Sun Princess

[chisoxfan]

On 5/7/2024 at 8:33 PM, capriccio said:

What I am anticipating, unfortunately, is that Princess will turn both restaurants into the current Reserve format of MDR menus at breakfast and lunch plus one special dish at dinner. 

 

If that happens the suite passengers will lose the current suite breakfasts and the promised unique dinner menus.  Just another diminution of the originally promised Signature suite experience.

I cannot believe how botched up this 'introduction' to what are now Sanctuary cabins has been. 

I guess some of us who booked previously can take solace in the 50% overnight price increaase that took place. That said, we were excited about and applauded Princess for the long term prospect of offering more reasonable pricing in a dedicated area which now seems dashed.  We will watch with interest (and perhaps some trepidation) as the reviews from the new Sanctuary filter in.

[happy cruzin]

Has anyone seen a "real" menu for Love by Britto yet?

[chisoxfan]

Just got off the phone with Princess. Was not trying to reinvent the wheel but simply reserve some specialty dining. I found I was a Platinum so should have option to do this well in advance (had waited patiently on app to try and do this). I was told that Sun dining (and I assume Spellbound) could only be made 90 days out (platinum, elite or suite) - no logical reason for this just 'sorry for the confusion'. At this point nothing Princess comes up with for the Sun would surprise me.

 

[ILUVHOCKEY]

23 minutes ago, happy cruzin said:

Has anyone seen a "real" menu for Love by Britto yet?

They are still in the training and testing stage.  No real menu yet.  Today I saw the waiting crew for the first time. They had the heart logo pinned to the uniforms and heading to the venue.  They are running atleast 2 weeks behind schedule

 

[Jemnibabe02]

3 hours ago, chisoxfan said:

Just got off the phone with Princess. Was not trying to reinvent the wheel but simply reserve some specialty dining. I found I was a Platinum so should have option to do this well in advance (had waited patiently on app to try and do this). I was told that Sun dining (and I assume Spellbound) could only be made 90 days out (platinum, elite or suite) - no logical reason for this just 'sorry for the confusion'. At this point nothing Princess comes up with for the Sun would surprise me.

 

Almost exactly 4 months out, I was finally able to book Spellbound yesterday.

[Retired-N-Happy]

17 minutes ago, Jemnibabe02 said:

Almost exactly 4 months out, I was finally able to book Spellbound yesterday.

Was it 149 pp, or with the extra 18% on top of it?

[Jemnibabe02]

7 minutes ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Was it 149 pp, or with the extra 18% on top of it?

It was $149. as far as I could tell.  

[ILUVHOCKEY]

I happened to run across a chef today this evening  and he has confirmed that Love by Britto will be open on May 18.  It is only open this week to suite guest by invitation only for testing.

[Retired-N-Happy]

1 hour ago, Jemnibabe02 said:

It was $149. as far as I could tell.  

We were hoping for a show & drinks that we would pay 49pp for, similar to what is charged at specialty dinners.  An extra 200 on top of that for a meal puts it out of what we deem reasonable.

The drinks I've seen on YouTube do seem to be really nice though.

[LittleTinker]

8 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

We were hoping for a show & drinks that we would pay 49pp for, similar to what is charged at specialty dinners.  An extra 200 on top of that for a meal puts it out of what we deem reasonable.

The drinks I've seen on YouTube do seem to be really nice though.

It is a 5 hour event though. However, I do think that if you have already paid for a drinks package a discount should be applied.

[chisoxfan]

14 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

We were hoping for a show & drinks that we would pay 49pp for, similar to what is charged at specialty dinners.  An extra 200 on top of that for a meal puts it out of what we deem reasonable.

The drinks I've seen on YouTube do seem to be really nice though.

We knew this venue was 149 and I agree that this really stretches the pricing boundary (we just got off X Ascent and there were several specialty dining options that were over 100 pp).Because it is so unique will probably try it once..... reminds me perhaps of the ice bar 'fad' which we first experienced on Epic many years ago... once and done in that case.

[555]

4 minutes ago, chisoxfan said:

We knew this venue was 149 and I agree that this really stretches the pricing boundary (we just got off X Ascent and there were several specialty dining options that were over 100 pp).Because it is so unique will probably try it once..... reminds me perhaps of the ice bar 'fad' which we first experienced on Epic many years ago... once and done in that case.

Of course they're counting on people such as yourself to experience it at least one time. I'm almost positive if they could sell it to 40 to 50% of their cruisers at least once it would be a money maker even at &149 p/p.

I think we'll give it a hard pass. 

[chisoxfan]

12 minutes ago, 555 said:

Of course they're counting on people such as yourself to experience it at least one time. I'm almost positive if they could sell it to 40 to 50% of their cruisers at least once it would be a money maker even at &149 p/p.

I think we'll give it a hard pass. 

Obviously we are all free to spend our money in the way we see fit. Coming off of Ascent some specialty restaurants were 129-179 pp plus gratuity. Not my value cup of tea. Spellbound, with a small venue with (what looks) to be very unique drinks, on-going entertainment, dinner, and an intimate show, doesn't seem so outrageous in price. I personally question the value propositions of art auctions, on-board jewelers, and most spa services but they are cruise ship staples because they make money and remain popular. 

[Jemnibabe02]

Does anyone know or able to find the menu options for the dinner in Spellbound?

[555]

2 hours ago, chisoxfan said:

Obviously we are all free to spend our money in the way we see fit. Coming off of Ascent some specialty restaurants were 129-179 pp plus gratuity. Not my value cup of tea. Spellbound, with a small venue with (what looks) to be very unique drinks, on-going entertainment, dinner, and an intimate show, doesn't seem so outrageous in price. I personally question the value propositions of art auctions, on-board jewelers, and most spa services but they are cruise ship staples because they make money and remain popular. 

Not quite the perceived value if someone has either of the drink packages. 

[chisoxfan]

1 hour ago, 555 said:

Not quite the perceived value if someone has either of the drink packages. 

The same can be said for specialty dining of course ie. you have paid for meals. It is what it is. At least Princess does not appear to add a gratuity to the experience as most cruise lines do with specialty dining. 

[ILUVHOCKEY]

The menu has changed since it started.  See attached for thr most current. The menu is fixed. Except the entree.  Yiu have a choice between the 3 entrees.

 

However the cocktails are exclusive to spellbound and they are great.

 

Hope that helps 

[KLM3164]

On 5/15/2024 at 11:43 AM, chisoxfan said:

Just got off the phone with Princess. Was not trying to reinvent the wheel but simply reserve some specialty dining. I found I was a Platinum so should have option to do this well in advance (had waited patiently on app to try and do this). I was told that Sun dining (and I assume Spellbound) could only be made 90 days out (platinum, elite or suite) - no logical reason for this just 'sorry for the confusion'. At this point nothing Princess comes up with for the Sun would surprise me.

 

We were able to book SD reservations 6 months in advance. Our cruise is 11/2/24 and we booked all SD reservations on 5/7. For Spellbound we booked on 3/22 when the reservations were open for a few hours one night. 

[CalTexCruiser]

19 hours ago, ILUVHOCKEY said:

The menu has changed since it started.  See attached for thr most current. The menu is fixed. Except the entree.  Yiu have a choice between the 3 entrees.

 

However the cocktails are exclusive to spellbound and they are great.

 

Hope that helps 

offerings on menu look good

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

On 5/15/2024 at 11:43 AM, chisoxfan said:

Just got off the phone with Princess. Was not trying to reinvent the wheel but simply reserve some specialty dining. I found I was a Platinum so should have option to do this well in advance (had waited patiently on app to try and do this). I was told that Sun dining (and I assume Spellbound) could only be made 90 days out (platinum, elite or suite) - no logical reason for this just 'sorry for the confusion'. At this point nothing Princess comes up with for the Sun would surprise me.

 

I don't think this is accurate.

 

We are booked on the Sun Princess over Thanksgiving, 6+ months away, and we've already reserved Spellbound and other specialty dining restaurants. 

[chisoxfan]

13 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

We were able to book SD reservations 6 months in advance. Our cruise is 11/2/24 and we booked all SD reservations on 5/7. For Spellbound we booked on 3/22 when the reservations were open for a few hours one night. 

Appreciate the feedback but still in a quandry when Princess (two) people say '90 days in advance' I can read the writing on the wall here as I told the rep..... I will follow their lead and 90 days before will look to book Spellbound and dining..... sorry sir everything is booked..... Oh we are sorry you did not have better info....   I don't think I should have to spend every day trying to make some simple reservations.  As Platinum and staying in suite (not pulling rank because I did not even know I was Platinum) all I was seeking was definitive info on when I can book and yes my expectation is that I should have an opportunity to do so prior to the general booking time.

 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

I was on the phone with a VP from Princess yesterday (about a booking issue) and I asked about Park 19.

 

She was pretty tight-lipped about things but what she did say was that, "I actually just talked to the team about this earlier today because somebody else asked and what I can tell you is we are working on something we can share with people about this in the coming days."

 

That really tells us nothing other than they know people are talking about it and hopefully they actually have something to say on the matter soon. Hopefully what they'll be sharing is that Park 19 is opening, but it could just as easily be an explanation of the delays (or even a bunch of PR talk that tells us nothing at all).

 

Fingers crossed for those of you cruising on the Sun soon that it will be positive news.

[vjmatty]

1 hour ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

I was on the phone with a VP from Princess yesterday (about a booking issue) and I asked about Park 19.

 

She was pretty tight-lipped about things but what she did say was that, "I actually just talked to the team about this earlier today because somebody else asked and what I can tell you is we are working on something we can share with people about this in the coming days."

 

That really tells us nothing other than they know people are talking about it and hopefully they actually have something to say on the matter soon. Hopefully what they'll be sharing is that Park 19 is opening, but it could just as easily be an explanation of the delays (or even a bunch of PR talk that tells us nothing at all).

 

Fingers crossed for those of you cruising on the Sun soon that it will be positive news.

The blowback on this will only get worse in the coming weeks as more and more schools are out and sailings have more kids. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have to start giving out OBC to keep people happy. 

[Cafabi]

2 hours ago, vjmatty said:

The blowback on this will only get worse in the coming weeks as more and more schools are out and sailings have more kids. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have to start giving out OBC to keep people happy. 

You are absolutely right. There is a whole thread about this. What will keep me happy is for them to simply provide what they offered.

[InFullertonCA]

I'm booked on the Sun June 8-22, 2024 and if anyone is interested in paying the $149 pp for Spellbound, a bunch of reservations just became available for several different dates.