Sun Princess - Original

[Cdude]

15 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

Haha. I presume few passengers from the Concordia have decided to return to Costa, but I could be wrong about that. And many passengers the Sun cancellations may never return to Princess because the hurt and disappointment will stay with them well beyond any future success of the Sun. 

Agreed! I wonder how many cheerleaders would be so positive if it had happened to them 🧐

 

Princess probably will survive, but without me and I’m sure quite a few others. Meanwhile, companies that do business the better way will be able to charge more rather than offering promos to book sailings.

 

The back-and-forth bickering on here is beyond old and I am stepping away from this sort of banter going forward. Maybe we can all start sharing info for people who have an upcoming sailing to stay informed?  

[New2cruise2022]

16 minutes ago, Cdude said:

Agreed! I wonder how many cheerleaders would be so positive if it had happened to them 🧐

 

Princess probably will survive, but without me and I’m sure quite a few others. Meanwhile, companies that do business the better way will be able to charge more rather than offering promos to book sailings.

 

The back-and-forth bickering on here is beyond old and I am stepping away from this sort of banter going forward. Maybe we can all start sharing info for people who have an upcoming sailing to stay informed?  

I am sure you will find great new experiences as you move away from Princess because the industry has a lot to offer on many lines. 
 

My belief is that the Sun will be a game changer as the Sphere class is introduced. I think the experience will feel different than previous Princess products. Only time will tell, but I think it is a bold new direction for Princess. The competition is good to have and ships like the Sun and the Icon will continue to push the envelope and create new and different experiences at sea. 
 

Despite the setbacks of the past few weeks, there is plenty to be excited about and the future seems bright for cruising. 

[CeCe_]

We lucked out this time.  We were originally booked the 2/8 cruise on Sun and changed to a later date for warmer mediterranean weather.  I felt bad for everyone impacted by the cancellations.

[infoteknerd]

I just hope there’s enough discounted inaugural swag for my May cruise. 😜

 

Agreed that this rollout has been horrible. But I’d rather cancellations than tragedy. 

[Meldrum]

Sun Princess is now still in Monfalcone. In order to arrive on time in Civitavecchia for february 28th, when should it leave the port of Monfalcone? Will it stop at other ports during this trip?

[Steelers36]

To those wondering if the complaints and bashing should end, I imagine the trend of this thread will change as soon as the ship sails with passengers.  It will be all about "What's it like?".

[Princessfan20]

20 hours ago, timcahill98 said:

Totally agree!  There seem to be a core group of "Princess Apologists" on this thread who seem to want to victim shame the people who've been adversely affected by the cancellations to date, rather than address the core fact that Princess screwed people at the last minute (comments like "why didn't every single person have travel insurance", "you should have understood the risks", "real cruisers would know to never sail on a ship in the first 2-3 months", etc.).  Again, this last cancellation with 4 days to go before the cruise is completely unacceptable, as Princess HAD to know the ship wouldn't be ready weeks ahead of time (probably at the same time they canceled the first cruise).

 

I wonder how many of these Princess Apologists are actually Princess employees simply trying to mitigate the bad press they're receiving. At the very least, these people seem to lack any sort of empathy for those affected.

 

First of all I have yet to see "any press" about this cancellation appear in any major US news organization releases unless you consider CC equivalent to The NY Times or LA Times?  

 

People can point fingers all they want but the ship is not going to sail until the ship is ready to sail.  Unexpected events happen all the time when traveling and people need to learn to rally quickly to keep moving forward and make the most of any experience.

[tinkerbelluk]

Don't know if anyone can help me, but has anyone had any luck bidding for an upgrade on the Sun Princess? I've checked the site and it says I'm not eligible. I don't know if it's an issue with the app or if upgrades simply aren' t open.  

Any guidance would be great

[Steelers36]

14 minutes ago, Meldrum said:

Sun Princess is now still in Monfalcone. In order to arrive on time in Civitavecchia for february 28th, when should it leave the port of Monfalcone? Will it stop at other ports during this trip?

Looks like about 2.5 days.  So, late afternoon on Feb 25 would be latest to put her into Civi by early morning on Feb 28.  There would be no reason to stop anywhere since no passengers.

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, tinkerbelluk said:

Don't know if anyone can help me, but has anyone had any luck bidding for an upgrade on the Sun Princess? I've checked the site and it says I'm not eligible. I don't know if it's an issue with the app or if upgrades simply aren' t open.  

Any guidance would be great

Have you checked in the bid upgrade thread?  (I have no information myself.)

[AlaskainJuly]

13 minutes ago, tinkerbelluk said:

Don't know if anyone can help me, but has anyone had any luck bidding for an upgrade on the Sun Princess? I've checked the site and it says I'm not eligible. I don't know if it's an issue with the app or if upgrades simply aren' t open.  

Any guidance would be great

Princess website lists how far out you are allowed to bid for an upgrade. It might not be open for your departure yet.

[tinkerbelluk]

I'm within my window of 85 days (83 and counting 🥳)

[New2cruise2022]

11 minutes ago, tinkerbelluk said:

I'm within my window of 85 days (83 and counting 🥳)

Congrats! Love the countdown. Never gets old. 

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, Cdude said:

Agreed! I wonder how many cheerleaders would be so positive if it had happened to them 🧐

 

 

I worked out a long time ago those invested in a cruise do get very upset when things go wrong but as sympathetic as I want to be I fall into the never say never even when we are invested and things go wrong.

 

If you sympathise to the point of that was bad I am going to avoid that ship/line you run out very quickly 

 

I may get mad and wide berth for a while  but over time all cruise lines change and the pecking order and value points change along with the various offers.

 

When the price and expectations realign we are back.

[Mara4166]

1 hour ago, tinkerbelluk said:

Don't know if anyone can help me, but has anyone had any luck bidding for an upgrade on the Sun Princess? I've checked the site and it says I'm not eligible. I don't know if it's an issue with the app or if upgrades simply aren' t open.  

Any guidance would be great

Are upgrade bids available in the UK?  I have not been following recently as no cruise booked, but last I heard UK residents were excluded.

[dides]

Just now, Steelers36 said:

Looks like about 2.5 days.  So, late afternoon on Feb 25 would be latest to put her into Civi by early morning on Feb 28.  There would be no reason to stop anywhere since no passengers.

Depends what they have planned for that cruise too. The cancelled 18th inaugural allowed 5 nights from the 13th with 1,000 workers onboard. No mention of any stops. In 2017 the Majestic Princess took 4 nights to get from Trieste to Rome with a stop at Kotor with paying passengers. Will they still need all those workers after all that extra time? Imagine all the logistics of getting them back from Rome to the shipyard and that having to be cancelled too (unless they were staying on eek)

 

Edited February 18 by dides

[Steelers36]

13 minutes ago, dides said:

Depends what they have planned for that cruise too. The cancelled 18th inaugural allowed 5 nights from the 13th with 1,000 workers onboard. No mention of any stops. In 2017 the Majestic Princess took 4 nights to get from Trieste to Rome with a stop at Kotor with paying passengers. Will they still need all those workers after all that extra time? Imagine all the logistics of getting them back from Rome to the shipyard and that having to be cancelled too (unless they were staying on eek)

 

Seems odd to take off early with 1,000 workers on board if they could leave later and still make it.  Opportunity to reduce workers before leaving.  Thing is, we don't really know what's going on, but the 2.5 days approx appears to be the minimum.  

[insidecabin]

38 minutes ago, Mara4166 said:

Are upgrade bids available in the UK?  I have not been following recently as no cruise booked, but last I heard UK residents were excluded.

Thought I saw an upgrade post on the other place UK specific group will keep looking.

[insidecabin]

14 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Seems odd to take off early with 1,000 workers on board if they could leave later and still make it.  Opportunity to reduce workers before leaving.  Thing is, we don't really know what's going on, but the 2.5 days approx appears to be the minimum.  

For some of the workers Rome may give better routes home. 

[lstone19]

51 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Seems odd to take off early with 1,000 workers on board if they could leave later and still make it.  Opportunity to reduce workers before leaving.  Thing is, we don't really know what's going on, but the 2.5 days approx appears to be the minimum.  

 

Probably a little less. I make it a little under 1,000 nautical miles from Monfalcone to Civitavecchia. At 20 knots (I expect the ship can do a little better - most cruise ships seem to have a top speed of 21 to 22 knots), that's a little under 50 hours (2 days, 2 hours). Add a little time for undocking and docking. So long as it sails by 4:00a on the 26th, it can be in Rome by 6:00am on the 28th.

[voljeep]

why don't the workers just go to another ship in the yard and start working?

[machmack]

And then there is the €s. How much does Princess have to pay to stay at Malfacone vs Civi?

Always a factor.

[machmack]

March 9th should be interesting in Barcelona. It will now be the Sun's first de boarding and boarding of passengers. Since both cruises are sold out we are talking at LOT of people.

[Vinnyv20032003]

19 minutes ago, machmack said:

March 9th should be interesting in Barcelona. It will now be the Sun's first de boarding and boarding of passengers. Since both cruises are sold out we are talking at LOT of people.

We noticed the February/March sailings all go ‘Sold Out’ right around the same time. Something tells me this occurred right around new years. Princess may have blocked rooms on these sailings when they recognized there were going to be delivery issues.

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if rooms were blocked for contractors to assist with completing work on the ship or more likely Princess blocked rooms to ensure these first 6-7 sailings would not sail at full passenger capacity.

Nonetheless, that Barcelona disembarkation/embarkation will be interesting to say the least!

Edited February 18 by Vinnyv20032003

[cruising.mark.uk]

1 hour ago, insidecabin said:

Thought I saw an upgrade post on the other place UK specific group will keep looking.

We're in the UK and have received offers to bid for an upgrade on our next booked cruise.