niftrip

8 hours ago, loves2cruz said:

Looking at the deck plan I can't figure out where the nightclub is located as mentioned in the literature, 'dance the night away'.    Could they mean the atrium?   I don't think I would consider that a nightclub.  D.J. music in the atrium would be very loud for others just looking to relax and talk.  If you can find out if there is an actual nightclub I would appreciate it.  If there is one I would be interested if it gets busy.  Thank you.

Yes, the Piazza is the "nightclub" venue. Not that I'm prone to late nights but it is weird. Most other venues are closed by midnight and only the Piazza locations are open. 

This was the same on the Majestic Princess too. 

10 hours ago, vjmatty said:

Are people in C2 cabanas limited to the cabana deck on their own side of the ship? 

No, you can access both sides. Which is nice I think. 

3 minutes ago, MTNest93 said:

People letting friends and family onto the cabana deck.  There are already 39 cabins that have access to the deck, bringing in random others would not be fair to those who paid for that access.

So far it's not been remotely an issue. The sailing is winter so that would more than likely change in Summer. 

It's been used sparingly the past day and a half. 

3 minutes ago, KLM3164 said:

The prime rib cart I heard about may only be for the Signature restaurant. 

That would make sense. The Reserve menu is the same as the main dining rooms. 

22 minutes ago, phonejock said:

@niftrip

First thank you for this excellent thread. Quick Question It appears that your Reserve Collection Cabana mini suite is very narrow ( or more narrow than other mini suites I have been in). It looks a little claustrophobic. How are you finding it? 
IMHO, from all the posts I have read about the Sun, one is going to have to thoroughly research all the various permutations of the cabins before booking.  Best wishes and Travel Safe

I've stayed in Mini-Suites on the Majestic and this cabin is definitely narrower. I'm not sure if the other Mini-Suites on the Sun are as narrow as the Cabana. That's something I'm going to have to research.  

Probably the space I'm missing the most is the walk in closet. Even though that takes up more room, it makes the whole space feel more luxurious. 

3 minutes ago, Esprit said:

Hi Niftrip

Thank you for using some of your precious vacation time on this thread.

I’m keen to know if the Peroni beer they sell are the blue labelled bottles/cans rather than the red ones.

 

They are, yes. 

I haven't seen any of the Rossa's onboard. Menu from O'Malley's in the app.

6 hours ago, niftrip said:

 

I didn't see the cart. I'll look for it tonight. 

Doesn't look like it's on tonight's menu either. 

5 hours ago, niftrip said:

 

I'll see if I can answer this today. 

You can email any documents you need printed off and they will deliver to your stateroom. 

I asked via the chat function in the app and they gave me an email address. 

Dinner in the Reserve Collection Restaurant was OK, nothing amazing. Food was good. 

Service was attentive but a little out of sync. I had my starter before I got water and a glass of wine. 

The waiter tried to remove the starter before I had finished, which is fine by itself but I suspect he called away my main BEFORE trying to remove the starter. Once I'd finished the starter was cleared at the same time as my main course arrived.  

The table next to me didn't get an order taken until after me but it appeared they had been waiting for a long time prior to me arriving. 

Their starters weren't cleared for a long time. 

In terms of waiting on arrival, tables were available but there was only one maitre d' seating guests, it would have been much smoother had there been two. Given the size and popularity of the space. I'm sure this would have put more pressure on waiters and the kitchen though. 

I'd expect most of those issues to be ironed out, given this is only the second sailing. 

The Reserve Collection Restaurant is warm and inviting. I really like it. Without having dined and only having a quick tour of the Signature Restaurant, I'd say I prefer the Reserve. 

The second Arena show at 10pm had quite a bit of space available. The performer was a magician. Tonight's is a vocalist. Will be interesting to see if we get bigger productions or if the shows are going to be different to what you'd expect on another Princess ship. 

The casino area is huge and was very popular all night. 

7 hours ago, worldtraveller said:

Is there an internet cafe? If not where do you print off boarding passes & other things and where to those who didn't bring a computer go or are you out of luck?

I'll see if I can answer this today. 

10 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks for taking the time to post to a LiveFrom thread! I was watching your video and was a little set back with the “tinted window” on your balcony. Does this mean you can’t look out in either direction? If that’s the case, I’m not impressed.

 

Yes, it does mean that. You can't stick you're head out past the railing and look up and down the ship. 

I personally might only do that a couple times so I don't feel like I'm missing anything. 

At some point when it's not as wet as it was last night I'll also see what the space is like when we are at sea. I have a feeling it might be a little calmer than a traditional balcony given the high walls on all sides.  

9 hours ago, KLM3164 said:

This is not good news! One of the advantages of having Reserve Collection is not having to wait for a table. We’ve had this on several cruises on Royal Class ships and the dining room has never been full. 

 

Did you eat in the Reserve Collection Dining room last night? If so, did they have the prime rib cart? Asking for DH.

I didn't see the cart. I'll look for it tonight. 

11 minutes ago, t&atravel said:

This thread has a quick video of a reserve cabana mini suite.  No curtain.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2996545-live-from-sun-princess-9-march-10-day-barcelona-rome/?do=getNewComment

Correct. 

No curtain. The Cabana Mini-Suite is similar in internal size and layout to the Deluxe Balcony Cabins with the addition of the Cabana area.

So far, so good. 

The Piazza area has been very busy, as to be expected at the beginning of a cruise. 

The Reserve Collection Dinning has been busy all night. I walked by a number of times earlier with lines each time. 

I came down for dinner at about 8:15 not expecting it to be as busy but I was wrong. The wait wasn't bad, only 5 minutes or so. 

The first Arena show is at capacity. 

Here's an very quick walkthrough of the Reserve Collection Cabana Mini-Suite (C2). 

Will post a more detailed review of the cabin after I've spent a few days in it. 

46 minutes ago, RLK33853 said:

We will be in a Reserve Cabana Mini on deck 9 with the public cabana area beyond our balcony.  Please let us know how intrusive the outside area is to your private balcony.  Also how do they keep non cabana passengers from using this area?

 

thanks

I'll keep an eye on privacy of those suites over the next few days. 

Access to the deck is controlled via your Medallion. Those not staying or accompanied by someone staying in that category can't open the doors. 

16 minutes ago, Grego said:

Questions remain as to how the Elite/Platinum evening lounge is handled

I can answer this one straight away. Here is the welcome letter for Elites. I've removed my personal info from it. 

Good morning from a wet and windy Barcelona.

I'm sitting onboard the Windstar Star Legend eagerly awaiting embarkation on the Sun Princess this afternoon. I'll share an update each day about the experience onboard, along with some photos and videos. I was glad to see the majority of venues are to be open for this sailing. I am looking forward to some of the arena shows. 

I'm in a Reserve Collection Cabana Mini Suite (C2) on deck 9, which will be interesting to experience. 

Any questions you have about the ship include below and I'll attempt to answer during the sailing. 

37 minutes ago, susiesan said:

I just booked Star Breeze Dreams of Tahiti in cabin 400 for April 10, 2025. The Windstar rep on the phone confirmed that this is a great cabin layout.

It has been great. 

There is certainly more movement given its location. It's noticeable but not by a huge margin. 

You do get the odd banging noise from crew using stairs close by and the extra noise when anchoring. 

It's not been a problem for me because I'm an early riser and am generally out of the cabin through the day. 

On 3/5/2024 at 2:19 AM, Pudgesmom said:

That’s a really nice floor plan. Thank you very much for sharing the photos. 
 

It seems to have one window instead of the normal two. Did you find it to be dark at all?

Personally I don't find it dark. It's not drenched in light, though. It definitely feels warmer with lights on in the cabin, even in the daytime. 

The cabin attendant generally leaves a few lights on when making up the room. 

16 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Where is the closet in these cabins? How large is it as compared to the walk in closet?

In the entrance way there is closet storage both sides. Lots of storage space in the cabin. 

11 minutes ago, igoplaces said:

hI!

We were in this room in January 2024.  We loved it.  The layout is much more to my liking than the more rectangular layout.  Thanks for the pics though, I did not take any.  We were hoping to be in this same room on our trip in 2025, but the price exceeded our budget so we were put in a different state room, midship 3rd deck.  

the one downside to those who sleep in would be that you hear the things that happen in docking and anchoring (lot of chains / noise).  This happened every morning we docked/anchored and we let this serve as our "ship alarm clock" so we did not have issues with it but some would.

 

I love the layout too. I'd also choose this by preference again. 

One thing I love about Windstar is that all staterooms are great. Most people would be more than comfortable in any cabin category. 

I've just boarded the Star Legend and I'm in stateroom 400.

I also looked for more information on the room layout before settling on it but there wasn't much at all. 

Here's a few images of the room. 

I will have a full room walkthrough plus some other content on my YouTube channel in a few days, after I've had enough time to experience the stateroom and the ship. 

If you have any other questions for me while I'm onboard let me know and I'll see if I can get the answers for you. 

On 2/22/2024 at 10:03 AM, Teechur said:

If the cabana room has a sofa bed, it might enhance the useability of the cabin. Otherwise, I can't see why anyone would want it. You give up space in the main room to have a small add-on room that really doesn't seem to have any useful purpose.

Given the cabana space has a second TV there and doors, I could see it being really useful if a couple or friends are in the room and don't both go to bed at the same time. The night owl could be out in the cabana watching TV with less interruption to the sleeper.