Just Back From Sun Princess!

[BJS]

..Princess should throw in a nice shipboard credit for him on his next cruise ... to compensate him for all the added trouble he had to go through to straighten everything.

A nice letter to Alan Berkelew, which is forwarded to customer service, stating some positive aspects of the cruise followed by a suggestion that they improve the training of those that handle shipboard accounts relating the experience might just be rewarded with a nice shipboard credit on his next cruise. It did for us.

[Canuck Cruzer]

I did find the smell, but the interesting thing I noted was that it tended to be there on occasion when we were in port.

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Perhaps your sailing partner(s) had a problem with gas....letting one slip every once in a while.;)

[Host Joe]

OMG! That was very funny! :)

[kryos]

Perhaps your sailing partner(s) had a problem with gas....letting one slip every once in a while.;)

What do they call that? Silent, but deadly? :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[cruisequeen007]

I too have just return from the Sun Princess. This was our 13th cruise and might just be our last cruise on Princess. We did not have a bad time on board and thanks to our Cruise Critic friends it was extremely enjoyable thanks to Kyros, Cancruz, Novie, AMF, Library Chick and others.

Some of the problems were the smell - but we just left the area where the problem was; the lack of organized excerize activities during the day; the boring comedian who was hardly funny; not Princess fault but the constant rough seas who made us feel as if we were on an amusement park ride that would never end and the attitude of Princess that you could not let one of there vehicles leave until every last seat was filled no matter how long that took. Because Princess returned to a different pier than departure we had to rely on a Princess shuttle bus to take us there. The Princess person in charge would not let this bus leave until every seat was filled. We were the 4 and 5th persons on board and had too wait for about 35 min. while this Yah hoo person filled the bus. One of the men on board even offered him a bribe and he wouldn't budge. Finally they had so many people on the bus that some had to stand and theie luggage was sitting in the aisle. When we finally got to Terminal 19, the bus would not take are luggage off till all the passengers were off the bus and they had collected their TIPS!

The good points were the extremely friendly passengers that we met and talked with - never met a crabby or unhappy person till disembarkation.

This group of cruise critics was the best we have ever had. From our group breakfast to my dinner partners. I will always remember the good times we had. The best show we went to was the Salute to Broadway and C'est Magnifie (SP?) The food in the dining room was much better than I had read on this board. The waiters were great!

I had a blast playing and almost winning on "The Weakest Link", the Champagne Waterfall was also fun.

Now for the cabins, we had a balcony cabin on the Caribe deck and it was the smallest we have ever experienced. Storage room was adequate but the bathroom was so small that if you were in the shower you could not bend over to pick up soap.

Internet access was reasonable at 35 cents a minute.

Other than missing Princess Cays which we had already visited on a prior cruise the ports were great. We drank great banana daiquiris in St Thomas,

French wine in St Maarten, Banks beer, Mount Gay Rum in Barbados, Carib beer in Antique well you get the picture.

The cruise director was Dan Gibbons. He definitely was not the best I have ever seen nor the worst.

Food- the scrambled eggs in the Horizon Court were the pits and the coffee everywhere was not good.

 

Sorry I am jumping around but thoughts keeping popping up. If anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to answer.

[cruiserforlife]

cruisequeen007,

 

Well,it certainly sounds as if Princess has gotten cheaper in their ways of doing business,"the bus-doesn't leave-until-every-seat-is-full" is one example of an idea that will certainly piss everyone off.Note to self:take a cab.

 

It sounds like aside from the smell problems (which have been widely reported),you made the most of your cruise with the help of your cruise critic friends.Did you do PC dining and if so,can you comment on your experiences there?Have you ever been on an older,smaller ship like the Sun?I guess that would explain the smaller cabins.We are sailing the Sun on 1/28 and will be the 2nd. group to go to Princess Cays.The 1st. group couldn't tender in because of the rough seas.

 

Speaking of which,were the seas that rough?This is the 2nd. complaint I have heard regarding the rocking motion of the ship.

 

Glad you enjoyed the food...any highlights?

[Genessa]

I did find the smell, but the interesting thing I noted was that it tended to be there on occasion when we were in port. I wonder ... maybe they "offload" processed sewage in port? I mean, they would have to get rid of it at some point, right? I'm only wondering if that's why I would get the occasional whiff of something ... but only when we were docked. I never smelled it while we were sailing.

 

Anyone else notice this?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Rita,

 

We've never sailed on the Sun, but we found the same exact thing on the Dawn (but didn't notice it on the "old" Sea) when we were in port. Not sure if it's because we're in port and they are doing something differently or if it's because we're in port and there are no breezes from the ship moving.

[kryos]

The Princess person in charge would not let this bus leave until every seat was filled. We were the 4 and 5th persons on board and had too wait for about 35 min. while this Yah hoo person filled the bus. One of the men on board even offered him a bribe and he wouldn't budge. Finally they had so many people on the bus that some had to stand and theie luggage was sitting in the aisle. When we finally got to Terminal 19, the bus would not take are luggage off till all the passengers were off the bus and they had collected their TIPS!

Holy Toledo! Wanted to make sure he got his tips before letting people off the bus? My God!

 

Of course, I had no idea such a thing had happened to you guys who had to go to the other terminal to get your vehicles. That truly sucks! But, I must say ... it doesn't surprise me. Holland America did the same thing to me last September and it really pissed me off. I had a transfer to the Miami airport, and we went by bus. I was one of the first off the ship, but it really didn't matter. That bus didn't move until the entire ship was cleared because HAL was only having one bus making that run. Therefore, we had to sit there until everyone was off the ship so that all folks having transfers to Miami could be on the same bus. What's the point of having me one of the first off the ship then? I had to sit for over an hour before this bus moved so much as an inch.

 

After that little episode I swore off ship's transfers. I just took a cab to Fort Lauderdale Airport last Tuesday, and was there in a matter of minutes.

 

Sorry you had such a crappy experience. Hope it doesn't turn you off to Princess entirely though ... we had so much fun on the Sun. I doubt any cruise I take in the future will ever be able to top the fun I had on this one. And, that's all because of good people like you.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[cruzzers]

We, too, are on the 1/28 sailing of the Sun and are very excited about it. I appreciate all of the input, thanks for posting!

Please email us and let us know how your cruise goes since we are booked on the Feb. 17th sailing. Have a great time!

[Host Joe]

No problem, I plan on posting a review when I return!

[bushwhacker]

Not to worry - you will have a GREAT cruise! :)

(Just don't expect great food.)

[Cancruz]

With the help of a great group of CCers we had a great cruise! Always, be optimistic! We didn't meet anyone that we weren't able to strike up a conversation with. Yes, there was Norwalk and it was kind of scary to see them sanitizing the cabins; but on my return to school the Noro virus was there also. It would be good if schools used as many precautions as the ship.

 

After reading lots of reviews I was expecting the food to be poor. Quite the opposite - great food. I like to try a variety of items - no problem. Some people complained of small portion sizes. If you eat all 5 courses, there is no way that you would go away hungry. There were also everday selections that you could choose if you were a meat and potatoes kind of person. Along with fellow CCers we enjoyed exceptional service and entertainment from Jerry and Jeffrey. Room steward, Francisco, was super also! Room service for breakfast on our balcony was timely and efficient. We filled out the card before bed at night and a little touch of heaven accompanied our quite time together and fantastic scenery in the morning. We wanted for nothing!

 

Open seating in the dining room at lunch provided many delightful acquaintances as well as good menu variety. Sevice at these times was not as delightful which is why we always prefer traditional fixed seating. Horizon buffet was too "busy" for us, but we did try them some days. Pizza and calzones were good, but too time consuming. HB & HD we can have at home, but the FF were good.

 

My only complaint was the lack of exercise classes. I enjoy aerobics and with 4 sea days this would have been a boost for my metabolsim. There were only 7 aerobics classes available during a 10 day sail and they were all scheduled while the boat was in port. There were pilates, yoga and fit ball classes scheduled almost everyday for a $10. per class fee. To compare with Hal, RC and Norwegian, I was able to participate in 4 or 5 classes a day. I love to be active even though I'm on vacation. I did participate in line dancing(great fun) and walking the promenade as well but neither get your pulse up like a good aerobics class. Climbing stairs instead of using the elevator and swimming and snorkeling at the beaches were other alterntives that I used.

 

I would say that 60% of the Princess Patter was advertising for money making venues. I agree with Rita that more seminars at sea should be included at no additional fee. I realize that the bottom line for cruise companies is making money but if other cruiselines are offering more options w/out additinal costs then Princess may need to match suit. We gladly paid for tours, drinks and extra tips for exceptional sevice. Keeping captive passengers entertained at several available venues would be a strong enticement to continue loyalty. How many cards and games can you play in 24 hours?

 

Will I cruise Princess again? maybe, but I will be following posts to see if they address this need.