Sun Princess - Original

[mlmbar]

I did not use that word to be insulted. 

[c-boy]

no insult intended toward you , a reply to the cc'er above my post.

[Guest ldtr]

On 7/11/2023 at 11:53 PM, Nemanoxer said:

In some way, I am happy to not have the passenger rights that US folks seem to have.

I cannot cancel without losing about at least 1000 $, so I guess I will have to go on my cruise no matter what naysayers might guess before it started...

 

I would be surprised if the food would be great. They let the food down on most affordable cruise lines. Even though I recently had a positive surprise on QM2 - which is Carnival... So... What can one do except crossing fingers?

 

I believe my Cabana stateroom within the upper half of the Sphere will be a blast, how could it not? And I believe the ship will be very pretty on the interior, even though it appears to be a giant thing.

 

For me, it is only one week. I have never been on Princess, mostly did Celebrity. I am looking forward to that, and if it is just for curiosity´s sake.

Different countries, different consumer protection laws, different booking terms. In the UK for example there was the Package Travel Regulations which places additional risk on the cruise line, in certain cases. US passengers do not have the protections, but do get more flexible booking terms. 

 

Many do book under US terms, there are ways to do so. But then they give up the various UK consumer protections. 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

My concern with Princess is that their service isn’t top notch. I always feel that it’s “ good enough” but not the best. Now they are adding the Signature Series. If they can’t deliver good quality on their ships now, how will they deliver extra special service on the Sun?  Celebrity treats their Retreat guests like royalty and I love it. Taking one last chance with Princess but I just don’t see them succeeding. 
 

Thoughts?

Were you sailing on Celebrity back when they made the same change for the first time? There were noticeable impacts.  At least in this case it is a ship designed for it instead of the Celebrity ships retrofitted making the MDR a bit more crowded on some ships. Part of the separation between the various classes was improvement in the upper tiers, part was a lowering of quality in the tiers below.

 

 

[Almagetty]

Mickey Arison posted this picture on his Instagram today:

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by Almagetty

[CruizinSusan70]

On 7/13/2023 at 10:45 PM, c-boy said:

 😄   demanding ? I pictured a seven year old when I read that 

Princess will be entering the ship within a ship concept when the Sun & Star debut in early 2024 and 2025.

I have witnessed first hand demanding passengers that stay in the Haven on NCL and stay in the Yacht Club on MSC.  I'm hoping we don't have to put up with this nonsense over the 28 nights we currently have reserved on the Sun in the fall of 2024 and the winter of 2025.

 

It's one thing to have expectations based upon how much you paid for your cruise and where your accommodations are located, but it's an entirely different thing to make snide comments when you're being escorted into a venue bypassing the queue of passengers in line that are staying in the general population or steerage.

Edited July 22, 2023 by CruizinSusan70

[kywildcatfanone]

So, has there been more info released on the retreat area?  It seems some of the early renderings didn't have a actual retreat area, it moved the retreat pool into the sanctuary?  Is there going to be an adults only retreat area on the Sun Princess?

[dides]

2 hours ago, Almagetty said:

Mickey Arison posted this picture on his Instagram today:

 

 

That's actually the picture I created for this thread on March 9th - someone pinched it and posted it on a FB site in the last few days and Micky must have seen it. How funny - re-posting old cruisecritic content created by a future passenger over 4 months ago when there should be something creative from Princess themselves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2023 by dides

[RoperDK]

2 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

So, has there been more info released on the retreat area?  It seems some of the early renderings didn't have a actual retreat area, it moved the retreat pool into the sanctuary?  Is there going to be an adults only retreat area on the Sun Princess?

I'm interested in this, too.  I am also interested in the suite lounge and suite restaurant.  Will the restaurant offer upgraded food options or just be an additional space to serve MDR food.  Will the suite lounge offer snacks and drinks all day or just be a quiet private space?  I am more interested in a Celebrity Retreat or Royal Sky Class level experience.  I would have expected more details by now.  The ship is cruising next year.   

[snoozecrooze]

2 hours ago, dides said:

How funny - re-posting old cruisecritic content created by a future passenger over 4 months ago when there should be something creative from Princess themselves!

@dides, I knew it was yours! How embarrassing for Princess and Carnival corporate actually that they just steal content from the internet and can't put in their own effort to give the consumers more interactive tools to understand their own product. 

[Princessfan20]

7 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Princess will be entering the ship within a ship concept when the Sun & Star debut in early 2024 and 2025.

I have witnessed first hand demanding passengers that stay in the Haven on NCL and stay in the Yacht Club on MSC.  I'm hoping we don't have to put up with this nonsense over the 28 nights we currently have reserved on the Sun in the fall of 2024 and the winter of 2025.

 

It's one thing to have expectations based upon how much you paid for your cruise and where your accommodations are located, but it's an entirely different thing to make snide comments when you're being escorted into a venue bypassing the queue of passengers in line that are staying in the general population or steerage.

I really doubt the ones being escorted are the ones making snide comments.  Sour grapes maybe???

[CruizinSusan70]

22 minutes ago, Princessfan20 said:

I really doubt the ones being escorted are the ones making snide comments.  Sour grapes maybe???

Why would I make it up?  No sour grapes at all.  I and my DH heard the comments as we stood in line and those from the Yacht Club on MSC and the Haven on NCL were escorted into the venue via butler on MSC and concierge on NCL.  Luckily it only happened once on each cruise line.

 

Have cruised twice on MSC and 8 times on NCL, so we are very familiar with the ship within a ship concept.  I personally could care less about where other cruisers stay, what they have paid, and what other benefits they have earned by paying a premium.  But the line was crossed twice and we just assumed on both occasions that the comments were alcohol induced.

[philbob84]

anyone know where i can find high rez renders of the ship and interior?

[snoozecrooze]

1 hour ago, philbob84 said:

anyone know where i can find high rez renders of the ship and interior?

In the wake of the Arison post, I was just thinking about how Princess could do a world of wonder if they just made an AR/VR type of thing where people can click through all the corners of the ship through interactive renderings, the way you would peruse through Google Maps Street View, for example. It would be perfect if they're really trying to target a supposed younger demographic. They already did something similar for the new "roll glider" that they hyped up so their capabilities should be there.

[Geoffa30]

8 hours ago, RoperDK said:

I'm interested in this, too.  I am also interested in the suite lounge and suite restaurant.  Will the restaurant offer upgraded food options or just be an additional space to serve MDR food.  Will the suite lounge offer snacks and drinks all day or just be a quiet private space?  I am more interested in a Celebrity Retreat or Royal Sky Class level experience.  I would have expected more details by now.  The ship is cruising next year.   

I certainly hope the restaurant offers upgraded food options. If they fail to do so, their enhanced suite offering won’t compete with the likes of Celebrity etc. Like you, I would have expected more details by now but Princess doesn’t seem to be as good as other lines at promoting their new ships or building up anticipation.

[dides]

6 hours ago, philbob84 said:

anyone know where i can find high rez renders of the ship and interior?

Princess have uploaded a fair number to their image library 

[nasa1974]

5 hours ago, dides said:

Princess have uploaded a fair number to their image library 

Looks like you have to create an account to see anything.

[dides]

15 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

Looks like you have to create an account to see anything.

Yes, just for tracking - no need to pay anything. And they provide you with the registration code to enter. All the standard renderings are already displayed on the Princess website and can be saved down individually anyway.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by dides

[philbob84]

thank you all so much!

[PH2]

I have a very specific question regarding Balcony cabins on the Sun, if anyone knows. I did read through several pages of this thread, but I confess I didn't read them all since my question is very specific. So apologies if this has been answered already.

 

We're looking at a Mediterranean cruise in 2025 with 3 of us (wife, me, and our younger daughter) on the Sun. Since I put in "3 people," I would expect it to show me cabins that will accommodate 3 people. But every balcony cabin I look at has the same cabin picture, with a bed and a sofa, and under Amenities, it states:

 

Comfortable queen or two twin beds^footnote4

⁴3rd/4th berths available in select cabins

 

That tells me that some of the Balcony rooms do not accommodate a 3rd or 4th guest, including the one that I am currently attempting to reserve. But it says that on every room that I have gotten to the Stateroom Summary page for.

 

Does anyone know how to figure out which Balcony cabins have (I assume) a sofa that will double as a bed for additional passengers? Or do they all, and the booking page footnote is really confusing or wrong?

 

[Fortunate 2 travel]

40 minutes ago, PH2 said:

I have a very specific question regarding Balcony cabins on the Sun, if anyone knows. I did read through several pages of this thread, but I confess I didn't read them all since my question is very specific. So apologies if this has been answered already.

 

We're looking at a Mediterranean cruise in 2025 with 3 of us (wife, me, and our younger daughter) on the Sun. Since I put in "3 people," I would expect it to show me cabins that will accommodate 3 people. But every balcony cabin I look at has the same cabin picture, with a bed and a sofa, and under Amenities, it states:

 

Comfortable queen or two twin beds^footnote4

⁴3rd/4th berths available in select cabins

 

That tells me that some of the Balcony rooms do not accommodate a 3rd or 4th guest, including the one that I am currently attempting to reserve. But it says that on every room that I have gotten to the Stateroom Summary page for.

 

Does anyone know how to figure out which Balcony cabins have (I assume) a sofa that will double as a bed for additional passengers? Or do they all, and the booking page footnote is really confusing or wrong?

 

There are a couple of very good YouTube videos showing the different staterooms on the Sun (renderings of course)

[RoperDK]

2 hours ago, PH2 said:

I have a very specific question regarding Balcony cabins on the Sun, if anyone knows. I did read through several pages of this thread, but I confess I didn't read them all since my question is very specific. So apologies if this has been answered already.

 

We're looking at a Mediterranean cruise in 2025 with 3 of us (wife, me, and our younger daughter) on the Sun. Since I put in "3 people," I would expect it to show me cabins that will accommodate 3 people. But every balcony cabin I look at has the same cabin picture, with a bed and a sofa, and under Amenities, it states:

 

Comfortable queen or two twin beds^footnote4

⁴3rd/4th berths available in select cabins

 

That tells me that some of the Balcony rooms do not accommodate a 3rd or 4th guest, including the one that I am currently attempting to reserve. But it says that on every room that I have gotten to the Stateroom Summary page for.

 

Does anyone know how to figure out which Balcony cabins have (I assume) a sofa that will double as a bed for additional passengers? Or do they all, and the booking page footnote is really confusing or wrong?

 

I don't know your specific answer. It would seem that since every cabin has a sofa it would be logical to assume that it could accommodate a third guest.  I did want to alert people to the fact that the Sun cabins will be an interlocking design.  The artist renderings that I have seen only show one configuration.  There will be alternating cabins with the bed by the bath or bed by the balcony.  Most people prefer one layout over the other.  The cabins will be quite narrow.  Perhaps the bed by the balcony does not accommodate walking room when the sofa by the bath becomes a bed.  Just speculation on my part but the lack of info on the Sun in general is bothersome at this point.  The Sun is basically the Carnival Mardi Gras design.  If I missed that this info was already posted then I apologize.  I did look through this thread but never found anything about the new cabin designs.  When the Mardi Gras first came out, many people were quite surprised at the differences.  I'm not saying it is bad, but it is definitely different.

[Mary Ann 2]

7 hours ago, PH2 said:

I have a very specific question regarding Balcony cabins on the Sun, if anyone knows. I did read through several pages of this thread, but I confess I didn't read them all since my question is very specific. So apologies if this has been answered already.

 

We're looking at a Mediterranean cruise in 2025 with 3 of us (wife, me, and our younger daughter) on the Sun. Since I put in "3 people," I would expect it to show me cabins that will accommodate 3 people. But every balcony cabin I look at has the same cabin picture, with a bed and a sofa, and under Amenities, it states:

 

Comfortable queen or two twin beds^footnote4

⁴3rd/4th berths available in select cabins

 

That tells me that some of the Balcony rooms do not accommodate a 3rd or 4th guest, including the one that I am currently attempting to reserve. But it says that on every room that I have gotten to the Stateroom Summary page for.

 

Does anyone know how to figure out which Balcony cabins have (I assume) a sofa that will double as a bed for additional passengers? Or do they all, and the booking page footnote is really confusing or wrong?

 

When or if they ever send us a new catalogue with next year's cruises and ships, those have symbols to indicate 3 or 3/4. I was surprised when I just looked that it isn't included on the online deck plans. Maybe a cruise travel agency has deck plans online with symbols? Not sure.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Mary Ann 2

[Guest ldtr]

5 hours ago, RoperDK said:

I don't know your specific answer. It would seem that since every cabin has a sofa it would be logical to assume that it could accommodate a third guest.  I did want to alert people to the fact that the Sun cabins will be an interlocking design.  The artist renderings that I have seen only show one configuration.  There will be alternating cabins with the bed by the bath or bed by the balcony.  Most people prefer one layout over the other.  The cabins will be quite narrow.  Perhaps the bed by the balcony does not accommodate walking room when the sofa by the bath becomes a bed.  Just speculation on my part but the lack of info on the Sun in general is bothersome at this point.  The Sun is basically the Carnival Mardi Gras design.  If I missed that this info was already posted then I apologize.  I did look through this thread but never found anything about the new cabin designs.  When the Mardi Gras first came out, many people were quite surprised at the differences.  I'm not saying it is bad, but it is definitely different.

Princess has tended to pull down bunks in 3 and 4 person rooms. Will have to see once Sun is finished.

[atlteacher]

We are also interested in how the bed is configured for the 3rd and 4th guests. We have an adult and a teen booked as 3rd and 4 th and concerned about the sleeping situation.Any  insight would be appreciated.