REVIEW - SUN PRINCESS - March 30, 2004

[Perky1]

Well it's all over now!!! Was it worth it???? You bet it was........

Sorry...this might be long.......

 

Keep in mind that this was our first cruise so all of our comparing is to our experiences in the "all inclusive" vacations we have taken in Cuba, Margarita Island and Mexico. To start off with.... there is no comparison. This cruise to us was first rate. An all inclusive vacation cannot even compare to a cruise experience. My husband came on this cruise reluctantly. He wanted his all inclusive but needless to say we put a deposit down on a future cruise.......hopefully next year!!!!!

 

We arrived in Fll the day before and stayed at the Marriott Marina thanks to Priceline. Got a portside room on the 10th floor so was able to see the Sun Princess sail in to take us away at 6:00am. Took the free shuttle to the pier at 10:30...doors opened at 11:00am and we were in our room by 11:25am. Had our luggage all put away before our CC meeting at 3 in the Wheelhouse bar. Toto & Pudgy were wonderful as everyone said they would be. Those who told me how lucky we were to be sailing with them were right. Stuart & Laurie, Alma and Jim and all the rest of the gang it was great to start off my having some familiar faces around the ship.

 

Food was wonderful, service was superb and the waiters in the Wheelhouse Bar made us feel at home immediately. Jason Benoit from Granada is an excellent bar server and remembered our names after only one meeting. If you go on the Sun before it starts for Alaska make sure you look him up. He will be done for a couple of months after that.

 

Princess Kays - wonderful beach day, clean and relaxing

 

St. Thomas - tendering went fairly smoothly we thought. Shopped a little and then went on the Kon Tiki Party Boat. It was a blast...rum punch had more rum than punch......

 

St. Marten - 4 x 4 Safari Jeep tour. You get a good look at the island by land. Stopped at may points of interest...including an hour stop in Marigot for shopping, Orient Beach for 1 hr and another beach. It was a fun day.

 

St. Vincent - We booked a private tour with Beline Tours. WOW... what a great tour. We went by speedboat...and toured half of the coastline of St. Vincent. Saw the set of movie Pirates of Carribean, swam in the black sand beach and walked to the Falls of Beline?? and swam under them. This was awsome. Cannot say enough about this tour.. It was the highlight for us as far as excursions go.

 

Barbados - didn't do much..shopped in Havensight and then back to the ship to realax.

 

Antigua - This is where we spent all our money.... we were doing so well!!!!!! Then we went to Dickenson Bay for the afternoon to swim one last time in the Carribean before coming back to fridgit Nova Scotia.

 

We went to the Stirling Steakhouse one night and it was very nice. It was for Pudgy's birthday and the S.house even had a birthday cake for him. If you want to have a quiet nice evening away from the hustle and bustle then I would recommend you spend the $30/couple. It is worth it.

 

The "pool police" were ticking people off but quite frankly I rather enjoyed their presence. Some people are just so rude and on sea days something has to be done to curb the people reserving chairs and going back to their rooms for a nap..... or something!!!

 

I worried about being seasick but this cruise was so smooth many of the passengers including Toto said they have never been on one this good. Weather was superb..not a drop...I mean...not a drop of rain. For 10 days straight..no rain, no wind to speak of and no heavy seas. I feel so lucky.

 

Debarkation..I was worried, everyone complains about it.... Started at 8:30 - we were off the ship and at the airport before 10. A breeze.... We did not have Princess transfers so we just got our luggage, went through immigration and right to the many taxi's awaiting outside. $10 for 2 people... Princess charges $10 each person for the transfer.... you have to wait until the bus is full and then you have to wait while the driver tries and tries to get all the luggage in.....

 

March 30, 2004 Sun Princess

[Coral]

Great review

 

Glad you had a great cruise!

[aoco]

Thanks for the review. We leave on the 19th so it was really nice to know that you had such a wonderful time.

 

You mentioned you had to tender in St. Thomas. Where did they drop you off? Wondering if we will have to be tendered too.

 

Thanks again for the review.

 

Connie

[Charliesmom]

Perky1

 

I'm glad your first cruise experience was so positive. We were on the Sun in January for a different itinerary and had a wonderful time.

 

Perhaps we will meet someday.

 

Roberta

[CruiseFever]

Good for you, glad to hear you had a good time!

 

Happy Cruising

 

Chris

 

www.LifeIsCruising.com

 

Next up:

Caribbean Princess 06/26/04

Star Princess 10/24/04

Carnival Victory 12/19/04

Carnival Miracle 03/13/05

 

[Perky1]

aoco - they dropped us off down from the pier. It was a long walk to the Havensight Mall so we took a cab. $3. per person. You could walk it but we were already burnt and it was very hot!!

 

March 30, 2004 Sun Princess

[Toto2Kansas]

Great review Perky...........it really was great fun!

The St. Vincent tour we jumped on with you all was definitely a highlight, what a great day (what I remember of it lol). Guess we kind of drank the boat out of punch that day didn't we? he he he

 

The birthday party will be a long time memory for us all. Tell the 'boys' I am still filling Pudgey in on some of the details he missed after the trip 'down to visit Jason'!!!!

 

Hopefully we will cruise again with all of you one day soon! Gotta love those onboard bookings.

 

Now, hopefully I can find some time in the next few days to put our review together also.

 

Thanks for finding the time to put our thoughts together on this cruise.

 

Sun Princess March 30th, 2004

Tahitian October 14th,2004

[starsjohn]

You have obviously got the cruise routine down just fine. We did the Kon Tiki booze barge too, and while we drank rum punch after rum punch, our group remained a bit too sedate as nobody took their clothes off or fell overboard.

 

The wheelhouse bar remains a favorite with many of us, and I still find my best drinks made here.

 

Till the next one,

John

[aoco]

Perky,

 

Many thanks for answering my questions. Have a Happy Easter!

 

Connie

[Perky1]

aoco... if you book the St. Vincent tour please let us know what you think of it when you get back. This tour defenitely was a highlight for us.

 

March 30, 2004 Sun Princess

[Toto2Kansas]

I second that Perky, it was a great tour.

 

BTW-Check your email, I just sent you the URL of all the personal pics that I took, including your first tender ride.

 

Sun Princess March 30th, 2004

Tahitian October 14th,2004

[Perky1]

Hey Toto are you still around on the board. I guess you will be because you have another cruise to look forward to in the fall!!!! We are still looking that the Dawn for next spring. Waiting to see if we can get flights for our airmiles... Thanks for the pictures they are great. If you get a chance email me your mailing address. Do you know if you can use those $200. coupons for princess that people sell on ebay if you have booked a future cruise with princess????

 

March 30, 2004 Sun Princess

[Toto2Kansas]

Hi perky, YEP still around some of the time. Have been really under the weather for the last 5 days though. Picked up some viral thing, not sure if it was on the ship, the plane or after I got home. I have been down and out, literally. Finally had to spend most of the day yesterday in the ER, hopefully it will help and I will be back on my feet again soon. Makes me kind of wonder though as our ship did have norwalk on it the sailing before ours. YIKES!

Not too sure about those coupons, but I would really be careful. Usually with those things there are a lot of times they can't be used. Best to just get the lowest price from you know who and take it from there. You might even ask her about them, but I think I probably already know the answer.

Will email you with that mailing address, hopefully I still have your email as I again cleaned out all my files when I got home! Will post to this if I can't find it.

Nope, looks like I deleted it again, sorry. Email me at the address you have and I will reply, except this time I promise I will save it to my address book.

 

Tahitian October 14th,2004

[robbie2201]

We are thinking of booking the sun or the dawn, did you notice if the dining rooms had tables for 2 & does the sun show it's age, I've heard that princess keeps all there ships looking like new, any help on the sun would be great

 

Senation-98

Spirit-02

Legend-03

Legend-04

[geejaymel]

Is there a website or email address for the Beline tour in St.Vincent? We are looking for something to do there.

Thanks!

[Toto2Kansas]

He doesn't yet have a website but he did give us his email address.

prosec@caribsurf.com

Address emails to Wayne.

I had emailed him when we returned home and he answered it promptly. Just wanted to thank him for a great tour.

 

Tahitian October 14th,2004

[Grego]

Very nice review and I am also happy you had a great time on the Sun.

 

We had dinner on night in the "Pizza" restaurant and were very pleased with the pizza but disappointed with the lasagna. It was like they put Hamburger Helper in with a lot of processed cheese.

 

Otherwise, the Sterling Steakhouse was good and the rest of the dining venues were very good.

 

I am interested to know if anyone has any experience with Category AB Dolphin deck mini-suites. We have booked D751 which is aft starboard side and it looks to be very nice. We were on Aloha deck for our cruise in March on the Sun and liked that balcony location as well.

 

 

Greg

 

Foo-Foo Chowder and Marching Society Sails again on the Sun Princess

 

 

Regal Princess 3/92

Regal Princess 2/94

Crown Princess 2/97

Norwegian Dream 3/00

Grand Princess 3/01

Coral Princess 3/03

Sun Princess 2/04

Sun Princess 2/05

[Ronath]

We're thinking about taking the Sun in November. Curious as to how many formal nights and/or semi-formal nights on the 10-day.

 

Check out our pictures: http://community.webshots.com/user/natron24

 

Premier Royale 7/87

Sovereign of the Seas 11/90

Enchanted Seas 4/91

Ecstasy 11/91

Celebration 6/92

Crown Princess 11/92

Enchanted Seas 12/92

Tropicale 6/93

Crown Princess 11/93

Enchanted Seas 12/93

Celebration 6/94

Regal Princess 10/94

Enchanted Seas 12/94

Tropicale 4/95

Regal Princess 10/95

Enchanted Isle 5/96

Enchanted Isle 8/96

Crown Princess 10/96

Nieuw Amsterdam 4/97

Enchanted Isle 9/97

Celebration 10/97

Enchanted Isle 4/98

Norwegian Star 7/98

Celebration 11/98

Enchanted Isle 12/98

Norwegian Sea 5/99

Enchanted Isle 11/99

Enchanted Isle 5/00

Destiny 11/00

Inspiration 5/01

Celebrity Century 11/01

Explorer of the Seas 11/02

Carnival Conquest 5/03

Rhapsody of the Seas 11/03

Carnival Conquest 5/04

Navigator of the Seas 11/04

 

 

[cdnguy]

Two formal nights on a ten day cruise on the Sun. The other nights are called casual dress nights. On those nights for me its a golf shirt or short sleeve sports shirt.

No semi formal category on Princess.

 

Island Princess - Hawaii, Nov.5/04

[SueKayL]

To Grego From Michigan:

 

When are you going on the Sun in Feb 2005? we are booked on the Feb 7 cruise!

 

Sue in Saginaw

(remember me?)

 

2-04 Sun Princess

9-03 Golden Princess

2-03 Coral Princess

3-02 Ocean Princess

4-01 Carnival Paradise

2-00 Carnival Paradise

[Grego]

Sue - Of course I remember you (sounds like the beginning of a song )

 

We are leaving on the 27th of February. As I recall, you left on the Sun earlier than we did this year as well.

 

We picked that week because it falls within our anniversary date, shared by famski740, we love the Sun and she is going to a couple of islands we had not been to yet - St. Vincent and Grenada.

 

Carolyn talked me into booking a mini-suite on the aft of Dolphin deck and we both are looking forward to that experience.

 

Do you have the same itinerary as we do? 2 sea days, St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Lucia, Martinique, St. Thomas, sea day and then Princess Cays.

 

Let me know what you thought of the Sun. (my guess is that it was favorable or you wouldn't be doing that again.)

 

Keep thinking Spring and another 300 days give or take.

 

Greg

 

Foo-Foo Chowder and Marching Society Sails again on the Sun Princess

 

 

Regal Princess 3/92

Regal Princess 2/94

Crown Princess 2/97

Norwegian Dream 3/00

Grand Princess 3/01

Coral Princess 3/03

Sun Princess 2/04

Sun Princess 2/05

[SueKayL]

Yes Grego!!

 

Same itinerary as you next year! and a few weeks earlier again also!

 

I really liked the Sun! it works for us, size wise...I'm not that wild about the Grand Class, would do the Coral again....same amount of pax as Sun but bigger common areas!

 

I have been to St. Lucia already and it was great and this will be the 4th time in St. Thomas...(fine with me, that's for sure) new stops for me are Granada, St. Vincent, and Martinique...

 

I wrote a long review of the Sun after I got back...

 

we booked the same room but one floor down we were on Baja and now we will be on Caribe...regular balcony room...afraid to stay in mini suite because I probably could never go back to regular cabin after that! we always take 2 big vacations a year (feb and oct) and need to save money somehow...I don't think the upgrade fairy does much for these "sold out" cruises in February! so I will "rough it" in a regular cabin!! LOL!!!

 

nice "talking" to you again! in the fall I am going to start a thread on the "sailing with me" board if no one has started one yet...it was fun meeting CC folks for a drink and seeing them on and off thru the cruise..

 

Take care...it looks like the winds have finally settled down a little up here...wow what a day!!! at least it is warm (finally)

 

See ya..

 

Sue in Saginaw

 

2-04 Sun Princess

9-03 Golden Princess

2-03 Coral Princess

3-02 Ocean Princess

4-01 Carnival Paradise

2-00 Carnival Paradise