Is the Sun Princess Really So Bad?

[jimdee3636]

I've done a fair number of 4 or 5 night Pacific Coastal cruises on various lines (Princess, NCL, HAL), and I'm looking at one for late June/early July of 2021 on the Sun Princess. The price is right (it offers the "Best.Sale.Yet." benefits, including the premium beverage package, which I would pay for anyway), and I like the size of the ship (2000 guests). I also like the time of year---warm and probably sunny on the coast but a nice break from the intense heat of southern Arizona). The only thing holding me back are the large number of negative reviews. However, most of the negativity seems to be directed to the abysmal port conditions in many of the southeast Asian countries the ship usually sails to (e.g., Cambodia) and to outbreaks of norovirus (which can happen, unfortunately, on any ship).

 

My question is: is the ship itself in good shape? I know it's old (1995) but it was refurbished in 2018. Has anyone been on the ship since then? If so, I'd be grateful for any comments regarding the condition of the cabins and the public area and the quality (or lack thereof) of the food and service in the International Cafe, the specialty restaurants, and the MDR.

 

Thanks!

[Cruiserkenn]

Sailed on the Sun to New Zealand, RT from Sydney, in 2016.  It was great!

Entertainment, shore excursions, and food were all fab!

 

Go for it and enjoy🙂

[clubby]

Sailed on sun princess last year. I was doubtful about the ship but she is in great condition. I love the size. Theatre is smaller only 2 lead singers and smaller dance troupe. 
I wouldn’t hesitate to sail on her again. Have booked her again

 

Hope this helps. Food entertainment and staff great

 

[jimdee3636]

43 minutes ago, clubby said:

Sailed on sun princess last year. I was doubtful about the ship but she is in great condition. I love the size. Theatre is smaller only 2 lead singers and smaller dance troupe. 
I wouldn’t hesitate to sail on her again. Have booked her again

 

Hope this helps. Food entertainment and staff great

 

Thanks to you and for Cruiserkenn for your encouraging comments. I think I'm going to book the cruise.

[By The Bay]

I prefer the Sun Princess to the Sea Princess, her sister ship. I sailed on her in October and will be back again in April. So I am voting with my feet.

[5:00_Somewhere]

I'm glad to hear these good reports. Our very first cruise ever was on the Sun Priness, and we haven't been on a Sun Class ship since (amost 20 years). Might be time to revisit her. 🙂

[jimdee3636]

Update from O.P.:

I just booked the cruise. It's a long way away, and I have two much-longer cruises booked between now and then, but I'm feeling really good about it. Thanks to all who commented.

[Cruiserkenn]

Fantastic!  Please let us know how it all goes🙂

[CaribbeanIsland]

4 hours ago, By The Bay said:

I prefer the Sun Princess to the Sea Princess, her sister ship. I sailed on her in October and will be back again in April. So I am voting with my feet.

I like the Sea Princess better because it has the pizzeria. Sun has Share. Both great ships.

[Aus Traveller]

20 minutes ago, CaribbeanIsland said:

I like the Sea Princess better because it has the pizzeria. Sun has Share. Both great ships.

Yes, but the Sun has any-time TV 🙂 and an International Cafe 🙂. I also like the walk-around teak-deck promenade. It's a great spot to walk or sit and read a book and enjoy the sight and sound of the ocean. We have found the crew to be great and the food to the usual Princess standard.

[dreaminofcruisin]

The one thing that is different about the Sun Princess is that balconies are cut from the hull, so they are a bit different than more recent ships. I wasn't sure about it before we went, but thought it served as a nice windbreak. See the picture here...we were with another couple so had opened the divider between the 2 balconies.

[Aus Traveller]

4 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

The one thing that is different about the Sun Princess is that balconies are cut from the hull, so they are a bit different than more recent ships. I wasn't sure about it before we went, but thought it served as a nice windbreak. See the picture here...we were with another couple so had opened the divider between the 2 balconies.

The cut-out is larger on the balcony cabins on deck 9 and 10, compared with those on deck 8.

[dreaminofcruisin]

The picture is from C606 /C604 - Caribe Deck which on the Sun is Deck 9.

[Aus Traveller]

19 minutes ago, dreaminofcruisin said:

The picture is from C606 /C604 - Caribe Deck which on the Sun is Deck 9.

I thought that was one of the larger cut-outs, either deck 9 or 10.

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, CaribbeanIsland said:

I like the Sea Princess better because it has the pizzeria. Sun has Share. 

What is "Share"?

 

Just recently booked Sun Princess R/T Los Angeles for July 3 2021. Like @jimdee3636 said, it's a long way off, but the B.S.E. had me looking for a third Princess cruise to book!

[jimdee3636]

15 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

What is "Share"?

 

Just recently booked Sun Princess R/T Los Angeles for July 3 2021. Like @jimdee3636 said, it's a long way off, but the B.S.E. had me looking for a third Princess cruise to book!

I can tell you a bit about "Share" because I ate there three nights out of four on a short Emerald Princess Cruise a couple of years ago. Curtis Stone is a well-known Aussie chef who has a restaurant in L.A. (or more than one) called Share. He evidently has an arrangement with Princess where he operates (on certain ships) a specialty restaurant called Share, and on the other ships he has certain main courses in the MDR that are "created" by him. I felt that, on the Emerald, Share was head-and-shoulders above the MDR (in food quality and variety, in sophistication of service, even in the silverware and glassware) that, as I said, I paid the surcharge to eat there almost every night. I have great memories of the place.

[Aus Traveller]

The SHARE restaurants didn't have a good start on the Princess ships. I think it was introduced on only three. One head waiter told us that Princess was not going to extend it to other ships. From various reports, amendments/alterations to the menu of SHARE have made it more popular.

[By The Bay]

16 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The SHARE restaurants didn't have a good start on the Princess ships. I think it was introduced on only three. One head waiter told us that Princess was not going to extend it to other ships. From various reports, amendments/alterations to the menu of SHARE have made it more popular.

Another fan of Share. We enjoy the great food and excellent service. It was never crowded when we went.

[mcrcruiser]

We will be sailing on the Sun Princess August 14m2021 ;which is a 13 night round trip to Alaska ports & Prince Rupert  ;which is a  port we have never been  .We are booked into a mini suite which is quite large  & a 72 ft long balcony . Share seems like the place to dine . 

 

 Good to hear the positive comments of a grand lady of the seas 😃

[EDDY0827]

" a 72 ft long balcony"

Wow!

[Aus Traveller]

21 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

We will be sailing on the Sun Princess August 14m2021 ;which is a 13 night round trip to Alaska ports & Prince Rupert  ;which is a  port we have never been  .We are booked into a mini suite which is quite large  & a 72 ft long balcony .

I very much doubt that the balcony a mini suite would be 72 feet long. The balconies are the width of the cabin. Even the full suites don't have a balcony 72 feet long. 🙂

[mcrcruiser]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I very much doubt that the balcony a mini suite would be 72 feet long. The balconies are the width of the cabin. Even the full suites don't have a balcony 72 feet long. 🙂

That is what it said . Go to  Cruise Ship Deck Plans & you will see that length  .We have the B310 mini suite  & I just double checked & it said that the balcony length is actually 78  feet long .  The suite in itself is 275 sq feet with 2 rooms ,quite large for a mini suite 

Edited January 10, 2020 by mcrcruiser

[Aus Traveller]

8 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

That is what it said . Go to  Cruise Ship Deck Plans & you will see that length  .We have the B310 mini suite  & I just double checked & it said that the balcony length is actually 78  feet long .  The suite in itself is 275 sq feet with 2 rooms ,quite large for a mini suite 

I agree that the mini suites on the Sun class ships are a very generous size. One site shows the area of B310 is 370sq feet (including the balcony). However, I feel there has been a misprint or misunderstanding in the length of the balcony. Balconies on this ship are 1.1m wide (say 4 feet). If it was 72 feet long, the balcony would be 288 sq feet out of a total area of 370. Staterooms (not mini suites) are around 10 feet wide. Looking at the plan, I estimate that the mini suites are around 17 feet. With an area of 370 sq ft, the depth (from the corridor to the railing) would be around 21.7 feet.

 

Obviously these figures are estimates from measuring off the floor plan. I mention them to indicate that the balcony on one minisuite cannot be 72 feet. 🙂 Whatever the size of the balcony, I am sure you will have a great cruise.

[mcrcruiser]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I agree that the mini suites on the Sun class ships are a very generous size. One site shows the area of B310 is 370sq feet (including the balcony). However, I feel there has been a misprint or misunderstanding in the length of the balcony. Balconies on this ship are 1.1m wide (say 4 feet). If it was 72 feet long, the balcony would be 288 sq feet out of a total area of 370. Staterooms (not mini suites) are around 10 feet wide. Looking at the plan, I estimate that the mini suites are around 17 feet. With an area of 370 sq ft, the depth (from the corridor to the railing) would be around 21.7 feet.

 

Obviously these figures are estimates from measuring off the floor plan. I mention them to indicate that the balcony on one minisuite cannot be 72 feet. 🙂 Whatever the size of the balcony, I am sure you will have a great cruise.

Cruise ship Deck plans is at this link :    https://www.google.com/search?q=cruise+ship+decl+plans&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS817US817&oq=cruise+ship+decl+plans+&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.11215j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

 Now you can see what we see on the deck plan & B310 mini suite

[Aus Traveller]

7 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Cruise ship Deck plans is at this link :    https://www.google.com/search?q=cruise+ship+decl+plans&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS817US817&oq=cruise+ship+decl+plans+&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.11215j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

 Now you can see what we see on the deck plan & B310 mini suite

That sites quotes the size of the balconies in square feet. It quotes one as being 78 square feet. The mini suite you have booked probably has a balcony of 72 square feet, not 72 feet long. 🙂

 

My estimates off the plan had your balcony measuring 17 feet by 4 feet - 68 square feet. Pretty close.

Edited January 11, 2020 by Aus Traveller