or cancellation. 
 

While many travel insurance companies will not cover some of these cancellation, there are fares available from airlines that are fully refundable and can be changed — even last minute. These flights of course cost more. 
 

We live in a world where you get what you pay for. A lower fare or deal is often referred to as a bargain. Pay less, get less. We bargain away flexibility and assurances for cheaper fares. If things go wrong, there is less flexibility and no assurances. 

1 minute ago, big al said:

 

Thanks..other Lagunitas, pretty bad list..I don't like Heineken..Enchanted, Regal & Crown Princess were all pretty boring...

I don’t mind as much that ships don’t carry a big list of beers on tap, because logistics might be difficult. But I do wish there were more variety of bottles. I wouldn’t even care if it regularly changed and the availability was written on a chalkboard. I’m sure there is an Italian beer on board in bottles and some Asian beer available at Umai and Kai sushi. I believe we might have had Red Stripe in another bar. But all bottles. 

7 minutes ago, big al said:

Hi guys & gals- I am an admitted & proud beer snob...I like draft beers over bottled/ canned beers and have found that about 80-85% of cruise ships ( I have been on 45 cruises including 7 cruise lines..) have lousy beers on draft EXCEPT the Breakaway Plus ships on NCL, who have a place called "The District Brewhouse", where they have between 25-27 draft beers on tap..another 75 in bottles..it's Beer Heaven for a guy like me...for those who have either just cruised the new Sun Princess, OR are going soon on her, can you please post what draft beers you see on the ship & where you found them..hopefully, at least O'Malley's fight have some...the Sun Princess looks super...thanks!

 

Big Al

I agree with the Breakaway Plus selection. Best at sea. Too bad they always seem to close that bar pretty early when it would be great being opened until after midnight. 
 

I think Omalleys on the Sun is the same as the last class. 

This is from the O’Malleys menu on the Sun. The same 4 were on tap at the Salty Dog on the Discovery a few weeks ago. 
The Affligem is a blonde. The Lagunitas an IPA. 

I was recently on Discovery where Churchill had been converted to an arcade weeks earlier. We still enjoyed cigars on Deck 17 aft. The social aspect was good if you wanted it, but you could also puff without anyone bothering you. I don’t know if staff aren’t interested, but the area was usually pretty cluttered with old drinks and trash, and all of the furniture was looking pretty old and worn. 

@CanadianBurger Great photos! Thank you for taking time to share. I noticed in video of that changing rooms at the fitness center that they have lockers. It looks like you can lock and unlock them with the Medallion. Do you happen to know if that is the case? 
 

No worries if not. Just curious and enjoying your trip!

24 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

That’s my point.  The members of this board are’t investigators nor do any conclusions made here have any legal bearing.  So why discuss it here?  Let the authorities investigate if the people affected feel like the offenses, if there were any, are grave enough.

I agree there isn’t a need to have any conclusion about the specific details of this situation. The reason to discuss here is to understand if there are any rules/procedures and are they important to Princess. It is also helpful to hear from someone that worked on a cruise that has experience and direction from the cruise line that they should never be in a guest’s stateroom. If the rule is that absolute, it shows very poor judgment on the part of the employee. 

1 minute ago, cheetosrevil said:

Thank you, your comment is interesting. Both of those offerings, cruise packages and beverage packages, include alcohol. The under 21 cruiser would have had to have Zero-Alcohol package, but I don't infer that by the OP.

They had a package. Would have converted to zero given the age. 

2 minutes ago, cruisinsince75 said:

I learned a lesson several years ago about jumping to conclusions.  Ok maybe I've had to learn it a few times.  There could have been something else going on or maybe not.  Either way it is up to the cruise line to handle it properly.

 

We were on a cruise years back when I spotted someone that I had worked with maybe 10 years earlier.  I said, that looks like so and so, but neither of us were sure.  I wanted to go over and say hi, but he was hanging out with this 20 y.o. something girl that was clearly not his wife.  I saw him hanging out with her in the bars and dancing with her, and sometimes at dinner and a few times out at the pool.  He had his arm around her, even when she was with her friends.  He never acknowledged me, so we just kept to ourselves. 

 

When I got back to work, my boss asked how the cruise was.  I said, it was great, but I thought I had seen this so and so onboard, but wasn't sure. To which he answered, it was him.  His daughter is a dancer on the ship and he went to see her.  The wife couldn't leave the business, so she is going in a couple of weeks.  I am sure glad I kept my mouth shut!    

I absolutely agree. In this case, we did ask those questions. Did the crew member no them? Were they related? Were they from the same town? My son said they had met on the cruise. They did not know each other from before. 
 

I’m not putting the intent of the behavior out to be tried to decided. I’m solely interested in learning about the acceptability of the decision to be in a guest’s cabin or to serve alcohol to another guest. 

There are plenty of happy instances of people meeting on a cruise and ending up together. But it is naive to ignore that safeguards should be in place. Regardless of age. This isn’t about underage risk. It is about any age risk. 
 

While still a small percentage, reports of sexual assaults were up last year across the cruise industry. It isn’t being a prude to recognize this and want protections put in place. 

The exposure to civil liability is enormous for cruise lines. While it is a nice fairytale to talk about love found between passenger and crew, the risk exists for it to go horribly wrong. That is why so many zero tolerance policies are written regarding some behaviors. 
 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2024/01/31/cruise-sexual-assaults-rose-2023/72409442007/

Just now, memoak said:

Still we are talking about grown people who are all expected to be responsible for their own actions not children. When I was 22 I had a 6 month fling with a 35 year old woman should someone have “saved” me from that ?  As a 43 year old I had a shipboard fling with a 25 year old entertainment staff member.  Again we are adults and should be treated as such. 

If you and @Cruise Raider are correct and this isn’t a big deal, then it will fall by the wayside and nothing will happen. So, no harm, no foul. We didn’t make any assertions or conclusions about the event. We shared it with Princess so their skilled HR professionals can look at it — with knowledge of the protocols and procedures in place — and make a smart decision. 

16 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Thank you!  We’ve made very good friends with crew and entertainers and would consider good friends enough to them welcome to our homes.  I can tell you are on the Discovery and 18 years of age is old enough to make voting decisions in the US, so they can certainly discern if they want to make friends with someone they’ve met onboard.  
It’s just too bad the OP has made a stink about this as we’ve also invited entertainers to our cabin, with permission, of course.  There always have had to be an array of people of both sexes at the cabin parties for that visit to be approved.  I fear permission will now not be granted in the future because an adult (18+) didn’t make a wise choice.  So sad for us that we won’t have that choice in the future.  
 

If Princess is ok with fraternization between staff and passengers and ok with them providing alcohol and being in their staterooms, that is their business decision to build a brand that way. 
 

The point of posting was to better understand what the culture is. Your post shares a perspective that you believe it is fine. And if it is, then people can decide if that is something they welcome or want. 
 

The reason most rules — like no staff/crew being allowed to fraternize or hang out in a state room — is to protect passengers and staff/crew. It isn’t about control of taking away choice. It is reducing opportunities for situations to arise that give lawsuits traction. 

14 minutes ago, Outerdog said:

 

This is the correct answer, assuming of course that this "senior staff member" is crew subject to the same fraternization rules as all crew, and not some entertainment dude with different rules. I've heard various takes on whether or not entertainment are actually crew.

 

Not sure about OP's assertion of "grooming tactics". These are adults we're talking about.

Grooming is not reserved for children. In fact grooming is used with adults regularly. They are behaviors used to attract, gain trust, or gain favor. 
 

Grooming is more than candy and money. Grooming is opportunity and access. A job, alcohol that is otherwise prohibited, vacations and other opportunities. 
 

Grooming is contextual and a state of mind. 

9 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Thank you!  We’ve made very good friends with crew and entertainers and would consider good friends enough to them welcome to our homes.  I can tell you are on the Discovery and 18 years of age is old enough to make voting decisions in the US, so they can certainly discern if they want to make friends with someone they’ve met onboard.  
It’s just too bad the OP has made a stink about this as we’ve also invited entertainers to our cabin, with permission, of course.  There always have had to be an array of people of both sexes at the cabin parties for that visit to be approved.  I fear permission will now not be granted in the future because an adult (18+) didn’t make a wise choice.  So sad for us that we won’t have that choice in the future.  
 

It wasn’t an entertainer, it was a staff member. 
 

We didn’t make a stink. We shared the experience and asked for insight into the culture and rules for this behavior. 
 

This is also about Princess having information to protect the brand from lawsuits or potential problems. It is more for Princess to benefit from this. We are very big Princess fans and want them to succeed. This wasn’t a drive by. 

The other reason the ages matter and why we decided to share in an open forum, is because we are helping families with both teenage and young adult children understand the rules and the culture of a cruise line, be that Princess or others. We felt this experience was surprising enough (given our belief that this behavior isn’t the standard for Princess) that it might benefit someone contemplating booking a cruise. 
 

While Princess may be legally bound not to share specifics about this matter or the crew involved, the brand could benefit from making their culture better known. 

18 minutes ago, EDDY0827 said:

Anyone stop to think that maybe the staff member and the passengers were related??

Brother/ sisters or cousins or uncle and nieces? If this staff member was doing something that breaks the rules, I doubt that you would have seen it as often as you or your sons did.

There could be other reasons for this besides nefarious ones.

Asked my son and confirmed. He spent hours across the week. Other than being from the same country, there was nothing to connect them as family or friends. They met on the cruise. 

6 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

Thank you for reporting this to Corporate.  About 14 or so years ago I took my two daughters and a friend, ages ranging from 18 to almost 21 on a Carribean cruise.  The 30 something DJ was stalking and preying on the friend.  He chastised me for being overprotective, as I never let then out of my sight, and I told him that I knew what guys like him were all about, etc etc. He finally caught the friend alone and propositioned her.  Once she saw for herself what he was all about she was shocked and disgusted and put him in his place.  That was the end of that.

 

I know that Princess has a zero-tolerance policy of crew socializing with passengers, but it most certainly does happen.

In the case of the story you related, passengers shouldn’t have to put people in their place and make judgment calls about staff behavior. This should be taught and handled by corporate. 

2 minutes ago, 1emerald1 said:

Thank you for reporting this to Corporate.  About 14 or so years ago I took my two daughters and a friend, ages ranging from 18 to almost 21 on a Carribean cruise.  The 30 something DJ was stalking and preying on the friend.  He chastised me for being overprotective, as I never let then out of my sight, and I told him that I knew what guys like him were all about, etc etc. He finally caught the friend alone and propositioned her.  Once she saw for herself what he was all about she was shocked and disgusted and put him in his place.  That was the end of that.

 

I know that Princess has a zero-tolerance policy of crew socializing with passengers, but it most certainly does happen.

Thank you for sharing your personal experience. I am a survivor of abuse myself and keenly aware of patterns of behavior and grooming tactics. If behavior that is out of line is merely regarded as innocent mistakes, the door is left to open for a pattern to arise and behavior to escalate. 

1 minute ago, TRLD said:

It is the standard employment contract for hotel side employees which includes the entertainment department.

Thank you for sharing your insights to this and confirming that the behavior is beyond suspect if the investigation supports the claim.