LIVE from the SUN Princess - 9 Mar 2024 - 10-Day Mediterranean - Second Voyage

[CanadianBurger]

We headed back up and forward to the Reserve dining room. The motion was far less apparent here. There were still twenty people in line, so we sat at the bar at Wheelhouse to pass the time with a drink. Once the line subsided, I checked in with the hostess who said she would get us from the bar when a table was ready. We were finally seated about 8:20. 
 

 

 

 

[Vinnyv20032003]

I hope for calmer seas, and better weather for you all in the days to come!

 

@CanadianBurger I hate to ask any question of you. But if you come across the # of guests on this sailing, please be sure to share. Thank you. 😊 

[CanadianBurger]

Sorry, I completely forgot to take photos of the food, but the both the haddock and the veal were excellent. Tender and tasty. I do remember the veal was not on the menu at Horizons. 
 

We had a conversation with the headwaiter about some of my favorites being conspicuously absent from the menu. He said there have been lots of complaints from both the Reserve and Horizons dining rooms. There is no more French Onion soup, no more fettuccine Alfredo, and there will be only one soufflé offered, a chocolate one on the second formal night. Princess wanted to change up the dining. I miss my old favorites. 

[dides]

29 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

We had a conversation with the headwaiter about some of my favorites being conspicuously absent from the menu. He said there have been lots of complaints from both the Reserve and Horizons dining rooms. There is no more French Onion soup, no more fettuccine Alfredo, and there will be only one soufflé offered, a chocolate one on the second formal night. Princess wanted to change up the dining. I miss my old favorites. 

Darn. The French Onion Soup is my partner's go-to too. However, I have seen Fettuccine Alfredo appearing as a Princess Favorite on the Horizons dining menus, well it was on the 4 MDR menus I saw posted from the first cruise.

 

Edited March 11 by dides

[CruizinSusan70]

4 hours ago, Kb55kb said:

Is the soft serve free at this location on deck 9?

At coffee and cones, the premium soft serve is 4.00 for everyone unless you have the Premier package.  Verified by a YouTube video.

[WonderMan3]

7 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

I mentioned yesterday that I wasn’t overly impressed with the pizza on Lido. Today I tried the “new concept” pizza outside on Promenade Deck 9. It is excellent! Thicker, tons of cheese, and far more flavorful than the Lido pizza. I went back and told the chef I liked it better, and he lit up. Said “please comment about that, this is a new concept Princess is trying.”

 

 

 

 

 

That looks great!

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

Lol.  I can see me push deck 11, four times for our party of 4 and every one staring at me!  😂

Thank you for your “great” review!  Appreciate it.

These smart elevators are on the 3 Vista Class ships on Carnival.  Word of mouth and YouTube videos were how people got educated about the proper use of the elevators.  

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

So, as a party of 4, is it possible/probable that you may each be sent to different elevators?

No, but if another family of four are already on the elevator and they only pushed the button once, the system thinks that it's one passenger instead of four already on the elevator.

[Kb55kb]

12 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

At coffee and cones, the premium soft serve is 4.00 for everyone unless you have the Premier package.  Verified by a YouTube video.

That's the lido deck I haven't seen confirmation on the deck 9 location outside of the buffet if it costs there as well

[CruizinSusan70]

Just now, Kb55kb said:

That's the lido deck I haven't seen confirmation on the deck 9 location outside of the buffet if it costs there as well

Had read on another thread that there was one location that was free, so I'd infer that the deck 9 location is indeed free.

We're more concerned about if we can swap out the sundae monstrosities included with the plus package for something cheaper and more civilized like an affagato.

[CanadianBurger]

Vocalist Nik Page was onstage in the Arena tonight. Fantastic voice. There was a percussion number in the middle of his set that I didn’t care for, but overall, a good show. 

Again, the venue feels far smaller and more intimate than the photos convey. There were quite a few empty seats, which surprised me. The sound was excellent. 
 

 

 

 

[Steelers36]

12 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

No, but if another family of four are already on the elevator and they only pushed the button once, the system thinks that it's one passenger instead of four already on the elevator.

The elevator ought to be connected to read Medallions on board and recalibrate.

[CanadianBurger]

More random pics. 
 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 hour ago, CanadianBurger said:

My wife only lasted five minutes after we were seated. I don’t know if it was being so far aft combined with the wind and seas, but the excessive rolling side-to-side motion was enough to overcome both bonine and her sea wristbands. We had to leave before she became ill. 

 

I am sorry to hear this. I hope she feels better soon. Seasickness is absolutely the worst.

[PacnGoNow]

33 minutes ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

These smart elevators are on the 3 Vista Class ships on Carnival.  Word of mouth and YouTube videos were how people got educated about the proper use of the elevators.  

Yes, they were on the CCL Horizon.  Pretty cool.

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, CanadianBurger said:

Sorry, I completely forgot to take photos of the food, but the both the haddock and the veal were excellent. Tender and tasty. I do remember the veal was not on the menu at Horizons. 
 

We had a conversation with the headwaiter about some of my favorites being conspicuously absent from the menu. He said there have been lots of complaints from both the Reserve and Horizons dining rooms. There is no more French Onion soup, no more fettuccine Alfredo, and there will be only one soufflé offered, a chocolate one on the second formal night. Princess wanted to change up the dining. I miss my old favorites. 

 

Dang, I was really hoping for a picture of that "Whole Turkey".  Glad your wife recovered and was able to enjoy dinner.  And I will really miss the Fettucine Alfredo as well as the various souffles.

[CatMom72]

2 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

There were still twenty people in line, so we sat at the bar at Wheelhouse to pass the time with a drink. Once the line subsided, I checked in with the hostess who said she would get us from the bar when a table was ready. We were finally seated about 8:20.

@CanadianBurger I hope your wife is feeling better! It’s really shameful that you had to wait in line.  The whole point of the Reserve is that you have better service that is available on demand…no long lines and extended wait times.  Do you think that this situation will get better over time, once the staff gets used to the routine? Or is the restaurant and its staffing level just insufficient to accommodate the number of Reserve Collection passengers on the ship?

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

The elevator ought to be connected to read Medallions on board and recalibrate.

I think that's a big assumption that the elevators could be able to recalibrate and override what the cruiser typed into the touchpad.

[CruizinSusan70]

16 minutes ago, CatMom72 said:

@CanadianBurger I hope your wife is feeling better! It’s really shameful that you had to wait in line.  The whole point of the Reserve is that you have better service that is available on demand…no long lines and extended wait times.  Do you think that this situation will get better over time, once the staff gets used to the routine? Or is the restaurant and its staffing level just insufficient to accommodate the number of Reserve Collection passengers on the ship?

I would infer that possibly the passenger mix would have influence on whether there was a long wait or not.  Europeans tend to eat later and while sailing in Europe the lines could be long around the 730-800 time frame.  When cruising in the Caribbean, more Western Hemisphere passengers would be on board and the dinner eating patterns could skew earlier with many of the cruisers.  Just a thought.

[KLM3164]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

And I will really miss the Fettucine Alfredo as well as the various souffles.

Yes! I’m also going to miss the French Onion soup!!!

[nasa1974]

3 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

Sorry, I completely forgot to take photos of the food, but the both the haddock and the veal were excellent. Tender and tasty. I do remember the veal was not on the menu at Horizons. 
 

We had a conversation with the headwaiter about some of my favorites being conspicuously absent from the menu. He said there have been lots of complaints from both the Reserve and Horizons dining rooms. There is no more French Onion soup, no more fettuccine Alfredo, and there will be only one soufflé offered, a chocolate one on the second formal night. Princess wanted to change up the dining. I miss my old favorites. 

It sounds like the decision to not to offer French onion soup isn't going over very well. Hopefully if enough people complain Princess will bring it back. Unless the bean counters said it cost too much because so many people enjoyed and requested it.

[Trafficgirl123]

Great pictures and review of the ship. Hope you both have a great time. I’ll be boarding April 8. 
 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

I think that's a big assumption that the elevators could be able to recalibrate and override what the cruiser typed into the touchpad.

I was joking.

 

[Pixelskaya]

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

I would infer that possibly the passenger mix would have influence on whether there was a long wait or not.  Europeans tend to eat later and while sailing in Europe the lines could be long around the 730-800 time frame.  When cruising in the Caribbean, more Western Hemisphere passengers would be on board and the dinner eating patterns could skew earlier with many of the cruisers.  Just a thought.

7:30 doesn’t even count as dinner time for us 😂 More like 9:30, but Princess won’t let us book a table then 🥲

[CruizinSusan70]

9 minutes ago, Pixelskaya said:

7:30 doesn’t even count as dinner time for us 😂 More like 9:30, but Princess won’t let us book a table then 🥲

At 930 we're either catching a late show or more than likely enjoying a libation or two or three at Good Spirits at Sea.

Edited March 11 by CruizinSusan70