Park 19 on the Sun Princess

[Retired-N-Happy]

15 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

While we personally have little interest in the Sun now after following the reviews and realizing we just prefer sailing on cruises without so many people, we do sympathize with families who are going to be disappointed by this turn of events. It did sound like a fun space for kids of all ages. 
 

That being said, I am going to sound like an old curmudgeon here - and I’m really not that old. But I have come to feel

that we are doing a disservice to our kids these days by catering to every expectation for constant stimulation or entertainment as catering to their whims. I mean, regardless of the bells and whistles, how lucky are any of these young people to be going on cruises to wonderful places on beautiful ships even if they don’t have slides, parks, gliders, or rope courses. 
 

When we first started cruising Princess with our kiddos, they had the kids clubs, small arcades, putting greens and sports court, pools, and games in the library. And guess what? They had wonderful, memorable, and amazing experiences even without wave riders, slides, go karts, and laser tag. 
 

We played games as a family, they joined us at trivia and karaoke, they did the kids talent shows, they made friends and went to parties in the clubs, enjoyed family friendly entertainment, great food, and best of all, they traveled to wonderful destinations. They were LUCKY kids to have wonderful family vacations - spoiled for sure. 
 

So, I get that it is disappointing and it would have been a cool add on, but ultimately how blessed are these children to be traveling like this. I can’t imagine any young person feeling bored or disappointed to be treated to such an experience - with or without Park 19. Maybe it will open up opportunity for families to find other options for fun onboard  which are still ample. 

Can't agree more with your synopsis.  I didn't cruise until I was 26, so I didn't have a silver spoon like many of these kids today do.  The kids may get accustomed to the amenities that are available on ships from RCI, Carnival, NCL and MSC and if they cruise on Princess or X they could be disappointed because the amenities are different. 

 

Of course it all comes down to parenting and if brought up properly the kids should be able to adjust.  But if the parents take a vacation from parenting and let the rug rats run wild while they sip a frozen concoction, that's a whole other story 

Edited July 21 by Retired-N-Happy

[LittleTinker]

3 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

Just out of curiosity..  to those who post that their kids were happy without an area like Park 19 and found plenty to do.

What did they enjoy doing while onboard???

 

Swimming but even that is curtailed, apparently, as one pool is now 16+.
And movies under the stars in the evening.

Nothing much else for them to do

Edited July 21 by LittleTinker

[Wishing on a star]

Retired,  I had considered the wakeview area as well.  But, then realized how limited this is in size.   Not sure how the different options would actually compare?

I do know that I see comments, and more comments, and pictures that show that little wakeview pool just packed, often with kids.

[LittleTinker]

2 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

The easy thing to do is make the Wake view terrace at the aft section of deck 8 adult only.  I believe that a certain section here is smoking so it would make sense to make the entire section back there adults only since there's a bar, a small pool and two hot tubs.

Nope
There would be all hell breaks loose if they make that adult only.

They should open up the sanctuary pool to adults only, like on other ships

[LittleTinker]

2 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

While we personally have little interest in the Sun now after following the reviews and realizing we just prefer sailing on cruises without so many people, we do sympathize with families who are going to be disappointed by this turn of events. It did sound like a fun space for kids of all ages. 
 

That being said, I am going to sound like an old curmudgeon here - and I’m really not that old. But I have come to feel

that we are doing a disservice to our kids these days by catering to every expectation for constant stimulation or entertainment as catering to their whims. I mean, regardless of the bells and whistles, how lucky are any of these young people to be going on cruises to wonderful places on beautiful ships even if they don’t have slides, parks, gliders, or rope courses. 
 

When we first started cruising Princess with our kiddos, they had the kids clubs, small arcades, putting greens and sports court, pools, and games in the library. And guess what? They had wonderful, memorable, and amazing experiences even without wave riders, slides, go karts, and laser tag. 
 

We played games as a family, they joined us at trivia and karaoke, they did the kids talent shows, they made friends and went to parties in the clubs, enjoyed family friendly entertainment, great food, and best of all, they traveled to wonderful destinations. They were LUCKY kids to have wonderful family vacations - spoiled for sure. 
 

So, I get that it is disappointing and it would have been a cool add on, but ultimately how blessed are these children to be traveling like this. I can’t imagine any young person feeling bored or disappointed to be treated to such an experience - with or without Park 19. Maybe it will open up opportunity for families to find other options for fun onboard  which are still ample. 

On the Sun, there is no sports court, or putting green. There is no Library or arcade.
The kids club was "babyish" and "boring" when it was open. Other times, the air hockey was turned off. (I suspect they turned it off so kids would not go in)

They had a scavenger hunt once.....and it lasted 20 minutes......which they enjoyed. Other than that....nothing else for them to do
 

[FLAlaska]

2 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Can't agree more with your synopsis.  I didn't cruise until I was 26, so I didn't have a silver spoon like many of these kids today do.  The kids may get accustomed to the amenities that are available on ships from RCI, Carnival, NCL and MSC and if they cruise on Princess or X they could be disappointed because the amenities are different. 

 

Of course it all comes down to parenting and if brought up properly the kids should be able to adjust.  But if the parents take a vacation from parenting and let the rug rats run wild while they sip a frozen concoction, that's a whole other story 

I cruised with my parents. Back then we didn't have all kinds of entertainment to entertain us. We had to find a way to entertain ourselves. My dad would always answer "Only boring people get bored" LOL. But , we have raised a generation that needs entertainment at restaurants, car trips, home etc.  Its bound to have bled into cruising. 

[Mary Kelly]

Just now, FLAlaska said:

I cruised with my parents. Back then we didn't have all kinds of entertainment to entertain us. We had to find a way to entertain ourselves. My dad would always answer "Only boring people get bored" LOL. But , we have raised a generation that needs entertainment at restaurants, car trips, home etc.  Its bound to have bled into cruising. 

You are absolutely correct. During our cruise in June on the Sun, our Daughter and Son in Law took away our Grandsons (13 and 14) phones for the entire cruise. They ended up having a blast, even without the Park 19 being open.  They made new friends, hung out at the teen club, we would all sit and play some cards, they interacted a lot more with all of us, swam a lot, participated in some of the cruise Director activities, explored the ship and tried all the food and all the restaurants numerous times. 

[FamilyAtSea.travel]

2 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

I didn't cruise until I was 26, so I didn't have a silver spoon like many of these kids today do. 

 

This is a strange way to look at parents providing opportunities for their kids. 

 

Boomers were gifted the greatest economy the world has ever known, and I'm truly happy you guys had that opportunity, but it's weird to think we're the ones raising kids to be entitled (with a silver spoon).

 

However, simply because we choose to give our kids experiences that we didn't have growing up, doesn't mean our kids are growing up with a silver spoon. The reality is we (Millennials) simply value different things than your generation did as parents. We value experiences and want to have them with our kids while they're still young... But that's not spoiling them, that's simply recognizing that making these memories is more important than anything else to us.

 

[waltd]

Has anyone seen the article about the ride on Park 19 being dropped. Not going to happen???

[MTNest93]

12 hours ago, dides said:

Interested to understand how that works with the pool .which is half in the Seaview Terrace and half in the Dome. Would a kid be able to swim in the Dome part but not swim through to the Seaview part?

Hopefully they make the Dome adults only during the day. 

[SCX22]

4 minutes ago, waltd said:

Has anyone seen the article about the ride on Park 19 being dropped. Not going to happen???

3rd party articles is how the current discussion came about.  Still waiting for Princess to come clean and release a statement.  Not sure why they thought a Guinness Record for pizza eating is newsworthy (it’s not) but not the abandonment of a much touted amenity on their newest ship isn’t.

[dides]

5 minutes ago, waltd said:

Has anyone seen the article about the ride on Park 19 being dropped. Not going to happen???

Yes posted a few pages back on this thread on #255 

[vjmatty]

6 hours ago, FamilyAtSea.travel said:

That is my fear! 

 

I'm sure there's a correlation between people who smoke and people who gamble, but I wish they'd have a separate casino for smokers like some other cruise lines.

 

We went to Vegas last year and my wife was coughing for a week following our trip and her doctor said it wasn't a cold/COVID, it was just due to breathing in the smoke in the casinos for a week when her body wasn't used to it. 

 

On a positive note - it's great to hear your grandkids still enjoyed the Sun... I'm confident mine will as well as I know Park 19 would have only filled a few hours of 7 days at most anyways!

There is definitely a correlation. When we sailed on Anthem OTS we’d frequently go through the casino from the Music Hall in order to get to the elevators back to our room. It was like a short cut, and there was no smoking so the air was very clear and no odor. However, it was always empty 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Retired-N-Happy]

7 minutes ago, waltd said:

Has anyone seen the article about the ride on Park 19 being dropped. Not going to happen???

Post #255, posted just over two days ago

[dides]

Just now, SCX22 said:

3rd party articles is how the current discussion came about.  Still waiting for Princess to come clean and release a statement.  Not sure why they thought a Guinness Record for pizza eating is newsworthy (it’s not) but not the abandonment of a much touted amenity on their newest ship isn’t.

 A few videos out there now based on that same statement.  Someone on FB said that Princess confirmed over the phone to them too - hopefully there will be something in writing out there soon

[susancruzs]

I read an article today about the Sun and the Park 19 issues.  I had no idea because being older, cruising alone, size of the ship, did not pay attention to deck plan or amenities. 

 

Clueless they were trying to compete with Carnival, NCL, RCI, on turning the ship into an amusement park.

[Its the journey]

4 hours ago, FLAlaska said:

I cruised with my parents. Back then we didn't have all kinds of entertainment to entertain us. We had to find a way to entertain ourselves. My dad would always answer "Only boring people get bored" LOL. But , we have raised a generation that needs entertainment at restaurants, car trips, home etc.  Its bound to have bled into cruising. 

My first cruise was Cunard when I was 5.  They only had boring old people games like shuffleboard, I loved it!

 

But we played as a family, so it gave me good memories of having fun with my dad (who was rarely home, always working or traveling).

 

 

Edited July 22 by Its the journey

[peder]

13 minutes ago, susancruzs said:

Clueless they were trying to compete with Carnival

 

Strongly disagree with this because (1) Carnival owns Princess and has for 21 years so you'd expect them to be able to drive innovations across multiple brands, and (2) Carnival's market analysis is likely showing them that they are failing at multigenerational cruising, which appears to be a big focus for Royal and MSC, who must be taking share from Carnival overall.

 

If Princess's strategy was working great and growing the brand without signs of slowing, you wouldn't have seen Park19 envisioned, but that's not where we're at. And with Park19 and the new modern ship design, I was drawn in and made my first Princess Cruises booking for me and my family. If there isn't at least something fun for all ages to replace it, I'll cancel my Sanctuary Collection booking.

[Its the journey]

3 minutes ago, peder said:

 

Strongly disagree with this because (1) Carnival owns Princess and has for 21 years so you'd expect them to be able to drive innovations across multiple brands, and (2) Carnival's market analysis is likely showing them that they are failing at multigenerational cruising, which appears to be a big focus for Royal and MSC, who must be taking share from Carnival overall.

 

If Princess's strategy was working great and growing the brand without signs of slowing, you wouldn't have seen Park19 envisioned, but that's not where we're at. And with Park19 and the new modern ship design, I was drawn in and made my first Princess Cruises booking for me and my family. If there isn't at least something fun for all ages to replace it, I'll cancel my Sanctuary Collection booking.

 

I actually was expecting the ex Disney guy to come up with something much more special to appeal to multi generational families.

 

I'm older and childless, but there is nothing that makes me happier than the sounds of children having fun.  I hope they can get it right.

[SCX22]

1 minute ago, Its the journey said:

I actually was expecting the ex Disney guy to come up with something much more special to appeal to multi generational families.

 

He only cares about the MedallionClass program.  One of the reasons he should not have been promoted to head honcho.  He might be an expert on technology, but not running a cruise line--and I use expert loosely.

[peder]

And I was thinking that the Sanctuary Collection is a lot like DCL Concierge, and suggests some influence from Disney.

[Iamcruzin]

11 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Well Mike, it all depends upon what you consider to be important as to which cruise line gives you the most value.  I've cruised over 60 times, primarily on Carnival, but also on RCI, NCL, MSC, Princess and Celebrity.  MSC and Celebrity are permanently in our rear view mirror.  We've sailed on four different classes of ships on X, including 4 times on the Edge Class.  Since they eliminated gratuities as part of their packages and changed things up big time with their drink package, we will no longer sail on them.

We will still occasionally sail on RCI and NCL, but with the dynamic pricing policy and the outrageous cost of the drink package on RCI, it's a major turn off.  

Princess is our current go to and we have 10 future reservations.  The Plus and Premier packages are the best value at sea compared to the other mainstream lines we cruise on and that's why 10/13 current future bookings are all on Princess on either Sphere Class or Royal Class ships.

When I look at value I also include flying in the equation. Princess gave up the NY summer market meaning if I wanted to sail with them it meant a flight for 4 people. It was cheaper to sail with Royal or Celebrity from New Jersey than to fly to Florida a day early and book a hotel and pay for meals. Now that I live in Florida it will be a level playing field.

 

I do miss the 123 go and pick your Perk deals that Celebrity used to offer. Princess was late to the party with offering an all inclusive package so don't be surprised if they eventually go the route of Celebrity. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have smoke and mirror sales. If you don't book the drink WiFi package at the time of booking with Celebrity you will pay quite a bit more after the fact even with their 40% off fake sale. 

 

The restaurant discounts are a joke as I have always scored a larger discount on board when approached. We don't ever plan to eat in specialty but they have offered me a 20% discount on board. I can usually get them to go 25% off but you can't be picky about the day and time and it's usually for a restaurant that's not selling. 

 

The room accommodations are much better on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean which adds value to me. Princess doesn't even give you a comfortable chair to sit in while you wait for your wife to get ready for dinner. The shower is way too small on Princess. Our clothing has more space then we do with that closet that takes up the entire room. If I want to be accommodated on Princess I have to pay more for a deluxe balcony which isn't available on all ships or a mini suite. Once I do this Princess costs more than Celebrity for a similar itinerary even with the plus package.

 

[Its the journey]

19 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

When I look at value I also include flying in the equation. Princess gave up the NY summer market meaning if I wanted to sail with them it meant a flight for 4 people. It was cheaper to sail with Royal or Celebrity from New Jersey than to fly to Florida a day early and book a hotel and pay for meals. Now that I live in Florida it will be a level playing field.

 

I do miss the 123 go and pick your Perk deals that Celebrity used to offer. Princess was late to the party with offering an all inclusive package so don't be surprised if they eventually go the route of Celebrity. Royal Caribbean and Celebrity have smoke and mirror sales. If you don't book the drink WiFi package at the time of booking with Celebrity you will pay quite a bit more after the fact even with their 40% off fake sale. 

 

The restaurant discounts are a joke as I have always scored a larger discount on board when approached. We don't ever plan to eat in specialty but they have offered me a 20% discount on board. I can usually get them to go 25% off but you can't be picky about the day and time and it's usually for a restaurant that's not selling. 

 

The room accommodations are much better on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean which adds value to me. Princess doesn't even give you a comfortable chair to sit in while you wait for your wife to get ready for dinner. The shower is way too small on Princess. Our clothing has more space then we do with that closet that takes up the entire room. If I want to be accommodated on Princess I have to pay more for a deluxe balcony which isn't available on all ships or a mini suite. Once I do this Princess costs more than Celebrity for a similar itinerary even with the plus package.

 

Totally agree.  It ticks me off when I see how uncomfortable those balcony chairs look on the new Sun Princess.  They should at least provide a comfortable place to sit in the room (without resorting to sitting on the bed).

[peder]

47 minutes ago, Its the journey said:

Totally agree.  It ticks me off when I see how uncomfortable those balcony chairs look on the new Sun Princess.  They should at least provide a comfortable place to sit in the room (without resorting to sitting on the bed).

The loungers on the extended balconies look ok, but the little sofa in the cabana mini suites look impossibly uncomfortable. Very narrow.

 

Some of the Sanctuary suites appear to have better balcony furniture, but it's a pretty steep price just to get a decent chair or lounger.

[Kit6]

On the Sun Princess now. While it is a bummer to look at a ropes course you can’t go on (it looks like it would be fun), I gotta say we are finding that there is lots to do. Many activities from morning to very late at night - crafts, games, dance instruction, etc. Lots of kids activities too, options for anyone, including hanging out as a family in lido deck. While there is no sport court, there is an area with a sport court floor that has giant connect 4 & cornhole, fun to enjoy as a family, plenty of comfy seating all around the area. They also do different group games there, we did a team putting challenge (like beer pong but on a putting green), anybody who wanted to join chose a side & played. Lots of fun to be had if you choose to jump in. 
 

Regarding the dome pool - that area is clearly marked 16 plus. But if a disappointment as my kids wanted to swim around there but not a huge deal, other pools to choose from. The wakeview pool is awesome, never more than 1/2 full as it’s a bit shady at the back of the ship but still plenty warm enough to swim. 
 

The ship is very clean, food is good (dining room service is slow but fine), staff is wonderful throughout. My family of 6 (including two teens & two young kids) are having a fantastic time. As I said, it’s a shame the whole park 19 thing is such a mess but there’s so many other fun things to do, if you don’t obsess with park 19 disappointment.