Sun Princess - Park 19, has anyone actually complained??

[dbowe5]

Hi all, we are due to sail on Sun Princess in August and obviously, Park 19 looks like it’s not going to be fully operational until it goes across the pond.

 

Have many people complained to Princess about this?

 

For those of us travelling with children, it’s not on to have the only space dedicated to them not being fully opened.

 

I know that some cruisers are not going with kids but this also has an effect on them as people are saying the pools and hot tubs are full of kids as they don’t have Park 19 to go to.

 

From reading the forums it seems that people are shrugging their shoulders and giving Princess a pass - but for me and I’m sure others - its unacceptable that they are leaving a key piece of the family offering pretty much redundant until it goes to the states and giving cruisers on the European itineraries an inferior cruise experience.

 

I get that things happen but this is such a fundamental part of the cruise that they are not delivering on, I would have expected much more noise about it.

 

Would welcome people’s thoughts.

 

Cheers

[LittleTinker]

1 hour ago, dbowe5 said:

Hi all, we are due to sail on Sun Princess in August and obviously, Park 19 looks like it’s not going to be fully operational until it goes across the pond.

 

Have many people complained to Princess about this?

 

For those of us travelling with children, it’s not on to have the only space dedicated to them not being fully opened.

 

I know that some cruisers are not going with kids but this also has an effect on them as people are saying the pools and hot tubs are full of kids as they don’t have Park 19 to go to.

 

From reading the forums it seems that people are shrugging their shoulders and giving Princess a pass - but for me and I’m sure others - its unacceptable that they are leaving a key piece of the family offering pretty much redundant until it goes to the states and giving cruisers on the European itineraries an inferior cruise experience.

 

I get that things happen but this is such a fundamental part of the cruise that they are not delivering on, I would have expected much more noise about it.

 

Would welcome people’s thoughts.

 

Cheers

Its now being said that they are actually going to dismantle it.
Ive heard a few reasons.
Its noisy for people in the Sanctuary
Its a H&S nightmare
Smoke from the chimney
Not enough people to use it.

I did complain in my cruise feedback. Especially as the kids clubs were poor and they turned the machines off  (games like air hockey etc)  if not enough kids there.

My kids had a very expensive week long swim.

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, dbowe5 said:

Hi all, we are due to sail on Sun Princess in August and obviously, Park 19 looks like it’s not going to be fully operational until it goes across the pond.

 

Have many people complained to Princess about this?

 

For those of us travelling with children, it’s not on to have the only space dedicated to them not being fully opened.

 

I know that some cruisers are not going with kids but this also has an effect on them as people are saying the pools and hot tubs are full of kids as they don’t have Park 19 to go to.

 

From reading the forums it seems that people are shrugging their shoulders and giving Princess a pass - but for me and I’m sure others - its unacceptable that they are leaving a key piece of the family offering pretty much redundant until it goes to the states and giving cruisers on the European itineraries an inferior cruise experience.

 

I get that things happen but this is such a fundamental part of the cruise that they are not delivering on, I would have expected much more noise about it.

 

Would welcome people’s thoughts.

 

Cheers

I was really looking forward to going on the roller glide. It would be the closest I'd get to seeing what I'm missing in the Sanctuary.

On a serious note I can understand the frustration and disappointment. We will be on the Sun this August for two weeks and fully accept there will be loads of kids on board. It's why we choose that time of year as I don't want to be on a ship full of coffin dodgers.

I am genuinely not bothered if the kids fool around in the pools and hot tubs. It will not put me off using them. 

As for Park 19 being off limits until it's certified for use in the USA, I'm guessing Princess are fearful of the litigious culture that is more prevalent across the pond. Just MHO!

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, LittleTinker said:

Its now being said that they are actually going to dismantle it.
Ive heard a few reasons.
Its noisy for people in the Sanctuary
Its a H&S nightmare
Smoke from the chimney
Not enough people to use it.

I did complain in my cruise feedback. Especially as the kids clubs were poor and they turned the machines off  (games like air hockey etc)  if not enough kids there.

My kids had a very expensive week long swim.

You're joking, right?

 

How could Princess, or you - or anyone speculating - have any idea whether there's enough people to use it, when it hasn't even opened yet? What a ridiculous comment.

 

As for dismantling it - unless and until there's official word from Princess, I'll believe it when I see it . 

 

@dbowe5 Yes, of course people have complained. Through channels in land and aboard while there, via survey, etc. and all have met the same stonewall.  Not certified fully, blah blah blah..  and no compensation 

 

 

And, as I've noted in the past - it's not a huge area - you're talking a ride around the glider thing and ropes course, either of which take minutes (glider) or maybe 10/15 tops (ropes).  It's not a huge massive okay area that will occupy anyone for hours and hours on end, particularly not most older tweens and teens.  The splash pad is small and could occupy some kids for a half hour or something but seriously - it's not the end all be all and nowhere near the varying sizes of these types of things on RCCL or NCL.. 

And no sports court - which is a major fail as that space does occupy kids for a fair amount of time in other Princess ships. F

Go figure..

 

Dismantling? Sure. When the videos come out of that happening, or the press release comes out - then I'll believe it.. 

 

 

[dbowe5]

Regardless of whether it would occupy a kid for 30 mins or 3 hours, it’s an amenity that people have expected and paid for as part of the cruise that isn’t being delivered.

 

RCI is our go to and the complexity/size of their offerings is massive compared to Park 19 and they can’t even get this working.

 

The silence/stonewalling of paying clients when they complain is a disgrace and I hope people remember that when booking their next cruise.

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, Esprit said:

I was really looking forward to going on the roller glide. It would be the closest I'd get to seeing what I'm missing in the Sanctuary.

😂

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, LittleTinker said:

Its now being said that they are actually going to dismantle it.
Ive heard a few reasons.
Its noisy for people in the Sanctuary
Its a H&S nightmare
Smoke from the chimney
Not enough people to use it.

I did complain in my cruise feedback. Especially as the kids clubs were poor and they turned the machines off  (games like air hockey etc)  if not enough kids there.

My kids had a very expensive week long swim.

 

How does the Not enough people use it. comment come into play when it's not open?  

[LittleTinker]

1 hour ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

How does the Not enough people use it. comment come into play when it's not open?  

I suppose they know how many kids have been on each week up to now and how many will be on in future, calculated price per hour and figured the space is not cost effective.
Its a bit of a waste of space if its only going to be used to its full potential during the Caribbean and European school holidays.

Added to all the other reasons why the space is dreadful, I guess it makes sense.
 

[Wishing on a star]

I also would totally question any idea that this would be dismantled.

However, it is almost shocking to see that, for now, Princess has removed ANY mention of Park 19 from their web-site.  WOW.   (so, no wonder there is speculation - when there is absolutely NO transparency here, which is again, shameful.)

 

Perhaps there are some serious problems and operational issues....

If this area was contracted out, as we know that the ride must have been...

Is Princess going to file a law-suit?

We don't know what is going on.  We know absolutely nothing.

 

Already, Princess has NO open adult only area.  And now, with the ship heading to the Caribbean and hundreds of kids onboard, NO kids area open.

 

Maybe the dead-air and deafening silence is because they know that there would be a considerable number of people, perhaps myself, who would cancel this cruise if still before Final Payment, if they knew what the adult-kid situation would be onboard.

 

Not only do I agree with the original post here,  but I am beginning to wonder if TPTB at Princess are even functional and rational.  Just being point-blank serious...  

Edited July 2 by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

I kind of tire of hearing comments about how this area is a big 'nothing' anyhow.

Nobody should ever presume to determine how much this area, or any other feature of a ship, means to other people.  Such disrespect.....

 

So, it isn't Royal Caribbean...  I wouldn't expect that.

Remember, families are often off the ship when in port.

There are kids clubs too.

But this is a big additional option for kids, and importantly - families together, to hang out.

This was supposed to make Princess an option for families and multi-generational cruisers.

Princess really hyped it up...  They issued the PR and 'promises'.

And, this is NOT okay.

 

I will say this.

In NO way is a ship without a kids 'park' area, and without an open adult-only area, a ship for multi-generational families.

 

I agree that there are too many problems with what is going on here.

And, also, a lot of people who choose to excuse or just ignore and look the other way.

 

Edited July 2 by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

41 minutes ago, LittleTinker said:

I suppose they know how many kids have been on each week up to now and how many will be on in future, calculated price per hour and figured the space is not cost effective.
Its a bit of a waste of space if its only going to be used to its full potential during the Caribbean and European school holidays.

Added to all the other reasons why the space is dreadful, I guess it makes sense.
 

With respect...  this is just not correct.

When the ship started sailing it was port intensive, mostly adult, Med itineraries, in cooler weather, when most kids are in school...  with far fewer kids booked.    Believe me,  Princess KNOWS the demographics.  They have spent months and years with their specialist and demographic algorithms, to begin marketing to families.

There are already more kids onboard, now that it is June and July.  More and more families try to find the time to cruise before or after the main 'high seasons'...  School systems have more breaks thru the year.  And, not all schools follow the same schedule.   There are fewer weeks in the year where the number of kids is really limited.

 

There will be several times the number of kids when the ship sails in the Caribbean.

Again,  Princess KNOWS this.   This is not something that they can just ignore.

 

Also, be careful about assuming that any guess or rumor or theory has any merit.

 

Edited July 2 by Wishing on a star

[LittleTinker]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

With respect...  this is just not correct.

When the ship started sailing it was port intensive, mostly adult, Med itineraries, in cooler weather, when most kids are in school...  with far fewer kids booked.    Believe me,  Princess KNOWS the demographics.  They have spent months and years with their specialist and demographic algorithms, to begin marketing to families.

There are already more kids onboard, now that it is June and July.  More and more families try to find the time to cruise before or after the main 'high seasons'...  School systems have more breaks thru the year.  And, not all schools follow the same schedule.   There are fewer weeks in the year where the number of kids is really limited.

 

There will be several times the number of kids when the ship sails in the Caribbean.

Again,  Princess KNOWS this.   This is not something that they can just ignore.

 

Also, be careful about assuming that any guess or rumor or theory has any merit.

 

Im relaying what was told to me by crew.

The part about smoke from the chimney engulfing the area came from another poster who said they got that information from crew.

I was on the ship with my kids. It was during European school holidays. There were very few kids on board.
Maybe Princess thought there would be many more...who knows?!
 

[dbowe5]

Most European school holidays start in July to beginning of September. In the UK parents get fined if they take their children out of school in term

time so the numbers will definitely rise in the next two months 

[voljeep]

when/if/maybe Park 19 is 'fully functional' - how will that "directly" impact the Sanctuary?  or is that not yet known  since Park 19 is , well ... 

 

aside - we are neither Park 19 nor Sanctuary ...

[dides]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

when/if/maybe Park 19 is 'fully functional' - how will that "directly" impact the Sanctuary?  or is that not yet known  since Park 19 is , well ... ..

 

It was certainly a curious design decision to have them side-by-side

This is looking up at the Rollglider track from the Sanctuary.  The running track is actually open so you get groups of runners passing close to the blue balcony glass anyway

 

 

And this is looking down on the Sanctuary from the running track - not the Sun deck end.

 

 

 

You can't see the pool or sun deck from the track level because of the white awning and the Rollglider should only have distant views.  Not sure if it will protect from any screams though!

 

Edited July 2 by dides

[vjmatty]

9 hours ago, startedwithamouse said:

 

How does the Not enough people use it. comment come into play when it's not open?  

 Not to mention it kind of contradicts the whole “too noisy for the Sanctuary” reason if hardly anyone is using it. And along the lines of what you’re saying, how could anyone know about the noise if no one has been able to use it?

[voljeep]

46 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 Not to mention it kind of contradicts the whole “too noisy for the Sanctuary” reason if hardly anyone is using it. And along the lines of what you’re saying, how could anyone know about the noise if no one has been able to use it?

Testing ???  even without screaming kids ...

[vjmatty]

6 minutes ago, voljeep said:

Testing ???  even without screaming kids ...

I was under the impression that the testing had been in the cooler weather, with no one really in the sanctuary. Remember the first sailings were in winter. Also I’m guessing the testing agencies aren’t going to be yelling and making a lot of noise. 

[LittleTinker]

12 hours ago, dbowe5 said:

Most European school holidays start in July to beginning of September. In the UK parents get fined if they take their children out of school in term

time so the numbers will definitely rise in the next two months 

You dont always get fined. Sometimes the headmaster will approve the trip.
Plus.... many parents are happy to pay it because its still cheaper to take kids on holiday out of school....and less crowded.

[LittleTinker]

6 hours ago, vjmatty said:

 Not to mention it kind of contradicts the whole “too noisy for the Sanctuary” reason if hardly anyone is using it. And along the lines of what you’re saying, how could anyone know about the noise if no one has been able to use it?

They were testing it, and had people in park 19.
The folk in Sanctuary could hear the glider making a humming noise as it was running and it was quite loud and anyone talking loudly.
If you add children into the mix screaming and shouting....then it will be louder still.

Im telling you the information Ive heard. Dont shoot the messenger.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

16 hours ago, LittleTinker said:

I suppose they know how many kids have been on each week up to now and how many will be on in future, calculated price per hour and figured the space is not cost effective.
Its a bit of a waste of space if its only going to be used to its full potential during the Caribbean and European school holidays.

Added to all the other reasons why the space is dreadful, I guess it makes sense.
 

Most of the adults I know would use it. I wouldn’t though because I’m afraid of heights. 

[dbowe5]

1 hour ago, LittleTinker said:

You dont always get fined. Sometimes the headmaster will approve the trip.
Plus.... many parents are happy to pay it because its still cheaper to take kids on holiday out of school....and less crowded.

We are in the same boat (no pun intended) as we live in the Isle of Man and the schools are pretty flexible over here but even if they did charge, I’d 100% pay the fine for a cheaper holiday 

[vjmatty]

5 hours ago, LittleTinker said:

They were testing it, and had people in park 19.
The folk in Sanctuary could hear the glider making a humming noise as it was running and it was quite loud and anyone talking loudly.
If you add children into the mix screaming and shouting....then it will be louder still.

Im telling you the information Ive heard. Dont shoot the messenger.

No guns….I have no personal interest in Park 19 or the Sanctuary for that matter. I’m just pointing out the bizarre inconsistencies of rumors from all sources. I guess all we can do now is watch and wait. 

[vjmatty]

3 hours ago, dbowe5 said:

We are in the same boat (no pun intended) as we live in the Isle of Man and the schools are pretty flexible over here but even if they did charge, I’d 100% pay the fine for a cheaper holiday 

It may also depend on the type of vacation. The school had no problem with the kids missing a few days before Christmas for a Greek Isles and Egypt cruise given the historical content. Disneyland, probably not so much. 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I was one of those people in the Sanctuary when they were testing it.  It was just a humming sound as it came around the corner.  Didn't really know what it was until I looked up.  It was just the cart that goes on the track for now.  Only one cart had the apparatus hanging from it, and no person was on it.  

 

And it didn't seem like the testing was going very well.  A lot of the carts couldn't make it all the way around.  I stopped paying attention so don't know how it ended.  And it was only the one day.

 

Interesting though that they took any mention of Park 19 off the Sun's deck plans on the Princess website.