Review of Sun Cruise 2/18 - 2/28

[AJs Grandpa]

I’ve gleaned so much from these boards I thought I’d “pay back” by posting my first cruise review. Here goes.

We spent Friday night at the Hampton Inn North at FLL. I am a big fan of the Hampton Inns, but this one was a dud. It was dirty and run down. The staff was sub-par and the breakfast buffet was more sparse than I’ve encountered in numerous others. Bottom line—we won’t use it again.

Took the hotel shuttle to the pier around 11:30AM. It was unusually cold for Florida, so it was a bit uncomfortable waiting outside for the officials to let us in the terminal. (We weren’t first, but apparently they had reached capacity inside the terminal, so they had folks waiting in the relative cold. Not the end of the world, but offering coffee would have been a classy touch.)

Once inside check-in proceeded with usual Princess efficiency. We were on the ship in less than 15 minutes. (As others have reported, I noticed the Preferred line was just as long as any of the others.)

Cabin

We choose Princess over Celebrity for one reason—mini-suites. Past cruises were on Grand (twice) and Sapphire. We enjoyed those cabins despite the fact that they were open to the elements and other eyes. Just not a big deal for us. Well, the Sun mini-suite (B-410) sure lived up to the advanced hype I read on these boards. We were blown away by the size and layout. The marble bath areas were beautiful. Having a tub and stall shower were other plusses. The balcony was our paradise and the site of hours of relaxation and numerous power naps. We wish every ship had similar accommodations at such a fair (not cheap but fair) price. Unfortunately the Sun is transferring to P&O later this year. Her sisters are not doing itineraries meeting our needs next year (one is doing 14-day RTs out of Barbados and the other the 7-day Mexican Riviera run.) So, we’re back to the “normal” mini-suites on the Coral for next year’s cruise. For us, this suite made the cruise. (We like alone, quiet time during the day—not into sitting around the pool listening to the hullabaloo.) An added plus, Gerry, our room steward was outstanding prompting not only an added tip but a special comment card.

Dining

We like late traditional. Our four dinner mates were great. No horror stories, just fun, congenial conversation for ten days. Our waiter was top-notch. The junior waiter had a great personality, but it was obvious why he was junior. He needs a little seasoning (no pun intended.) Overall, we were very satisfied with the service. The food was what we expect from Princess. We don’t pay five-star prices, so we don’t expect five-star food. However, it certainly met our needs as usual. No major complaints. One night one of our dinner companions asked the Head Waiter to get Wiener Schnitzel for us the next day. He accommodated us, but the Wiener Schnitzel was not what we expected. (Having lived in Germany for over five years, I know Schnitzel—this was a very poor imitation. That was especially surprising since the chef is German!) That was the only dinner disappointment—and we brought it on ourselves.

We tried the dining room for a total of six breakfasts and lunches. We were disappointed each time. I’ve read about deteriorating service but never experienced it until this trip. Each breakfast/lunch got worse with slower and slower service, and haphazard order taking resulting in the wrong food being brought to at least one person at each meal. This was the only area where we felt things going downhill. We kept hoping each meal was an anomaly, but after six experiences we gave up and stuck with either the pizza restaurant or buffet.

We did the pizza café twice. I can’t say it was the best pizza ever, but it was very good. Only dietary concerns kept us from going more.

The buffet was typical Princess—nothing more and nothing less. Highlights included the omelets (especially noteworthy compared to the rubbery, over-cooked omelets I had in the dining room) and the great Italian pastries served on one afternoon (the best desserts I’ve ever had on a cruise ship—probably 20 varieties of baked goods in one display!)

Excursions

As mentioned before, we cruise to relax. We took two excursions this time.

We booked the Paddles Kayaking tour in Antigua. This was lots of fun. We booked directly through the company on their website. It was the identical tour offered by the ship—costing $55 each vs. $69 through Princess. In an apparent effort to minimize discontent among passengers booking via Princess, we were taken to and from the site with passengers from the Norwegian Jewel and stayed with them for the tour. Princess passengers simply did things in a different order than we did, i.e., they hiked and snorkeled before kayaking while we did the kayaking first. In short, book directly if you want this activity.

The second day we took the St Lucia horseback tour offered through the ship. (Just didn’t get warm fuzzies from the few reviews of non-ship tours I found on the port boards.) While this definitely can’t compare to Randi in Mazatlan, it was fun. The highlight was being able to ride the horses bareback (the horses—not us) into the water. This wasn’t just to the horses ankles; we went to saddle-level depth. Definitely a unique experience.

Other ports—no excursions.

Grenada—walked around town and up to the top of the old fort. Met our needs. Back on ship for lunch and balcony time.

Martinique—we liked it. While we heard many complaints of unfriendly merchants, we simply enjoyed walking through the Europe-like streets. Our big bargain came as a surprise. We bought a local doll for our granddaughter at the local market. I didn’t haggle—just paid the $14 asked. Later we walked into one of the tourist stores close to the ship and saw the same thing for $18. The message = if you are searching for spices or souvenirs, give the market a try. We also enjoyed the St Louis church in town. Again, we were back on the ship by lunch and had plenty of time to enjoy the peace of our balcony.

St Thomas—docked at Crown Bay. As reported, very few stores open. We chose to walk to the downtown shopping area. Since it was Sunday, we encountered very little traffic in the port/industrial area. Took us about 30 minutes or so. We then walked through the usual stores, bought a couple of T-shirts for grandsons and took a taxi back ($4 each) in time for…(you know the story by now!)

Princess Cays—no surprises here. We had never gone ashore before and decided we should do it just once. We did, we walked the entire area and returned to the ship for……

FitnessCenter

Never thought I’d be reviewing the gym, but a health incident last summer makes gym time a must. We were in the gym by 6:45AM each day. The first day it was crowded and folks were waiting for machines. No surprise, that ended fast. There were no lines from day two on. We were typically two of eight or ten folks there. They had everything we needed. One quirk I couldn’t help pointing out on my end of cruise survey—the TV situation. There are three TVs available, but none have closed-captioning or sound. So, unless you can read lips, they are useless. Makes me wonder why they bother. Is there a huge lip-reading contingent on cruises! J I understand why they wouldn’t want sound, but they should either have closed captions, turn the TVs off or do what most hotel gyms now do—have the TVs on each machine for personal choice. That aside, the gym met our needs and—bragging here—was responsible for me gaining less than five pounds in ten days. That’s five pounds less than I prepped for. (I lost 70 pounds since July and didn’t want to go too far back in the wrong direction.) I did that despite eating virtually anything I wanted for the first time since July—great bread, white potatoes, desserts, etc. That’s worth getting up early and sweating. (I know, I’m like a reformed <enter vice here>—preachy and proud.)

Casino

No surprises here either. Friendly dealers; unfriendly cards/dice for the most part. Had a good time in the hour or so I spent there each day.

Spa

DW went once and enjoyed it. Prices are high, but it’s part of her cruise ritual.

Shows

Best production shows I’ve ever seen. Piano Man had similar music but better choreography than we saw on Sapphire last year. The Save the Last Dance show was extremely well done. The dancers had more energy and were better looking than any group in the past. (Sorry if that’s not PC, but looks are a key element of the entertainment biz—just one of the reasons I’m not in it!) Tony Cherry sings well but his “comedy” detracts from his show—wanted to yell out “Shut up and keep singing!)

50s and 60s show was not up to the standards of our last three Princess cruises. Not even any decorations—just music and staff in costume. Seemed to lack effort.

Debarkation

Smoothest ever for us. Unfortunately, it went so well we had lots of airport appreciation time in FLL. We had no choice but to book a 1:00PM flight, and we were at the airport too early to check our bags! BTW—we once again proved it is best to avoid Princess transfers. They charge $10 each to ride on a bus with all the attendant discomforts and inconveniences of that (wait for the bus to fill, multiple stops, etc.) We paid $15 for the two of us—including tip—to have the taxi take us directly to the airport without waiting. Transfers may make sense in other ports, but not FLL.

Overall, we had a great cruise (is there any other kind?) The only real negative was service/food for breakfast and lunch in the dining room. Everything else met or exceeded our expectations. We continue to believe Princess delivers value. One of these days we may be able to afford the Crystals of the industry, but until then we’ll stick with Princess and our mini-suites. Booked Coral on the Panama Canal run for next year plus an open FCC.

Let me know if you have questions.

[spongerob]

Thanks very much for your review. I enjoy reading them, if nothing else other than to get a taste of itineraries we have not yet had a chance to try.

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

Thank you for your review,

 

I have never eaten breakfast in the dinning room on any cruise, can you tell me what is on offer, is it busy etc.

 

I think Princess give good value for the money, yes things could be better but the price could be higher.

 

yours Shogun

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Thanks for the great informative review, lots of goos info for us.

We will be on the SUN for our next cruise and our first on the SUN class ships, I'm looking forward to the pizza place as DH is not a pizza eater but the kids will be with us to outnumber him:D

 

Looking forward to seeing some shows too as we haven't done the shows on our last few cruises as we were too busy socializing!!

 

Great port info too.

[Lynda90]

Enjoyed your review; thanks for sharing.:p

[mii]

Vero good and informative review. Thanks

 

Marilyn

[Kaye from Chicagoland]

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip report with us. I enjoyed it! Sometime I hope to be able to take a cruise and be back to the ship for ... you know ... I'd like to try breakfast and lunch in the dining room. We always seem to be too busy and end up at the Horizon court.

 

Kaye

[PescadoAmarillo]

Thanks for the review, and for reminding me of better times spent on the Sun in January!

Best production shows I’ve ever seen. Piano Man had similar music but better choreography than we saw on Sapphire last year. The Save the Last Dance show was extremely well done. The dancers had more energy and were better looking than any group in the past.

 

We thought so too! We caught the last two performances of the prior production show team, and then were on board for the current team's first performances. The difference was night and day, and we couldn't believe how FIT they all were, and their energy level. Good to see they're maintaining that (how DO they do that???).

[AJs Grandpa]

Hi There,

 

Thank you for your review,

 

I have never eaten breakfast in the dinning room on any cruise, can you tell me what is on offer, is it busy etc.

 

I think Princess give good value for the money, yes things could be better but the price could be higher.

 

yours Shogun

 

Shogun--

 

Glad you liked it. You set a high standard with your Live From postings several weeks ago. They were objective and humorous.

 

The advantages of eating breakfast in the dining room are a generally relaxed pace, the chance to meet more folks at shared tables and a different menu. The menu has two sides. One never changes and includes omelets (not as good as at the buffet) various egg dishes cooked to order, a greater variety of juices than at the buffet, waffles, pancakes, cereals and other staples. The other side of the menu changes daily and includes some unique dishes like different fishes, special waffles, french toast and some ethnic varieties. The quality of the food is generally better than upstairs and the pace is less frenetic. Unfortunately, for this trip anyway, all that was outweighed by poor service. We'll definitely try again on our next cruise.