Sun Princess

[WonderMan3]

35 minutes ago, chisoxfan said:

That is my opinion also posted earlier ie. I think the Sanctuary will disappear as a paid 'public' venue.  A shame in a way because the nice sized pool would be a great add on to the 'traditional' sanctuary.

The only reason we are interested in suites is a less congested pool option with a bar and a quieter dining area. A lounge can be nice also but not a big deal unless it is like on MSC YC with a large beautiful space and nightly entertainment. 

Same. I like an exclusive use pool area, exclusive restaurant and bar, etc. MSC has the best layout of a suites area of any cruise line I’ve seen but they need more suite categories, i.e. some bigger suites. The big fail for me with MSC was the food (poor on average in Yacht Club, only good in specialty restaurants)and the service (some of the worst service experiences I’ve had at sea, including in the Yacht Club itself). Also, it’s a zoo once you step out of the Yacht Club; didn’t like that huge contrast in atmosphere. I would never cruise with them again. I’m always mystified to read people who have cruised Celebrity or Princess or even NCL Haven raving about Yacht Club. I know it’s almost always a value with much better pricing than the rest, but it’s such a lower tier in food and service quality that the lower price just isn’t enough, for me anyway.

[chisoxfan]

45 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Same. I like an exclusive use pool area, exclusive restaurant and bar, etc. MSC has the best layout of a suites area of any cruise line I’ve seen but they need more suite categories, i.e. some bigger suites. The big fail for me with MSC was the food (poor on average in Yacht Club, only good in specialty restaurants)and the service (some of the worst service experiences I’ve had at sea, including in the Yacht Club itself). Also, it’s a zoo once you step out of the Yacht Club; didn’t like that huge contrast in atmosphere. I would never cruise with them again. I’m always mystified to read people who have cruised Celebrity or Princess or even NCL Haven raving about Yacht Club. I know it’s almost always a value with much better pricing than the rest, but it’s such a lower tier in food and service quality that the lower price just isn’t enough, for me anyway.

Agree. Not so critical on YC food and the space is nice  but didn't want to leave and experience the rest of the ship which is not a good thing. Hoping Princess hits the sweet spot but my lingering fear (backed up I think by NCL and X) is that success will blow up prices. I may even book another Sun suite for later in 2025 to hold a spot if things are good. Kudos to Princess for maintaining a refundable deposit.

[dides]

Another article from The Points Guy focussing on the American Diner on deck 8 aft

 

[LAS!!1414]

17 minutes ago, dides said:

Another article from The Points Guy focussing on the American Diner on deck 8 aft

 

Thanks for the pic/info. --- do they have soup and salad on the menu ???

[Esprit]

17 minutes ago, dides said:

Another article from The Points Guy focussing on the American Diner on deck 8 aft

 

The American Diner isn't for me. Much prefer traditional dining and proper tablecloths!

[dides]

Just now, LAS!!1414 said:

Thanks for the pic/info. --- do they have soup and salad on the menu ???

This is the menu, I see a Tuna Salad...

 

 

[Wishing on a star]

Yes, it is definitely different strokes for different folks!   But, I do think that this 'diner' will be popular.   I have heard good reviews of the burgers, ribs, and that you have to try that banana split.  (that is on our list!)

[Esprit]

Have I missed a review of Sabatini's? There must be one posted surely!

[dides]

11 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Have I missed a review of Sabatini's? There must be one posted surely!

Not seen much online - someone on the inaugural said the Lamb was perfect but the service was slow. Someone else sent the service speed was fine later in the cruise. 

[Cdude]

20 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Have I missed a review of Sabatini's? There must be one posted surely!

I ate there last night. It was not nearly what it was some 15 years ago, but what is nowadays?

 

The service was great! The food was mostly quite good until the entrees. We had burrata caprese and carpaccio to start followed by lasagne, all quite good. The mains were very nontraditional Italian and frankly not worth the cover. Chicken parm was not crispy and had slices of tomato on top in lieu of tomato sauce. My veal milanese was very bland and had little arugula on top and oddly had about half radicchio mixed in. By the way, the veal milanese was additional $10, which they took off after I complained. They brought me veal marsala as a replacement and it was much better. Instead of going back to Sabatini’s we opted for another night at Crown Grill.

Edited March 13 by Cdude

[555]

Does anyone know for sure if the menu's for the anytime restaurant and the traditional restaurant are exactly the same each evening?

[WonderMan3]

3 hours ago, 555 said:

Does anyone know for sure if the menu's for the anytime restaurant and the traditional restaurant are exactly the same each evening?

If you're referring to the American Diner section of the MDR, then yes, the menu is the always the same.

[WonderMan3]

3 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

Yes, it is definitely different strokes for different folks!   But, I do think that this 'diner' will be popular.   I have heard good reviews of the burgers, ribs, and that you have to try that banana split.  (that is on our list!)

I would check it out for lunch.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

11 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

I think Princess and suites is an evolving process. They’ve always been a few steps behind the other cruise lines when it comes to

suites. I imagine that in any ships after Star we will see the suites evolve further and improve. I like the direction they’re headed though.

I’ve said all along that Princess’ version of “ship within a ship” is going to be lacking. The fact that the suite dinning room is the same menu as the MDR (with a few additions) proves that they just can’t get it right. Still going in with the same reserved-not expecting much-open mind mentality and will enjoy my cruise. But I’m staying with Celebrity. Edge class ships know how to treat their suites!

 

 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

11 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Quick question. Does anyone know how you can hide or block a specific YouTube channel? Everytime I do a search on Sun Princess content I get this annoying cruise channel pushed into my search results with content that has nothing to do with my search. It’s really frustrating.

I’m always trying to find out. There are so many people I want to block (including almost ALL of the current vloggers!). 

[CruizinSusan70]

8 hours ago, Esprit said:

The American Diner isn't for me. Much prefer traditional dining and proper tablecloths!

It certainly doesn't have to be for everyone, but if you decide to sleep in on a sea day, you can go there for brunch or use it on a port day for sit down lunch if you don't want to go to Alfredo's or if you have plus and used up your two included visits.

It certainly fills a void that none of the other ships in the fleet provide.

[Cdude]

Last night we tried O’Malleys. They are still not open for lunch for whatever reason. Staff didn’t know if or when they open for lunch.

 

We had: cold, overly fishy artichoke and crab dip, pretty good but cold onion rings, decent but small burger, all followed by a bland and dry layered cake. The brownie was better but too much ganache it was overpowering.

 

We are Premier so no cover. We won’t go back for food and I would have asked for a refund if I had been charged a cover. For that matter, we prefer the pizza at Slice of Lido (complimentary) over the upcharge pizza at Alfredo’s, which we gave two tries. Both times at Alfredo’s had service issues and because it’s a small personal pizza we found it lacks sauce and toppings versus Lido’s. Alfredo’s is open for lunch and they get very busy on sea days.

So far, we are not starving, but not excited about the food. 

[Cdude]

Today we arrived Athens. Weather is nice, low 60’s.
 

I suggest packing light clothes for onboard. This ship is very warm. We left the casino early because it was just too damn hot. It’s nice opening our balcony door and getting cool, fresh air. I would pay extra for a balcony for that reason alone.

[WonderMan3]

12 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I’ve said all along that Princess’ version of “ship within a ship” is going to be lacking. The fact that the suite dinning room is the same menu as the MDR (with a few additions) proves that they just can’t get it right. Still going in with the same reserved-not expecting much-open mind mentality and will enjoy my cruise. But I’m staying with Celebrity. Edge class ships know how to treat their suites!

 

 

Celebrity was my go to for years but their pricing has gone out of control on top of them taking away things that used to be included (like gratuities and onboard credit from the suites). I recently booked 2025 and 2026 cruises on Oceania and Princess respectively because Celebrity was around $8K more expensive for similar itineraries/cabins. All the cruise lines have gone up in price and removed things but with Celebrity it’s exponential so I’m trying other cruise lines to see what my new go to might be. 

[dides]

Enjoyed this video showing some of the venues and open deck areas in use during the inaugural

 

 

[WonderMan3]

Here’s a look at The Catch by Rudi.

 

 

[dides]

Kai Sushi menus (credit: Phaedra L)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14 by dides

[dides]

Crown Grill menus (credit: Phaedra L)

 

 

 

 

[CaptainKirk]

@nasa1974

 

Hope all is well.

 

Since we are not getting much activity on this thread would you kindly reconsider opening the original thread.

 

The original thread you started had so much awesome and very useful information on it from nice people like @dides

 

Think we are all looking for as much information on the Sun Princess as possible.

 

Thanks so much.

[WonderMan3]

3 minutes ago, CaptainKirk said:

@nasa1974

 

Hope all is well.

 

Since we are not getting much activity on this thread would you kindly reconsider opening the original thread.

 

The original thread you started had so much awesome and very useful information on it from nice people like @dides

 

Think we are all looking for as much information on the Sun Princess as possible.

 

Thanks so much.

????? Not much activity? The thread is at 4 pages already in 5 days with lots of updated info each day like menus, videos of onboard venues, etc. There are also other threads specifically about Sun cabins (pinned by moderator at top of group) and the Sanctuary. Lots of info is being posted.