Sun Class Ships

[kentuckmn]

Why is there such a price difference on the Sun Class Ships? We are looking at an Alaska Cruise, July 2006, and the Dawn/Sun is so much less than Island/Coral. Can you give me any reasons why I would want to book the more expensive cruise?

[PrincessAddict]

The reason being is that Sun Class ships have less inventory to sell in terms of Full Suites, Mini-Suites and Balconies compared to Grand Class which have over 700 balconies to sell and 100 Mini-Suites and 28 Full Suites. Thus, it becomes a supply and demand issue.

[thasmin]

Actually it's simpler than that: The sun / dawn are the original sun class ships (along with 2 others), and are older. The Island / Coral claim to be sun class, but they are much newer. They have more dining options and some more modern amenities than the sun/dawn. Supply and demand yes, everybody wants to sail on them. I am booked on the Sun for my Alaskan cruise in June, I'll take the 400 dollars per person savings easily. The sun and dawn still are rated very highly.

 

best

th

[Crazsea]

Hi PrincessAddict!

Email me!

I put my email in my signature. I might have good news!!!!

Jonathan

[Globaliser]

Actually it's simpler than that: The sun / dawn are the original sun class ships (along with 2 others), and are older. The Island / Coral claim to be sun class, but they are much newer.

Yes, the idea that Island and Coral are "Sun Class" is just a load of marketing rubbish.

[PrincessAddict]

Crazsea...just emailed you...curious too hear the great news!

[pcumberl]

How does the Sea Princess compare to the other Sun Class Ships? I believe I heard it's currently being renovated in dry dock. Any one know any news? TIA.

 

~Paul

[Globaliser]

Not quite: Sea Princess is still sailing for P&O at the moment, as Adonia. Her last cruise as Adonia ends on 15 April 2005. She will then be converted back to the Princess format, and her first cruise as Sea Princess will start on 28 April 2005.

 

Sea Princess is a near-identical sister to the last Ocean Princess (now sailing as Oceana for P&O). These two ships are also very near to identical to Sun Princess and Dawn Princess, although there are some small but noticeable differences between Sea and Ocean on the one hand, and Sun and Dawn on the other - the most obvious is that the bridge wings on the Sun and Dawn are open, while those on Sea and Ocean are enclosed. (I've heard it said that this is one reason why the latter two were the ones transferred to P&O, as they would not then sail through the Panama Canal nearly as often - the enclosed bridge wings raise the tonnage and therefore the tolls payable.)

[spongerob]

Why is there such a price difference on the Sun Class Ships? We are looking at an Alaska Cruise, July 2006, and the Dawn/Sun is so much less than Island/Coral. Can you give me any reasons why I would want to book the more expensive cruise?

 

Which category of cabin are you looking at? I compared some July/05 prices (how did you get 2006 prices, by the way?) and most categories seemed comparable, with the exception of inside cabins. Those are much more expensive on the Coral/Island. Perhaps they are larger.

[Coral]

I have been on the Sea, Sun and Dawn Princess and to me - they look identical to each other. What Globaliser wrote about the Ocean and Sea Princess is what I understood to be true also (the ships cost more to go through the canal due to a change in design).

 

The Sun and Dawn are older ships and for this reason, are less. These two ships do not have a large pool with a retractable roof, the balconies are smaller (but covered), there are not that many minisuites or suites (and they are configured differently) than the Coral and Island Princess.

 

After saying that - I have sailed the Sun and Dawn and would do so again. They are classy ships and I had a great time on both of them.

 

I agree with the statement that the Coral and Island Princess are not really Sun Class ships - they are in a class by themselves and their amenities are closer to the Grand class ships.

[bdjam]

Sea Princess is a near-identical sister to the last Ocean Princess (now sailing as Oceana for P&O). These two ships are also very near to identical to Sun Princess and Dawn Princess, although there are some small but noticeable differences between Sea and Ocean on the one hand, and Sun and Dawn on the other - the most obvious is that the bridge wings on the Sun and Dawn are open, while those on Sea and Ocean are enclosed. (I've heard it said that this is one reason why the latter two were the ones transferred to P&O, as they would not then sail through the Panama Canal nearly as often - the enclosed bridge wings raise the tonnage and therefore the tolls payable.)

Makes you wonder what the toll for the Panama Canal is per ton…there can’t be that much of a difference just because the bridge wings are enclosed – although I heard the same story…?

[Genessa]

We've sailed on the Dawn several times and have an upcoming cruise on her.

Yes, she is "older", but by no means old.

 

We sailed the Coral to Alaska over the Dawn in 2003 mainly because the Coral has a covered pool. Ironically, I think I only used the pool once because I didn't want to give up viewing time.

 

If we were going back to Alaska again, we would pick the Dawn or the Sun, rather than the Coral or the Island. We prefer the balconies on the Dawn to the balconies on the Coral, despite having a large, half-covered, half-uncovered Caribe balcony on the Coral.

 

The Dawn's balconies are "carved" out of the hull of the ship. You can stand at the rail of your balcony and imagine you are the only people on the ship.

 

The Coral's balconies are tiered. So, instead of only looking out at the sea, your eye also travels down and sideways onto lower decks' balconies.

[TorontoTL]

I find this thread very interesting. I am currently planning a cruise to the Panama Canal onboard the Coral for Nov. 05. I have cruised on the Sun and really enjoyed her as much as I have the Grand class ships. I would definitely cruise on a Sun class ship again. In fact I'd like to do a 14 day southern Caribbean on the Sea Princess sometime as those intineraries look really good. Because of what you guys have said about the balconies and the fact that when we have had them in the past we didn't use them that much, we are considering booking a minisuite without balcony instead. It is about the same price as a reg. balcony cabin and has the bigger bathroom and sitting area. What do you guys think about that idea? Do you think that the balcony is more important for the Panama Canal or do you think that the extra room is nicer for the longer itinerary?

[Times Prince]

A balcony for the Panama trip is REALLY a plus. When going through the canal many people go on deck and vie for space on the railing to see what's going on and being described on the intercom. I did this while my wife chose to relax on our balcony, several decks closer to the "action". She turned on the ship channel on TV and heard everything said by the Panama guide. If you are traversing the entire canal, the balcony view gives one a very relaxed, enjoyable trip.

 

I also started the whole Panama transit on deck before dawn (sunrise was fantastic), but ended up with sunburn later, while my wife enjoyed the shade, or sun, as she chose while still having a personal place on a railing.

 

You won't regret the balcony.

[kentuckmn]

Which category of cabin are you looking at? I compared some July/05 prices (how did you get 2006 prices, by the way?) and most categories seemed comparable, with the exception of inside cabins. Those are much more expensive on the Coral/Island. Perhaps they are larger.

 

Spongerob, I don't have the pricing yet for 2006, I am basing all my research on the 2005 prices. I would LOVE to have a balcony suite, but it is about $1000 more per room than an inside suite. So I plan to save the money and go for an inside suite. Also, we will be traveling with 4 other people who will also have an inside suite, so plan to spend a lot of time with them. The size of the suite isn't important to me as I don't plan on spending a lot of time in it. I seriously think we will book either Dawn or Sun due to the pricing. After all, they go to the same places. Thanks everyone.

[kentuckmn]

Not that it really matters, but has anyone noticed the time on these posts are off by ALOT! It says my last post was at 2:39 PM, and it is 8:40 am right now (central time). What's up?

[Globaliser]

Not that it really matters, but has anyone noticed the time on these posts are off by ALOT! It says my last post was at 2:39 PM, and it is 8:40 am right now (central time). What's up?

What you need to do is this:-

• Go to your User CP (link near top left hand corner of this page)
• Go to Edit Options (from list on left hand side of page)
• Go to the Date and Time Options section
• Choose your timezone from the dropdown list
• Also choose whether you want daylight saving time changes applied automatically
• Then go to the bottom of the page and Save Changes

That should fix this problem for you.

[pattie63]

I find this thread very interesting. I am currently planning a cruise to the Panama Canal onboard the Coral for Nov. 05. I have cruised on the Sun and really enjoyed her as much as I have the Grand class ships. I would definitely cruise on a Sun class ship again. In fact I'd like to do a 14 day southern Caribbean on the Sea Princess sometime as those intineraries look really good. Because of what you guys have said about the balconies and the fact that when we have had them in the past we didn't use them that much, we are considering booking a minisuite without balcony instead. It is about the same price as a reg. balcony cabin and has the bigger bathroom and sitting area. What do you guys think about that idea? Do you think that the balcony is more important for the Panama Canal or do you think that the extra room is nicer for the longer itinerary?

 

Hi - we (me,DH, two sons (6 and 8) were on the Coral in an AB mini-suite (C717) with a balcony. It was great to have the bigger bathroom with the tub but we, also, did not use our balcony all that much except after the kids went to sleep. Although we had a balcony, we really enjoyed/preferred the huge aft decks that are on the passenger cabin decks of the Coral. They were always empty at night, lots of space for quite lounging and there's always a magic to watching the wake of the ship. Instead of using our balcony, we just walk to the aft deck (albeit it was only 3 cabins away!). These decks were also almost completely empty during the Canal transit. I felt like I could just reach down and touch the locks (the guy who walks out on the locks to check them was actually waving to us). If you're not going to use your stateroom balcony, I'd go with the larger stateroon. IMHO

[kentuckmn]

What you need to do is this:-

• Go to your User CP (link near top left hand corner of this page)
• Go to Edit Options (from list on left hand side of page)
• Go to the Date and Time Options section
• Choose your timezone from the dropdown list
• Also choose whether you want daylight saving time changes applied automatically
• Then go to the bottom of the page and Save Changes

That should fix this problem for you.

 

Hey thanks, it worked!