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

[CanadianBurger]

Staying at the St. Regis in Rome. Got upgraded to a suite. Booked the lowest room with points. Status and points from all my work trips staying at mediocre hotels pays off when taking a vacation. Tried booking this room for a day next week and it’s €2K a night! 😳

 

 

 

 

 

[MTNest93]

9 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

We had a look at the Cabana mini we’re staying in for our booking in December. It’s one of the Deck 10 ones NOT one of the reserve cabins right on the cabana deck. I have to say, we may switch it for a non-cabana mini. The seating in the cabana area was not comfortable at all for lounging, and was a far cry from the nice-looking L-shaped furniture in the preview pics. The bathroom was much smaller, the shower was a foot less deep, and there was NO DRAWER.  One less closet unit, and the whole cabin felt much more cramped. I will say the balcony was MUCH bigger, and had chairs that reclined. The inside doors to the cabana don’t fold like those on deck 9. 

 

Also took pics from one that was made up. You can compare them to what I posted from ours at the beginning of the Live. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

We will be staying in a cabana mini on deck 10 - so very happy to hear it will have reclining chairs. Not happy to hear it’s kinda cramped though and really wishing we had gone for the standard mini. Sad that they duped us with the nice looking couch in the cabana but our fault for booking the shiny object.  We have 2 others cruising with us and booked 3 cabins in a row or we would switch to a regular mini as those look really nice.  We are also above The Eatery and I’m worried about the noise levels.  We’ll be in cabins 5008, 5010, and 5012.  I’m sure we’ll have a great time no matter what, after all we’ll be on a cruise!!! 

[CanadianBurger]

2 hours ago, RNRcruisers said:

 

I saw a FB post from someone on the ship with a picture of a huge line up for MDR, saying this was the norm. Maybe it was the opening time? I think they said it was people with reservations. This wasn't your experience?

We ate in the reserve dining room, and only one night had a long line. That was the night we tried Horizons deck 6 (5 min wait), and there was too much motion. We went back to the reserve, sat at Wheelhouse with drinks until the hostess came and got us when our table was ready. 

[cbfb]

16 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

Staying at the St. Regis in Rome. Got upgraded to a suite. Booked the lowest room with points. Status and points from all my work trips staying at mediocre hotels pays off when taking a vacation. Tried booking this room for a day next week and it’s €2K a night! 😳

 

 

 

 

 

Omg! That is gorgeous!!! Good for you! I hope you are there for a few nights!

[CanadianBurger]

I just looked more closely at the pics I quickly snapped of our upcoming cabana mini on deck 10, and to our horror realized it has a connecting door. Definitely going to look for a different cabin. 
 

[CanadianBurger]

1 hour ago, CaptainKirk said:

@dashulak

 

Thanks for the photos of the Deluxe Balcony in the Sphere Deck 14.

 

Have a Q.

 

On the first photo of the balcony the right wall of the balcony seems to curve in.

 

Is that so or is that a photo illusion.

 

Thanks.

It forms the outer surface of the sphere. It will curve both up and down, and left to right. 

[vjmatty]

46 minutes ago, MTNest93 said:

We will be staying in a cabana mini on deck 10 - so very happy to hear it will have reclining chairs. Not happy to hear it’s kinda cramped though and really wishing we had gone for the standard mini. Sad that they duped us with the nice looking couch in the cabana but our fault for booking the shiny object.  We have 2 others cruising with us and booked 3 cabins in a row or we would switch to a regular mini as those look really nice.  We are also above The Eatery and I’m worried about the noise levels.  We’ll be in cabins 5008, 5010, and 5012.  I’m sure we’ll have a great time no matter what, after all we’ll be on a cruise!!! 

I’m coming to the conclusion that the choices for minis will be either a cramped room or a cramped balcony. I really don’t like the closets in the hallway and miss the open closet by the bathroom that was on the Grand class. The non-cabana minis have the closets next to the bed but the balconies are ledge style like on Royal class.

 

Right now I’m trying to decide between Sun and the Celebrity Ascent, both for a westbound transatlantic in fall of 2025. I managed to book a Sunset Veranda on Ascent which is a find since Edge class ships have few true balconies, but I’m also considering Sun with a cabana mini on the sphere or a standard mini towards the aft, near the rear public decks to make up for the minimal balcony. Decisions decisions lol. 

[MTNest93]

48 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

It forms the outer surface of the sphere. It will curve both up and down, and left to right. 

Realized ours does too but we have family on one side of us and friends I. The other so it’ll be fine.  I’m learning more and more from CC to check these things before booking! 

[chamima]

55 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

I just looked more closely at the pics I quickly snapped of our upcoming cabana mini on deck 10, and to our horror realized it has a connecting door. Definitely going to look for a different cabin. 
 

 

 

So after your post i checked to see if either of our cabins are connecting and realized that Princess deck plans don't show ANY connecting cabins.

How are we to find out?

[CanadianBurger]

If you’ve done the big stuff in Rome, you have to check this place out. The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is amazing, and no crowds today. 
 

 

 

 

 

[h20skibum]

6 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

So after your post i checked to see if either of our cabins are connecting and realized that Princess deck plans don't show ANY connecting cabins.

How are we to find out?

Go to their deck plans and click the connecting cabin checkbox.  It will highlight the connecting cabins.

 

 

You can click on the cabin and see which one it connects to. 

 

They really should have symbols to make it more apparent. 

 

[MTNest93]

8 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

So after your post i checked to see if either of our cabins are connecting and realized that Princess deck plans don't show ANY connecting cabins.

How are we to find out?

Thanks to another CC member, I found you can check the box on the deck plans.  It will then show only the connecting cabins,  

[CanadianBurger]

After the Gallery, we toured the Piazza Navona Underground, including the recently opened new archeological area. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, MTNest93 said:

We’ll be in cabins 5008, 5010, and 5012.  I’m sure we’ll have a great time no matter what, after all we’ll be on a cruise!!! 

Are you sailing in the European season or after it makes the TA?  I would be anxious to hear your thoughts as our next cruise has us in a cabin just a couple of doors down from you in 5018.  I checked again today and there is really no viable option for moving to a different type of Mini Suite (Regular, Reserve, or Reserve Cabana) or Mini Signature Suite, so I am going to avert my eyes and ears from negativity and try to go in with an open mind.  We will be a family of 3 and it seems as if things are a bit more cramped than we are used to.  I was pretty much counting on us using the Cabana quite a bit as our "extra space" but the furniture, or lack thereof, does not give me warm and fuzzies.  I keep hoping that they didn't  have time to finish the build-out and that the beautiful "L-Shaped" South Beach furniture is still coming!

[CanadianBurger]

There’s a little restaurant near the hotel that isn’t a big tourist trap called Pan Bernardo. Amazing food! Have to get used to a bill coming at the end again!

 

 

 

[Wishing on a star]

Wow, with that suite at the Ritz!

Just catching up...   I will def. be spending a bit of time at Good Spirits!!!  

Vanilla Sky is one of our faves.

That is a lot of 'pile' coming off of the new carpet.  Somewhat usual for new carpet...  but that is a lot of shedding!!!!  Their poor vacuums.

Hate to hear that the standard chairs on the balconies are just not comfortable!

Note to self:  bring a butt cushion!  ( I always have one, good latex, because I am so short I have always used one in the drivers seat of the car! )   Looks like I see the foot-stools. Seems not all cabins have those yet.

I am trying not to be a little 'green', and live vicariously thru your amazing photos as you explore new areas of Rome!

[Wishing on a star]

Ohhhh,  that pesky little 'bill' !!!!!

 

[JimmyVWine]

2 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

Between the cabin and cabana is a standard slider. There is a fold-away door and between the cabana and balcony. Which doesn’t work for making the cabana “part of the cabin”. In the reserve cabanas on deck 9, both sets of doors are folding. 

 

This video does not show two sets of folding doors. At both the 30 second mark and the 43 second mark you can clearly see a two-panel sliding door between the cabin and the cabana.  A folding door would have three panels as can be seen between the cabana and the balcony at the 37 second mark.  Frankly, it wouldn't make sense to have two sets of folding doors as employing both sets at the same time would create a hurricane in the cabin.  The main cabin area should always be closed off from the outside elements and wind. 

 

 

[cbfb]

52 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

I’m coming to the conclusion that the choices for minis will be either a cramped room or a cramped balcony. I really don’t like the closets in the hallway and miss the open closet by the bathroom that was on the Grand class. The non-cabana minis have the closets next to the bed but the balconies are ledge style like on Royal class.

 

Right now I’m trying to decide between Sun and the Celebrity Ascent, both for a westbound transatlantic in fall of 2025. I managed to book a Sunset Veranda on Ascent which is a find since Edge class ships have few true balconies, but I’m also considering Sun with a cabana mini on the sphere or a standard mini towards the aft, near the rear public decks to make up for the minimal balcony. Decisions decisions lol. 

I will say the celebrity E class ships have large SV cabins and balconies. We loved ours on Beyond which is pretty much a mirror image of Ascent. 

[MTNest93]

21 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Are you sailing in the European season or after it makes the TA?  I would be anxious to hear your thoughts as our next cruise has us in a cabin just a couple of doors down from you in 5018.  I checked again today and there is really no viable option for moving to a different type of Mini Suite (Regular, Reserve, or Reserve Cabana) or Mini Signature Suite, so I am going to avert my eyes and ears from negativity and try to go in with an open mind.  We will be a family of 3 and it seems as if things are a bit more cramped than we are used to.  I was pretty much counting on us using the Cabana quite a bit as our "extra space" but the furniture, or lack thereof, does not give me warm and fuzzies.  I keep hoping that they didn't  have time to finish the build-out and that the beautiful "L-Shaped" South Beach furniture is still coming!

We are sailing in the Caribbean Feb 8 2025. I like the way you think with the “L” shaped couches still coming!  One can hope!  I purchased a couple blow up ottomans to bring with for use in the cabana. We will be opening up the dividers between our 3 balconies so I can see us using that room as a hang out area.  We are in the middle, flanked by long time friends on one side and family on the other, so pretty sure ours will be the party cabin! 

[JimmyVWine]

2 minutes ago, MTNest93 said:

We are sailing in the Caribbean Feb 8 2025

Well then, I guess you will have to hear from me before I hear from you!  We pre-date the TA.

[Wishing on a star]

Dashulak,  thanks so much for that photo of the balcony on 14433!

We were able to move to one of the Sphere balconies,  One on the edge of the Sphere...

Like the one next to 14433.   I am glad!   As the standard balconies on the bump-out sections of the ship seem to be small/shallow... not much better than the Royal Class.  

So, seeing that photo gives me a good visual of about how deep our balcony wlll be at the widest.

[KLM3164]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

Right now I’m trying to decide between Sun and the Celebrity Ascent

I haven’t sailed on the Sun yet but I’ve sailed on many of the Princess Royal class ships. I also just did my first Celebrity cruise last month in a Sunset Veranda on the Ascent. If I were in your shoes I would definitely book the Ascent! The ship is amazing and the SV is one of my favorite cabins ever. I really thought this would be my only X cruise prior to stepping foot on the ship but after sailing in a SV I’m sold on the Edge class ships. We had already booked another SV for next year before we departed the Ascent. 

[CanadianBurger]

29 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

 

This video does not show two sets of folding doors. At both the 30 second mark and the 43 second mark you can clearly see a two-panel sliding door between the cabin and the cabana.  A folding door would have three panels as can be seen between the cabana and the balcony at the 37 second mark.  Frankly, it wouldn't make sense to have two sets of folding doors as employing both sets at the same time would create a hurricane in the cabin.  The main cabin area should always be closed off from the outside elements and wind. 

Interesting. I could have sworn I saw a video or someone on the cabana deck said both were folding. Someone on our cruise said they opened the “whole cabin to the outside” to cool it down, but maybe they just meant the slider. I’m going to some digging. 

[Pixelskaya]

1 hour ago, CanadianBurger said:

If you’ve done the big stuff in Rome, you have to check this place out. The Doria Pamphilj Gallery is amazing, and no crowds today. 
 

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite places in Rome; nowhere else in the world can you see two portraits of the same person (Pope Innocent X) by both the greatest painter and the greatest sculptor of their time and perhaps of all time (Velázquez and Bernini). That little room is one of the Meccas of art.

 

I’m also heading to Rome next week! Enjoy your stay 😊