Anything Good About Sun Princess?

[margaritawoman]

I was on the Sun 10/13/04 cruise with my husband & another couple. This was our 2nd cruise on the sun and our 4th Princess cruise. We have been on 11 other cruises on different cruise lines. We enjoyed this cruise very much. Everything was not prefect but after as many cruises as we have been on I think you start to nick pic things so I want get into that. I will talk about some of the postives. We enjoyed the entertainment, I thought the food was as good as in the past. We used the Internet Cafe a couple of times durning the cruise and did not have any problems. Room service was prompt, our room steward was good not great. The dinning room staff was a little uneven. Our waiter very good his assistant not so good. We did not know about anyone being sick on our cruise I guess they were keeping it quite. I agree with others that it is peoples bad habits that bring it on board. We all tried to wash our hands all the time. Overall a great cruise I would go on the Sun again in a heart beat.

[Ronath]

margaritawoman, very glad to hear a positive reply. Did you have anytime or traditional dining? We've opted for traditional on this cruise. Did you try Sterling's Steakhouse? If so, can you tell us how was it? Thanks for any info you can give us.

[margaritawoman]

We had traditional dining because that is what we prefer. We did not try steak house on this cruise but last year on the Dawn we did. We did not feel it was worth the extra $$. We did not feel the steak or service was any better than in the dining room.

[C 2 C]

[quote name='DakotaSunshine']the Sun is a WONDERFUL ship. The perfect size and perfect crew. You'll love her![/QUOTE]

Just curious DakotaSunshine. On how many ships have you cruised that you consider the Sun the perfect size and having the perfect crew?

I just want to know to which ships you have compared her?

If you are on deck 8 for example there are ramps (3 feet up/down in about 4 paces) you must negotiate if you are in a wheel chair. If you are in the rear of the ship the elevators go only from deck 7 to 14. You have to go all the way to the front before you can reach all the decks. The new Island is substanially larger and caters to roughly the same number of passengers... lots more room. The princess theatre has a very poor sound system and seats are alligned poorly for good viewing.... performances in the lounge are much more visible etc....

As I've said before, other Princess ships have better facilities and offer more choices than this one..... Having said all that the prices that Princess charges for this cruise are discounted more than for her other ships and that is probably why this one is filled to capacity.

The more experience you have had cruising on a range of cruise lines and on a number of ships, the more you realize the shortcomings of the Sun.

[cruiserforlife]

Well guys,I've gone and done it.I copied this entire thread up to this point and along with a very concerned cover letter,I am sending it off to Princess right now so that they can see what's going on here with the concerns about the Sun.

I'll keep you posted when I get a response.

[bdjam]

[QUOTE] If you are on deck 8 for example there are ramps (3 feet up/down in about 4 paces) you must negotiate if you are in a wheel chair. If you are in the rear of the ship the elevators go only from deck 7 to 14. You have to go all the way to the front before you can reach all the decks. The new Island is substanially larger and caters to roughly the same number of passengers... lots more room. The princess theatre has a very poor sound system and seats are alligned poorly for good viewing.... performances in the lounge are much more visible etc....

As I've said before, other Princess ships have better facilities and offer more choices than this one..... Having said all that the prices that Princess charges for this cruise are discounted more than for her other ships and that is probably why this one is filled to capacity.

The more experience you have had cruising on a range of cruise lines and on a number of ships, the more you realize the shortcomings of the Sun.[/QUOTE] [font='Bookman Old Style']I’ll preface the following comments with a statement that I realize everyone has their personal opinions and not all ships appeal to everyone. Frankly the more people that dislike and don’t book Sun Princess, the better…gives me more of a chance to continue to sail her. [/font]
[font='Bookman Old Style'][/font]
[font='Bookman Old Style'][/font][font='Bookman Old Style']As for the ramps on deck 8, where are they? Might they be there to afford wheelchair access? Elevators at the rear of the ship go from Promenade Deck 7 to the top deck of the ship…passengers cannot go to lower decks from the aft elevator banks because the decks below 7 are crew areas. Island Princess is larger and does afford more room for roughly the same number of passengers, but the passenger/space ratio on Sun Princess is at the high end for ships of her kind. I’ve never found issues with sightlines or sound in the Princess Theater – there are no viewing obstructions.[/font]
[font='Bookman Old Style'][/font]
[font='Bookman Old Style'][/font][font='Bookman Old Style']The newer Princess ships do have more amenities, but whether or not that’s important is a personal choice – if you prefer smaller ships and aren’t concerned with all the latest novelties, the Sun Class will fit the bill. As far as prices go, I think that most ships that are a few years older command lower per diems – that’s the market…everyone wants a new ship to sail on and lower per diems do attract passengers. [/font]
[font='Bookman Old Style'][/font]
[font='Bookman Old Style'][/font][font='Bookman Old Style']I’ve sailed a number of different ships and I don’t find that Sun Princess has any shortcomings. She was – at her inauguration – the largest passenger ship in service and introduced many amenities that are common place today. My time on Sun Princess in March was excellent, the ship was in excellent shape and it’s difficult to believe that things could have gone downhill so fast. Understanding fully what this ship has to offer – and being able to explain that – I would recommend her to anyone.[/font]

[Blackrobe]

bdjam you have written a couple of times that you cannot believe that the ship has gone down so fast in relation to the physical condition of the ship. I didn't find any problem with the physical condition of the ship. It is in very good shape.

The problems that those of us who sailed on October 13 have expressed are largely directed at service issues. Service issues are people issues. The staff on the ship is in an almost constant process of change. [u]The staff on the October 13 sailing was not the best[/u]. Whether the staff improves on the October 23 sailing or the next sailing after that or whether they improve at all will have to be determined by those on forthcoming cruises.

[OCruisers]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][B]C 2 C ....[/B] Are you still planning to go on Veendam on 1/15? It's been a long time since we've heard from you on that "Roll Call" and were wondering .... :confused:

Sorry, your Sun Princess cruise was not all you hoped it would be. We've never been on Sun Pincess BUT have been on two different B2B's on Dawn Princess [I](as you know, sister ship)[/I]. We loved the size of the ship and had a wonderful time. Glad do get your update. Who knows ... things change! :rolleyes:

Hope to hear from you! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :) [/FONT]

[bdjam]

[QUOTE]The problems that those of us who sailed on October 13 have expressed are largely directed at service issues. [/QUOTE] [font='Bookman Old Style']Um…I responded to the post that specifically mentioned issues with the ship itself. While I did also mention service levels, you’re right, that’s a people issue and one that can vary depending on the crew on board. Given that I’ve never had any service issues on a Princess ship, it is surprising to me if they are occurring…and if that is the case, the correct supervisory personnel on board should be advised.[/font]

[C 2 C]

If you get off the elevator at the rear of the ship and proceed to the rear you must go up a sloped deck that rises about three feet in 3 to four paces.... the last 20 cabins or so on either side can only be reached this way..
The seats in the theatre are directly behind one another... if you are tall enough there are no problems except for those people behind you.

The entertainment is so mediocre though that not too many people suffer..

I am glad that there are people who don't mind mediocre ships, service and entertainment... cruise lines that demand excellence of ALL their employees and want to offer a superior product without gouging their customers will get my business. We cruise roughly 6 times a year so I think I can describe my experiences as they occur.

I'll be on the Infinity in Dec and HAL in January... I'll give you a comparison at that point...

Princess planning is so bad they couldn't even prevent it from raining today..

[C 2 C]

Captain bought us (and 1,000 other circle members) drinks tonight. Lobster was wonderful, service was fast and efficient. We passed through a rain cloud today and were blessed with a rainbow that ended right at the railing of our ship... was this the pot of gold we longed for...

[mriaves]

I was on the Princess for the first time with this line, this was my fourth cruise second this year and I wasn't too impressed. This was my fiance's eighth and he wasn't at all happy. The price was right, the islands beautiful and relaxing. Cabin awful, obstructed view all right the life boat blocked the window couldn't see a thing.
We requested first seating and when we tried to correct the problem it ended up time consuming we ended up doing the Personal Choice after some bad experience's.
I didn't like the fact there was only hot coffee served by the pool area. Had to go inside for the ice tea. The other cruise's we were offered lemonade/punch. Neither one of us drinks soda. Lobster tails cold, but we ate them. Corn Beef Hash swimming in grease. Desserts no sugar. Not happy with the food! Pineapple green all week, didn't it ripen?
Bought one photo.
We had a much better trip with the Celebrity Millenium in February. Even the Norweign Star/Hawaii was enjoyable.

[cruiserforlife]

mriaves,

Sorry to hear this cruise wasn't up to your expectations.

My suggestion:Write Princess a letter and address it to their CEO.
I have written a letter and sent them a copy of this thread and several others have done likewise.If you were not happy,how else will Princess know unless you tell them?

Please take the time and do it today.It doesn't have to be lengthy but please be specific and unemotional.

You owe it to yourself and your fellow cruisers to take a stand and make Princess a better cruiseline for all of us.

Thanks!

[bdjam]

[QUOTE]Cabin awful, obstructed view all right the life boat blocked the window couldn't see a thing.[/QUOTE] [font='Comic Sans MS']Could you explain a little more about how the cabin was awful? What was wrong? Was there an indication that the view was partially obstructed?[/font]

[Ethel5]

We just got off the 10/23 Sun Princess. It was our 8th Princess cruise and 18th cruise overall.

The ship was spotless-even the public restrooms. Sanitizers were used in both the dining room and the Horizon court. I didn't hear of anyone getting sick. I am a nurse and do a LOT of hand washing and that is the clue to staying healthy.

The food was good-I often wonder what people eat at home with all the complaints about the food. Remember-the food is prepared for the masses and not made to order. The coffee does leave a lot to be desired but not awful enough for me to bring my own coffee maker.

The service in both the dining room (fixed seating) and cabin (balcony) was excellent. These are people we are dealing with and not slaves-if you treat them like human beings you will get excellent service-it's that simple. I commented that the appitizer eggplant was excellent and should be offered as a main course-poof-the next night it was there with a smile.

The viewing of the lunar eclipse was awesome!

I did find a quite a few RUDE older people on board. Now before I get the flammed that teens, children and aliens are also rude, let me say I wasn't dealing with them, but I did have a problem with some of the seniors who think that just because they have reached a certain age they can just trample all over everyone else by cutting in line etc. One old dude rubbed up against me in a crowded elevator telling me it was "togetherness." The lady next to me nearly dropped her teeth! I just gave him a shove.

Have things changed since Carnival took over? Yes and no. Some of the things we are seeing probably would have happened anyway due to cost cuts. There is no crab on the menu on Caribbean sailings anymore. Pasta is an entree and not another course. Caviar is a thing of the past. I can live with this.

We did have itinerary changes due to the hurricanes which didn't bother us-I just like being on a ship and don't really care where I go.

[bushwhacker]

RDR, the things you found wrong - was that before or after drydock?

[shay1]

We were on the 10/23/04 Sun Princess.

Yes they made you sanitize your hands at the buffet and the dinning room but not the Pizzeria (strange).

We enjoyed our cruise, but I would not go on the Sun again as first choice.

Princess quality IMO has slipped. Food was average to ok. Service was not what we have been used to on other ships (even on Carnival). And this was not just our opinion, alot of the people we spoke with on this cruise had the same observations that service was not good. Slow, not friendly for most. Yes there were exceptions we did have the pleasure of 2 night of the Best waiter and asst. on the ship IMO Caesar & Elena. Pizzeria had great service and the food was good.

[Luxana]

Hi all! After a great deal of deliberation based on reading the posts here, we have just canceled our April 8th cruise on the Sun Princess and switched to the April 1st cruise on the Celebrity Summit, both 10-day cruises to the Southern Caribbean. My better half is handicapped, so we had to do this while we could still get a handicapped cabin on the Summit. The Summit is more expensive, but, heh, when you're taking this kind of vacation, you want to make sure you have no qualms about the ship. Our criteria was the Southern Caribbean that included St. Lucia because we want to see the volcano. The Summit meets that criteria, as does the Princess Sun. So, peace of mind is worth the extra price for the stateroom. We have cruised only the Golden Princess on Princess previously and were pleased with that ship, but have cruised Celebrity multiple times, and several other lines -- 21 cruises so far! Just can't take the risk, although we realize that we may have taken the Sun and had a wonderful cruise. But, ya know, got to have peace of mind between now and April 2005.

[midtown_girl]

AllmanJoy--

I am SO SORRY to hear about your MIL's illness and your disembarkation experience!!! I'm glad I found you in the hallway though so we could meet briefly.

For the thread--

We were also on the Aloha deck. I was sick for 24 hours, probably not norwalk, just seasick or something didn't agree with me. Our cabin steward, Mae, was an absolute doll about it and our waiters sent cheese and crackers with my husband when he appeared at dinner alone. This was the evening after our day in St. Kitts.

The cabin next to us was apparently quarantined as we saw the staff in the red hazmat suits cleaning it.

RE: Carnival unfavorably influencing Princess--

I took my first cruise last year on the Carnival Glory. I was astounded every day and night with the quality of the food, especially in the dining room. I had second seating, traditional, on both the Glory and the Sun and let me tell you, the Glory could teach the Sun a thing or two. On the Sun, my first impression was having to wait 5 minutes for a menu once we sat down the first night. Our tablemates offered us their menus! Maybe I was spoiled on the Glory, but I was tickled that the waiter put your napkin on your lap and handed you a menu as soon as you sat down. Not so on the Sun.

The food was as everyone else described, so-so. The dining room service was very slow; it took a full 2 hours to get through dinner, and it wasn't because we were lingering over courses. By no means do I want to be rushed through dinner, and I understand the value in taking my time with dinner, but 2 hours was excessive in my opinion. There were things I wanted to do after dinner before I turned into a pumpkin at midnight! : )

I was happy with the quality considering the overall price of the vacation, but my Glory experience set the bar higher for me.

I have to give props, however, to our junior waiter Radu. He was a doll and tried to personalize our experience, but even he didn't learn our names. However, when he was on duty in Horizon Court at lunchtime, he would always manage to find me just as I was carrying my plate out, take my plate, offer his arm, and escort me to the table.

[midtown_girl]

More positives--

The ship was in great condition and was (in my opinion) really lovely. It wasn't difficult to navigate.

Even on sea days, you could find lots of lounge chairs and a quiet spot by the Splash Pool on 14/15 forward.

I had a great time meeting fellow cruisers. There seemed to be a fair number of 20s and 30s couples, many of them honeymooning.

We had the ABSOLUTE BEST EXPERIENCE with massage therapist Roger. He offered a couples massage class after boarding from St. Kitts that had 10-12 attendees. He spent extra time with our group and we had a great time, so much that many asked for an "advanced" class. Roger came through and called us a few days later saying there'd be a second class on the last or second to last sea day, I forget which. The class was essentially free because you paid $49 for the class (per couple) and got a bottle of massage oil that retailed for $49. Considering that individual massages ran upwards of $150 in the salon, it was a fabulous deal! And what's better than teaching your spouse how to rub all your aches away??

We were really pleased with room service. The sandwiches and chef salads were quite good, breakfast was prompt. Very happy with this.

[cruiserforlife]

midtown girl,

Glad to hear there were some positives on your Sun cruise!

[smokin]

keep them coming. We are booked for March 9th. Have sailed on the Grand and we are looking forward to trying the Sun.

[KruzPrincess]

[quote name='C 2 C']Just curious DakotaSunshine. On how many ships have you cruised that you consider the Sun the perfect size and having the perfect crew?

I just want to know to which ships you have compared her?

If you are on deck 8 for example there are ramps (3 feet up/down in about 4 paces) you must negotiate if you are in a wheel chair. If you are in the rear of the ship the elevators go only from deck 7 to 14. You have to go all the way to the front before you can reach all the decks. The new Island is substanially larger and caters to roughly the same number of passengers... lots more room. The princess theatre has a very poor sound system and seats are alligned poorly for good viewing.... performances in the lounge are much more visible etc....

As I've said before, other Princess ships have better facilities and offer more choices than this one..... Having said all that the prices that Princess charges for this cruise are discounted more than for her other ships and that is probably why this one is filled to capacity.

The more experience you have had cruising on a range of cruise lines and on a number of ships, the more you realize the shortcomings of the Sun.[/QUOTE]

I've cruised a fair amount. I love the Sun Princess (and her sister ships) and am anxiously looking forward to my upcoming Sun cruise. I was just on the Island Princess in March and loved that ship, but I love the Sun, too. I didn't hesitate a moment in booking her again even after being on the Island. I love that the Sun is smaller than the newer, bigger ships. I think the design is so much better than the Grand, Golden, etc. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but these ships are great designwise, IMO. They never seem crowded, there are always quiet places to enjoy and they are comfortable. I feel at home on these ships. Now, you need to go on an older ship with the understanding that everything is not NEW. If you want that, book a cruise on a new ship. Think about what you want before you book a cruise and not just about how much it costs. I'm thrilled that you can get a good price on these ships. They're great, classic, well-designed ships, but they aren't new.

That said, one should still expect to get first rate service, amenities and food. I'm interested to see what my experience will be like. I've been on cruises (on other cruise lines) where I could barely eat the food. I've never had that problem on Princess!! I hope that's still the case. Even if the food wasn't the greatest, I had a good time, though. I love to cruise. Princess has always given me a very fine cruise experience and I'm sure I'll have that on my next cruise. Do I expect perfection? No. If you think going on a Princess cruise is like going on Crystal or Seabourne, you'll probably be disappointed. Book what will make you happy.

As far as the Norwalk, since I'm on a roll here: My understanding and belief is that I'm just as likely to catch it at my local grocery store as I am on a cruise ship. You get 2000 people in an enclosed area and the odds are that someone will have a bug and pass it on. Every Princess cruise I have been on has been steadfast in cleaning. I'm confident that they still are. As a previous person posted, you can't keep a sick person from grasping a handrail, touching an elevator button, holding the rail while looking at the ocean, touching the arms of a deck chair, etc. No amount of cleaning can keep it clean every single minute. All ships try to keep their illness rates quiet because they know it's bad press. The best advice is to wash your hands as often as you can and then some. Don't touch your eyes if you haven't washed your hands first. Take along anti-bacterial hand cleaner and use it often. Clean your hands BEFORE you eat AFTER you get your food from the buffet.

If there was a big change in personnel recently, that can account for a lot of communication problems. You will find this happens when a new ship goes out on it's first few cruises. It's one of the reasons I shy away from going on an inaugural cruise. It takes time for the crew to learn to work together. I hope this is ironed out before I go on my cruise.

On my last Sun Princess cruise which was a couple years ago, we loved the buffet food and ate most of our dinners there. We tend to eat a lot of salads and like how fast it is to just pick out our own food. We did that on the Island, too. Often, they had very similar food in the buffet as they did in the dining room. We always found perfectly fine food to eat. I hope that's still the case. It all depends on what's important to you. I'm not that picky, but I like good food and good service. The staff in the Horizon Court was fabulous to us the last time I was on the Sun. We'll see how these folks are.

Just had to give my thoughts.

[C 2 C]

Personal experiences are all relative. A cream puff of a car for one might be a lemon for another, same make and model does not guarantee similar performance.

We were so impressed with our waiter the first week we requested his table for the second leg of our B2B. His table was location was different. Rather than quick cheerful service, we were alsmost always the last to leave the dining room in week 2. He also seemed stressed out.
The passenger next to me had coffee poured over her jacket.. lucky she was wearing one to avoid burns. One week our bathroom was flooded, the next week it was not. One week my wallet was removed from my tote bag going through St Vincent security... a report to the Pursar's desk took three different people to file an official declaration. The first two people ignored the event, the third realized the seriousness of the sitiation. One of the bar stewards had been just behind me at island security and informed me as soon as he got to the ship.
Friendliness of the staff was very uneven in the hallways.

We noted differences from last year's Golden from Venice, the Regal in Oct from Montreal to Ft Lauderdale, and Feb B2B sailing on the Island. There are differences in quality and calibre of service.

There are differences from week to week and ship to ship. I'm just saying this was the worst Princess experience that we have had in 10 Princess cruises and whereas the Island was positive but degraded from the Regal, it was not as enjoyable as the Zenith and Galaxy which we also sailed in the past year.

[westerdam42]

Will anyone be on the Sun before March? I would be interested in knowing what your thoughts are.