Sox Fan Cruiser

10 hours ago, memoak said:

And I would rather spend that $40 on a specialty dinner even though people tell me on other threads that I have already paid for a meal in the MDR. Each to their own

Yes!  That’s what’s great about cruising!!  Choices for everyone. 

I love the penthouse suite on the Sky with the ENORMOUS balcony and I would still book the sanctuary for a day or two. The loungers are way mor comfortable and the service is amazing. I would book it for the afternoon tea alone. 
 

Every likes different things. 

3 hours ago, dog said:

Is this Deck 8?  American Diner?

Sorry.  Typo. Deck 8 is different from deck 6 and 7. 
 

It’s so weird @alyssamma to hear that deck 8 is “sometimes” American dinner. I thought that was the whole point of it. The consistency so people can come in without reservations. What you experienced is not at all what the three levels were supposed to be. I can’t help because I ate in the Signature restaurant all week. 

3 hours ago, alyssamma said:

So...this was my understanding but it is not how it works. I've eaten on 8 and the menu is the exact same.

 

Also, as mentioned, the wait is very minor...we normally eat around 730.

Exactly the same as what?  We have all been told that deck six is a different menu from deck 7 and deck 6. It’s a fixed menu that is the exact same every night of the cruise with different options including some breakfast items. Deck 6 and deck 7 are regular MDR menus that are different every night. 

The other thing that I was surprised about what how many things were broken on the ship.  The very aft port side glass elevator did not operate the entire cruise (April 8-17).  There were many sinks in the public bathrooms not working.  The main sliding glass door to the main pool was broken for many days.  I realize that new ships have defects but it seemed excessive to me.

Deck 6 is the old traditional dining setup.  They have one seating at 5:30 and one at 7:30.  You are booked for either early or late seating and you are at the same table every night with the same people (if you want to sit at a larger table.)  You can not just walk up and get seated.  You have to sign up for this type of dining before the cruise.  Deck 7 is for walk ups.

It is not a problem if you want to go to a specialty restaurant any night but it is common curtesy to tell the wait staff know the night before so they aren't waiting for you.  It just means that you have a standing reservation every night but the time is locked in.

There are crowds outside deck 7 between 7 and 7:30 because the line is right outside the elevators and stairs.  And people were confused about where to go the first few days.  Folks were trying to get to deck 6 and were in the line for deck 7 dinning.  After a few days they learned not to wait in the line but go to the stairs and walk down.  The first few days the line stretched down the corridor past the Wheelhouse bar.  But like I said, it went fast and the line was gone by 7:30 or 7:45.

We went for our pre-dinner cocktail at 7 and there was a long line and much congestion outside the MDR on deck 7 at that time. But that was only the first couple of days. It’s because the only way to deck 6 is that elevator bank/stairs and so people were lost. After a couple of days the line seemed to evaporate. And even when there was a line, it was gone within 15 minutes. 

3 hours ago, asctony said:

I am just in reverse! Princess over Celebrity. Yes, we also have 2 each. Beyond B2B and Sun B2B this year.

Happy Cruising!

That’s what makes cruising great!  There’s something for everyone!!  😝

I would choose Celebrity over Princess every time. With that said I have 4 cruises booked and I have 2 with each. 

9 hours ago, mikemonster said:

Interesting recent article sheds some light  Regarding Santorini and Cruise industry

 

https://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2024/04/15/overtourism-cruise-ship-cancels-santorini-stop-over-congestion/ 

 

mike

Exactly what I have been saying. It’s not a tendering issue. 
 

We were trying to leave at prime time and there was congestion and tension was rising. I would not get off the ship if there were multiple ships in port. They can only handle so many people. 
 

There was absolutely no waiting for a tender. Once we got to the bottom (walking down) we went right on a tender and we left two minutes later. 

We were never able to book ahead of time but did so when we got on the ship. It wasn’t a problem. It’s not advertised too much so if you know about it, just book when you get on the ship. 

45 minutes ago, capriccio said:

 

Many of these questions were answered yesterday in @reedprincess's post #485 on this thread.

And yes, Spellbound is open. Search these threads. I did an extensive walk through of the experience without giving anything away. 

9 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Sorry to change the subject… Wondering if anyone has tried the Crown Grill on the Sun Princess. I’m trying to decide between CG or Catch. How has the steak quality been lately? 

We didn’t eat at either on the Sun but the ambiance in Crown Grill is much better. On this ship they stuck Catch at the back of the buffet and people were saying that it felt like eating at a cafeteria. The Crown is more of a real restaurant. Catch was wonderful on the Sky but not interested in it on the Sun. 

It doesn’t happen very often. The one time they moved our cabin was on my 50th and they upgraded us to a suite. You can mark “do not upgrade”. We’ve sailed 35 times with Princess and never moved other than the above. 

If you have a tour they tender you to the old port and you take a bus up the caldera. But then they drop you in Fira and you have to take the cable car down. 
 

Because of the line problem they ended up taking the late tours back to the old port and tendering them back to the ship. 
 

And I will say this again…

We were the only ship in port!!

15 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Thanks.

 

That eliminates that hypothesis then.

Also I think the other Santorini stops on future cruises were cancelled before we even went there. I’m not 100% sure but I think so. 
 

I truly think that the cable car experience with a lot of ships in port is so bad that Princess wants to avoid it. Things started to get really tense up in the line that we just walked down. Not an option for older folks but we talked to people who waited 90 minutes in line, in the heat and with tempers boiling over. We heard a fight almost broke out. We walked down in 25 minutes. And we were the only ship in port. 

6 hours ago, TRLD said:

Yes Santorini has required their tenders for years. 

 

When I say tender operations I am not saying the tenders themselves more likely an issue with the tender docks.

 

Could be any number of potential issues. Problems with one of more of the hatches/dock themselves, the height relative to the tenders, the way the tenders tie off, etc. Anything that impacts the loading/unloading process or potentially could make it less safe. If there is any potential known safety issue they would certainly not tender.

 

What we do know is that Princess said that they canceled their maiden voyage to Santorini saying that there was a technical problem with tender operations.

 

There has been 1 stop with tendering in Santorini but no other tender stops. Which might indicate that they thought they had resolved the issue but then discovered that it was not resolved. 

 

Would be interesting to know if on that cruise if Kotor was scheduled before or after Santorini. If after if Kotor was cancelled before or after the Santorini stop. @Sox Fan Cruiser

 

A couple of the Kotor cancellations have been for technical tendering restrictions. Without saying if those were port restrictions, of ship technical restrictions.

 

They have said  that the Santorini cancellations have been due to congestion. Which does match with a couple of dates in June and late May where there is about 15000 passengers in port and the Sun is in port with larger NCL ships.

 

However it does not match with some of the cancelled dates where there were 5000 to 7000 in port. A light load as far as Santorini is concerned.  In the past Princess has gone to Santorini with much heavier passenger numbers in port.

 

 

Kotor was canceled before we even flew to Rome. We were notified about a week before we were scheduled to get on the ship. And the port in the itinerary was before Santorini.  

4 hours ago, Globaler said:

I will never sail a new ship within a one year period. Nothing but problems, broken promises and total disappointment. Too much money and so many other cruise ships and cruise lines. wow Princess has caused some major brand damage on this one.

We were the 5th cruise and it almost near perfect. For the things that we want out of a cruise we were very happy. And their suite service was beyond exceptional. 

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Haven't sailed the Sun yet...how did you like Corinne? (CD)

I usually don’t like the cruise directors. Their over the top happiness and their annoying interruptions over the loud speaker bother me. So I’m not a good one to ask. We don’t go to any events where we see their staff so they are not part of our cruising experience. And yes, she was as annoying as her counterparts on other ships. Probably more so. 
 

Again, as you can probably figure out, I’m the worst one to ask that question!  🤪

I love how they said "Private dinning room with no waiting".  Tell that the folks currently in Reserve Collection.  There was waiting every night.  That's what made the Wheelhouse bar so crowded!

And kudos to the bar staff there!  I've never seen Princess bartenders serve drinks so fast.  They are the best on the ship!!

We stopped in Santorini on April 14th using the Santorini tender boats.  They took Princess shore excursions to the far port as they boarded buses to then go on their excursions and then took the rest of us to the cable car port.  

All shore excursions were supposed to drop their passengers at the top of the cable cars to get back to the ship but since the line was so long the took some back by bus to the other dock and they ran tenders from there as well.

They even pulled up anchor and moved the ship close to the dock to make the tender ride shorter!  I've never experienced that before.  

And again, we were the only big cruise ship in port!  Full disclosure:  There was one smaller ship that got there in the afternoon and was saying until 11 so they weren't in our queue to leave the island.

To answer your other question, tendering seemed as normal as any other ship.  We were the first ones off the ship on the first tender (a suite perk) but didn't notice any difference either to the island or back to the ship.

2 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I was on the Sun Princess April 8th voyage and we went to Santorini using tenders.  It is not a tendering issue.  (And please don't respond that we didn't use the ships tenders so they must be broken.) It's a cable car issue in Santorini.

But now that I look at the article they did say for "tendering reasons" so I am confused too.  But I really think that Santorini is because of the cable car experience when there are a lot of ships in port.

I was on the Sun Princess April 8th voyage and we went to Santorini using tenders.  It is not a tendering issue.  (And please don't respond that we didn't use the ships tenders so they must be broken.) It's a cable car issue in Santorini.

Yeah, Princess has been pulling out of Santorini because of the cable cars.  It's a mess when there are a few ships in port.  We were the only ship in port and things started to get tense with the people waiting in line.  The long waits back to the ship leave a bad taste in peoples' mouths and they come back to the ship angry.  Princess is trying to avoid that negative experience.

But will STILL have never gotten and explanation for why they are skipping Kotor.  Very frustrating.

Bar is still Montenegro but I understand what you meant.