SUN Princess Oct 14 - Part 4. Grand Turk, and final thoughts on the SUN. (Is it too big!)

[Wishing on a star]

I am finally able to complete these reviews with my final post!

 

GRAND TURK  -  This is a virtual postcard!!!!   and    TAXI !   It'll be an extra dollar for that ride.

A gorgeous sunny day!

We got a fairly early start, and wanted to head out onto the gorgeous beaches and Port at Grand Turk.

After our nice breakfast, we were ready, with 'bullet proof' SunScreen and our beach-bag in hand.

US Sunblock can be pretty bad - I order  Isntree Hyaluronic Watery Sun Gel. (which is a light lotion, not a gel)  and cream this together with a big spray of the Neutrogena Ultra sheer body mist in my hands, and apply liberally to my face and chest.   THIS WORKS!  (I use cheaper lotion and plenty of the spray for the rest of this poor white freckled old skin!)

It was hot!!!  And, I wanted to limit the walking and wear and tear...  (Honey, this body ain't getting any younger!)

We were heading to Jack's Shack.  So we headed right to the big, covered, Taxi stand.   Know that they have this down to an art!!!

Nobody should hesitate to do this!   They were very organized, it is $6.00 per person, and we were ushered right into a van.

 

The entrance to the Port area at Grand Turk

 

Later that after noon, we decided to head back to the ship, and to the Sanctuary again.

DH had thought the cabbie had mentioned to call when we needed a ride back, and given him his card.

I was heading around the corner to see if there was a Taxi waiting there, and he had already called the dispatch number.

Yes,  Gordon's Taxi Service would be there waiting for us.   And he was right there!  Gordon was a character!

We hopped in, and shortly after pulling out of Jacks Shack, he took a right off the road onto like a rough side road.  Maybe even mostly dirt road.

"I know the shortcut" Gordon told us.   So we swayed and bumped up along that road for a few minutes!! Gordon reassured everybody that this was his special 'shortcut'... laughing...  And I said. "that'll be an extra dollar for that ride!!!".

We were dropped off right at the entrance to the Port in like two minutes flat!

 

View from Sanctuary, late afternoon

 

 

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

Since I think I have covered almost everything, I will cut this short, and just give you a re-cap and my final thoughts.

 

Is the ship too big.   YES....  and NO.   Yes, the answer is 'both of the above'.

It is not just that she is a big ship.   But, she is not designed well for such a large ship.

A lot of 'misses' here, Princess.   They have effectively added like 1000 passengers over their Royal Class ships, and have not added enough space in all of the venues.   The show venues,  Princess Live...  No 'Vista Lounge'.   Way to many 'clusters'.

A ship would not be 'too big' if it were designed well.  

 

The new Buffet with no self service.  Ohhh my,   a huge, huge, miss.

The buffet itself, and its offerings.  Very basic. No imagination.  No real daily changes.

We did decide to try the Italian station where they prepare your pasta, and the Asian station where they prepare your stir-fry.

Neither were impressive. The Noodle Bar on Enchanted gets great reviews.  This... just didn't do it.  One basic, barely flavored "soy sauce' if you want that.  That was it.  I didn't see egg rolls or anything like that.   At the Italian Station, very limited, especially at lunch.  You can choose the basic bland Alfredo, Marinara, or a Pesto.  No other real offerings.  No cooked chicken or shrimp, No veggies like zucchini or broccoli, Very poor.  They should have some kind of bread, like focaccia or just Italian or garlic bread sticks or something. NOPE.  Have to take the time and effort to get that separately.

I did see a Paella one day.  Can I say bland under seasoned rice with bland unseasoned seafood.  That is it.  Nothing else in it.  It was just NOT good.

 

The food in general    Sorry, but I have to give a poor rating here as well.

And, I know that this is specific to the ship and who is in charge of the kitchens.

I have been on cruises with great food, and cruises where it was almost inedible.

Whether it was the dining room, the Speciality restaurants, or the Buffet.  Nothing was ever really 'good'.  Nothing ever had any flavor.

I had fish that was good... but it was the only thing seasoned, and it was OVER-salted.

Had a lobster tail that was good.  But, again, it was the only thing salty.

I tried the farfalle pasta in a marinara.  I didn't realize it was a hot marinara.  It was just swimming in 'hot red pepper tomato'.

No other salt, garlic, basic, nothing.  I told them that I did not realize it was hot and had them switch it for the Fettuccini Alfredo.

Which, again, was always bland like pasta in sweet cream.  No salt, garlic, pepper parmesan.

You know, one of the only things that I actually tasted and enjoyed the flavor was the little Italian crostini toast that served with that hot marinara.

It was actually a garlic toast.  And the flavor was great!

 

I had posted on another thread about our visit to Crown Grill.   And, it was not great either.

We have no plans to book Crown Grill again.

 

Service  -  the good and the bad.

Many of you know that I was concerned about the lack of access to a Sanctuary, especially since, for the longest time, there was no adult only area on board.  I can say now that I would not want to sail on the Sun Princess again without having Sanctuary benefits.

The reason:  A ship with 4000 people, and simply minimal staff to try to serve them.

At one point, we stopped by the Buffet, as we were in the area...  NO clean tables...  NO staff serving drinks.  We saw a couple of staff.  One was clearing plates off the tables, but not wiping them.  And one was cleaning the floors.  

This was the one time that I found it completely impossible to even get a drink.  They claim that they do not have a self service station because of hygiene.  Well, hot coffee is there.  Hot water is there.  and there are public, open, plastic pitchers of water on the tables.  Where is the tea and lemonade?  How would one even begin to get a soda? 

 

So, we went down to the American Cafe, and told them we just needed iced tea, not a table.

She actually questioned and arguesd.  I am being totally serious here.  She was turning us away.

I was having one of those 'moments' by that time, and I just said. "Look,  NOBODY is getting drinks over in the buffet... I know it is not your problem,  but I need a cold tea!"   This is just unacceptable.

 

PRINCESS....  THIS IS A PROBLEM...  FIX THIS!   ( let me tell you how I really feel!  Hahahaha! )

 

So, to finish up.

Did we have a great cruise?  YES!!!!

Were there issues?   YES.

 

There are a lot of great things about this ship.

But a lot of issues can potentially end up making this a poor experience.

 

I sure hope that Princess is taking notes as they continue to work on the new STAR Princess.

But, somehow, I am not so sure that they are.

 

Edited Thursday at 04:59 PM by Wishing on a star

[voljeep]

I haven't posted much as I would just echo a lot of your and @dog postings - lots of good, lots, and some hiccups mentioned

 

O'Malleys - very mixed feelings - NO Irish duo at least when we were in there - which was substantial - including embarkation, next sea day and a couple of nights for cocktails

 

super crowded for meals limited time at lunch - you had to be there when it opened or risk not being seated. our excellent waiter stated there were only 2 cooks and 2 servers for the food orders.

 

Jacks Shack - used to love it when Jack and Janet were still there when we attended - Kenley was cool, and Topher (RIP) - 2 years ago when we went, not so much, sadly

 

SUN P is for us too big and too chopped up, sorry - never really felt comfortable between venues.

 

No future cruises booked at this time for us ... times change

 

[Avalon35]

Was this the 5 day cruise right after the delays from the hurricane? I am wondering how much was staffing related? What are your thoughts on that? 

[sultan_sfo]

2 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

...

 

FINAL THOUGHTS

 

...

So, we went down to the American Cafe, and told them we just needed iced tea, not a table.

She actually questioned and arguesd.  I am being totally serious here.  She was turning us away.

I was having one of those 'moments' by that time, and I just said. "Look,  NOBODY is getting drinks over in the buffet... I know it is not your problem,  but I need a cold tea!"   This is just unacceptable.

 

PRINCESS....  THIS IS A PROBLEM...  FIX THIS!   ( let me tell you how I really feel!  Hahahaha! )

 

...

 

Was there a line (at the American Cafe?

IF there was a line, and you were not in line, I am glad she did not want you to cut-in -- no matter whether it was for a "cold tea" or whatever. I do not like those who cut-in -- just my opinion.

[kjg46]

We were on the extened transatlantic from Southampton. Yes the lack of staffing was very noticable in most venues. 

Additional comment: Re Staffing delivered drinks. When we were on the Regal and the Enchanted last year, we were able to order some bar drinks etc from the App and have them find us.  On the Sun, the selection has been reduced or eliminated all to gether. Not sure if this is specific to the Sun or if the Medallion App is different on other ships this year. Appreciate others comments on the app.

[Wishing on a star]

Thanks voljeap.   Great post.

We saw the Irish music in the Patter, but never happened to be around to see how it was.

 

I had never experienced the original Jack's...  Too bad!

I can say that the people there were friendly!

And, they have a puppy there now that is, well, REALLY friendly!!!

He likes to play and bite, so he get's 'nippy'...  Wanted to grab the ends of my full length tropical swim wrap!

[Wishing on a star]

NO, of course we would not try to cut in line.

It was not a busy hour, and there was not one other person there.

 

Yes I do believe that staffing is a real issue.

But, def. not related to the earlier storms.

There was the short VIP Sailing before ours.  And I believe most staff that were changing out had happened beforehand.

[sultan_sfo]

12 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

NO, of course we would not try to cut in line.

It was not a busy hour, and there was not one other person there.

...

 

 

Please accept my apologies for my post.

 

[dog]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

NO, of course we would not try to cut in line.

It was not a busy hour, and there was not one other person there.

 

Yes I do believe that staffing is a real issue.

But, def. not related to the earlier storms.

There was the short VIP Sailing before ours.  And I believe most staff that were changing out had happened beforehand.

We found service in the Sanctuary Restaurant Club lacking. Crew were busy, but after 1/2 hour we got up to order drinks at bar and get a menu.

O’Malley’s was a 2 h hour lunch and crew/ staff were very busy. Needed a water and ordered on oceanNow. It came quickly.

[bstrauss3]

I'll let you in on a secret that most people didn't figure out on the TATL.

 

The cases in the Eatery with the little L shaped handles are self serve.

 

Usually the desert case, the salad bowls, and some other items.

 

 

[reedprincess]

7 hours ago, Avalon35 said:

Was this the 5 day cruise right after the delays from the hurricane? I am wondering how much was staffing related? What are your thoughts on that?

 

The hurricane delay didn't affect any revenue sailings.. Sun returned to port Oct 11 (originally scheduled for 8th arrival and 9th disembarkation). The first revenue sailing was Oct 14, as originally scheduled, etc. .There's was a press/VIP junket in between, that went as originally scheduled...

Edited Friday at 02:52 AM by reedprincess

[Esprit]

I never considered myself a "half glass full" kind of guy, but my experience on Sun Princess two months ago was so different to how @Wishing on a starfound it.

Admittedly, the queue for the Dome shows were ridiculous, and the Princess Live studio is too small. I can't comment much on the Eatery as we avoid buffets like the plague. However the food stations outside on deck 9 were amazing. Food in the MDR on deck 6 exceeded my expectations too, and it was always hot as requested.

I has no hesitation recommending Sun Princess and would sail on it repeatedly if the itinerary was right. 

[555]

12 hours ago, dog said:

We found service in the Sanctuary Restaurant Club lacking. Crew were busy, but after 1/2 hour we got up to order drinks at bar and get a menu.

O’Malley’s was a 2 h hour lunch and crew/ staff were very busy. Needed a water and ordered on oceanNow. It came quickly.

I would have been long gone. 2 hours for a lunch is out of the question. 

[555]

It sounds like the Sun Princess is experiencing a lot of growing pains. Maybe in another year they'll work everything our so we'll be sticking with the Royal class ships in the mean time after giving it one try. 

[mkmaj]

I would like to thank you for your review and for all of those giving honest feedback. Staunch cheerleaders and complainers help no one. There's a big difference between complaining and helpful feedback and you've definitely landed on the helpful side. We sail in January and while I hope some of the issues are ironed out, I'll at least know how to avoid some pain points.