Sox Fan Cruiser

Yes, your medallion was required for the door to the lounge to open. We didn’t go to the lounge very often so can’t comment on the staffing throughout the day. We spent most of our ship time up in the Signature Sun Deck but that’s a topic for another post! 🤪

Misc: They do NOT have special suite seating for the shows. That is reserved for those staying in the Sky Suite or have the Premium package (regardless of suite designation). The suite concierge specifically stated that the Enclave was NOT part of the suite benefits but we never got charged for access so still not sure if it's a perk or an administrative error. We didn't want to ask again! 😜 Funny story: When talking with the suite concierge about suite seating for the shows, he did mention that the service for the Sky Suite passengers was "out of this world" and we all responded that us "lowly" suite guests were getting amazing service we can't even imagine what they are doing for the Sky Suite guests. Truly, they were amazing. And the aft elevators currently are not reserved for suite guests only. Although once past deck 14 you are only accessing suite cabins, the suite lounge or the suite sanctuary so it's technically serving suite guests anyway. The port side elevator wasn't even working the entire duration of our cruise so we had to use the Starboard side one. Luckily there was a little "cut through" corridor where the laundry room was. (Taking a break and will post more later this weekend.) Next Up: Signature Restaurant

Okay, so here we go.... Frist topic: The Signature Lounge So the Signature Lounge is WAY above any suite lounge that Princess has ever tried to do before. The room is bright and airy and has fantastic views of the wake. The back wall is two stories of glass that provides a wonderful area to lounge about. There is always at least one concierge at the desk available to make reservations for the spa, the specialty restaurants or anything else you need. As I already said in a previous post they arranged for us to get on the first tender over to the dreaded cable cars in Santorini so we didn't have to wait in lines. And they personally walked us down for final disembarkation using their special keys to get a priority, personal elevator. I even heard them arrange for car service for one passenger who didn't have it yet. The train station is quite a walk from the ship (in Rome) and they were arranging a car to take them. They would also arrange a car to take them all the way to Rome. Seriously, THIS is the type of service that I expect in a suite lounge. It's on the same level as Celebrity in terms of lounge itself and service the concierges provide. WAY better than I expected. As stated in our "personal" letter in our stateroom: "The lounge is accessible 24 hours a day, with service provided from sunrise to sunset." The drinks are free and do not count towards your maximum drink allowance if you have a package. There are two waiters that provide complete service so you never have to go to the bar itself. You can just sit down and they will come to you. A concierge will always greet you by name and give you some helpful hints about what is going on that day or the next. There is someone playing music there every day from 5-7 pm. There is plenty of room and it never felt crowded at all. There was always some "snacks" available although none of it seemed very appetizing. (Currently on a weight loss drug that makes food unappealing so I will try and be fair in this area.) Although I did "cheat" and have couple of chocolate truffles one day that were really good! Go to the lounge for the cocktails and view, not the food. They will make reservations for you the first evening for your "free" suite specialty dining perk which includes all the restaurants marked as such: Crown Grill, Sabatini's, Umai Tappanyaki, Umai Hot Pot, Kai Sushi by Makoto, The Catch by Rudi and The Butchers Block by Dario. My biggest complaint of this area is that there was NO communication with us in our stateroom about any suite benefits or special events. The only way we new about anything was if we showed up. There was a Captain and Crew night where they came and spoke to us suite passengers. They had special tickets to the Cirque show for us. They did the special tender ride in Santorini. There was the special disembarkation process. All of it we knew about because we stopped by to get a glass of champagne. I have no idea what we missed on the days we didn't stop by. There should have been a lot more outreach to us in case we didn't go to the lounge. But when we did stop by they were amazing. They always knew our dinner reservations plans that evening, our excursions (if booked through the trip) and our final travel plans (or if we didn't have any.). They were on top of EVERYTHING and really provided that extra special touch that they just haven't been able to do with any other concierge suite host on any other Princess ship. I was more that pleased with this new concept. I went in with high hopes and low expectations and they blew me away. A+ Princess. More to come....

Just got home last night and need to catch up on work today. But I promise I will get to all the questions this weekend! 🤪

They also said that the buses run until 4:30 but all aboard wasn’t until 5:30 so I was confused. The water taxi was operating right up until 5:30. They also have a number of them going back and forth. It was one boat where you would have to wait until it came back to get on. They were constantly going back and forth.

Just got off the Sun Princess. The new port is not that far away from old town. You can purchase a bus ticket from Princess for $9 ahead of time and they say it takes about 20 minutes. The actually ride is more like 10 but they do wait for buses to fill up. Or you can take the water taxi, the “Sea Bus”, for 2 euro each way. Princess “warns” that there may be long lines but that was never the case as far as I could see. The Sea Bus also takes about 10, maybe 15 minutes. Since we had a private tour pick us up at the cruise terminal but then drop us off in old town after, we asked the suite concierge which type of travel was better and they said to use the water taxi as it was very easy. Even Princess was not recommending the bus!

I haven’t used a ship sponsored excursion in years and never had a problem. As karatemom2 said, their business model depends on them getting you back on time. They would go under if they didn’t. 1 hour away is not a long time. Private tours are so much better. As cr8tiv1 explained, if the tour company is nervous about getting you back, they won’t book it. And yes, we used a private tour company for Peggy’s Cove.

I agree. It feels more like home on Princess but they do have their problems. Celebrity is just a better product. Although…. I just got off the Sun Princess today in their version of The Retreat and they have definitely stepped it up a notch. Service throughout the Sun was much better than other ships and their suite service almost was equal to Celebrity. Almost. Much better than in the past.

We just got off the Sun Princess today and there is no activity in there yet. Our cabin was right outside. Still just a bunch of tables with table clothes on them.

Me too! I was a little worried that the first few nights were too calm.

So talking to people this morning, I guess it was really rough last night. They said we were rolling a lot. But I slept right through it.

Now that the cruise is over ☹️ I will say that there was movement throughout the cruise. Whenever we came into port there was A LOT of shaking as the thrusters kicked in to help the azipods. But there was also some movement at night as the speed increased. Just a little port to starboard shaking but we love feeling the ship move so it didn’t bother us. With the beds facing either aft or forward it was actually a comforting movement like rocking a baby’s cradle. Nothing too bad.

I don’t necessarily disagree with you @JimmyVWine just correcting the comment about it being weather related. I don’t think all executives are evil money hungry devils. There are reasons for the change in port, they just aren’t sharing them.

Teaser #3: For Santorini yesterday, they had us all meet in the lounge at 7am. Yes 7am on vacation! When the tender operation started, they escorted us all down and put us on the first tender. We were the first people up the cable cars with very little waiting. Our private tour was at 10 so this gave us time to walk around the town as it was opening as well as stop and have some coffee and Baklava for breakfast! Did I groin about having to get up so early. Sure did! But I was glad overall. They are really treating us like kings and queens on this ship.

But the problem with your argument is that they cancelled the port before we even got on the ship. A full five days before we were supposed to dock there. Are you telling me that they knew the weather conditions five days a head of time and made the call to not go there? It’s the same with some Santoríni cancellations. There are too many ships in port and the cable car will be an absolute mess. We were the only ship in port yesterday and we walked down instead of standing there for 90 minutes.

To be honest we have not made it to the suite breakfast even one day yet! 🤪. We will try on the last sea day tomorrow! But yes, it’s in the Signature restaurant. We know that much!

From what I can tell peaking over at my neighbor. 🤣 I actually really love the love seat. It has a foot rest so we can both “recline” comfortably.

Sorry, didn’t even know cruise ships HAVE a gym. 🤪

We eat at 8pm and it’s pretty empty. We (2 people) sat at a 4 top at the window one night. But it was dark out so didn’t matter. I bet you can talk the maitre d’ and get the same table every night if you come at the same time. But I’m not 100% sure. They don’t take reservations. I’ve notice that the Reserve Collection restaurant isn’t big enough for all there guests as there are people frequently at the Wheelhouse waiting for their table. But we have always walked into the Signature Restaurant and been sat right away. But again, we aren’t there until after 8.

On the current Sun Princess sailing. We went to Bar on the 11th. We stayed on the ship.

There are shows in the Arena now and there will be the “pirate show” some night which is the big production event. We don’t go to shows so can’t comment on them. We have been invited to “Blue” the cirque show in the Dome on the last two nights of our cruise as a “dress rehearsal” so my guess is they will be ready for your cruise.

And I will say… BEST SERVICE ON ANY CRUISE ON ANY PRINCESS SHIP WE HAVE EVER HAD.

I can definitely say there isn’t reserved seating in the Dome but will ask about the Arena.

We are the first cruise to have Spellbound so no. They were doing it for suites as a courtesy while they where practicing but it didn’t include dinner.

Yes. There is a welcome cocktail and then red or white wine. Once you actually get to Spellbound is when the cocktails really start flowing.