Sox Fan Cruiser

Damn!  I finished typing the second half when my work computer didn’t like being on the ships internet and I lost the post. I’ll try again later. 

Okay, here we go.  I will only be describing the  logistics without ruining the "magic" of the night.  I don't want to ruin the experience for all but help people understand what the night entails.

So in general, it's not really advertised very well.  Like all things Sun Princess, they are relying on word of mouth more than anything else.  As I said before, we went to the suite lounge on the first day and asked about it saying that we didn't have either a tie nor a blazer.  They said it was fine to just dress "nicely".  We then received our invitation a day or so later (picture attached after this post) with the words "Dress Code:  Cocktail Attire".  

We went to the 8th floor of the Horizon Dining Room as instructed at 8pm and there was a sign marked Spellbound.  The host had us sit with the others waiting for the festivities to begin.  The attire of the participants was varied with some folks in suits, women in dresses but also men with a blazer not tie and some in just dress pants and a nice collared shirt (me!).  I think as long as you look nice, it was acceptable.

We then were escorted to a back part of the dining room where it was just us.  We there then served a 4 course dinner that took about 2 hours.  I was shocked as it didn't seem like that long and we had a nice time getting to know our fellow magic enthusiasts.  

Then it was time to go behind the black door...

22 minutes ago, Pickels said:

Wow!  that's great news!  Thanks for the update.  It eliminates the problem of rushing to get to the Sanctuary when on board, and getting knocked over by inconsiderate people.  (happened last cruise when some idiot almost knocked me down getting out of the elevator).  Thanks again! 

The trick is getting the invite to the GO Lounge.  It's by invitation only and only a small number of people get invited.  (and you need a competent suite concierge! :) )

18 hours ago, Pickels said:

Reservations for the Sanctuary can only be made at the reservation desk in the Sanctuary; that's where they check what's available and process your request. 

You are incorrect. 
 

If you are invited to the Go Lounge in Fort Lauderdale (mostly suites), it’s an area before the cruise terminal to wait to board the ship. They will then bring you to the ship and you cut all lines and basically walk on the ship.  While in the GO Lounge they will take dinner reservations, spa reservations AND Sanctuary reservations. 
 

Now it didn’t work for us because our suite concierge onboard was inept at her job (she was awful the entire cruise) but someone else posted that it worked for them as they were on a different ship and had a much better suite concierge. 
 

They wouldn’t take your Sanctuary reservation request if they hadn’t planned to try and make the reservation.  We told them we wanted two together in the shade on all sea days. They then phoned the ship and spoke to the suite concierge to take care of it. They confirmed that the suite concierge was taking care of it and we should get confirmation in our room. 

Teaser #2…

The last two nights of the cruise are the final dress rehearsals for the Cirque show in the Dome and passengers are invited to attend. Seems they will be ready for the next sailing. There are two shows both nights. There are “tickets” for every suite passenger if they want one. Seating is first come/first serve but we are guaranteed a spot if we want it. The rest of the ship has the remainder of the tickets. You need a ticket to get into the dome. 
 

Not sure if this will be the practice going forward but I think so. 
 

Haven’t asked about seats in the Arena (the theater) yet but I will. 

7 hours ago, Shaver John said:

Hi, we will be in a signature suite on the Sun and I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1-What is a bento box in the sanctuary? Can you order any kind of food you like in the box?

2-Can we use the Park 19 items even though we are older than teens, much older.

3-Does someone stay in the lounge to help with things we need all the time? Of just a few hours a day?

4-Does the breakfast compare to the suite breakfast on the Royal Class ships?

5-Is Spellbound being offered for free to suite passengers?

Thank you so much...I will appreciate your answers.

No problem. I will answer all questions when I get home. But I do have the answers!  🤪

I know I became a real pessimist about this whole thing but we went tonight and LOVED it!  Off to bed as it was a full evening experience but I’ll write about it tomorrow. Totally worth it!

20 minutes ago, capriccio said:

I wondered on an earlier thread if the two restaurants shared a kitchen given that there is a large white space between them on the deck plans.

 

 

Thank you for confirming this but it leads me to another question:  how differentiated are the actual menus between the Reserve and Signature restaurants?  Are those in full suites paying more for the same menus and the experience is only (maybe) differentiated by the staff?

I don’t think there is a difference between the two restaurants. It’s different than the main dining room. 
 

There are still a lot of extra perks of the suites that differentiate it from the Reserve. 

Yeah, I missed the “upgraded ingredients” part. I thought it was the same as the MDR. Definitely better preparation. I’m very happy. 

Here’s a teaser while I’m still onboard….

I have been told, and no way to really confirm it unless I coordinate with someone in the MDR, but I was told by my waiter in the Signature restaurant that while the menu is the same as the MDR (plus one or two extra items) the Reserve and Signature dining rooms have a separate kitchen and prepare the dishes differently. And I believe him. 

There were a few times (before he told us) that I said to my husband “There is no way they are serving this in the main dining room!”  The seafood salad the first night was extra special. The escargot was different than I have ever had on a Princess ship. It was not just drowned in garlic and butter. I keep asking for extra vegetables (VEGETABLES!!!) because they taste so wonderful.  
 

Not everything is different but it does feel special. Does it compare to Luminea on Celebrity?  No. But it comes a lot closer than I expected it to. 
 

And the service is top notch. The sommelier is right there to help you with champagne, wine, and desert wine (yes, we’ve been having all three!) every night. And the maitre d’ has been by every night to make sure everything is top notch. Offering advice on the menu, checking that the food is satisfactory and even helping me with the fish courses (I try to eat exclusively fish at dinner on ships) coming up in future nights. 
 

We are beyond pleasantly surprised that our dining experience is very enjoyable every night. 
 

(Sorry, I do not take pictures of my food or the menu.)

4 hours ago, duchess7 said:

I am sailing in June and Santorini was replaced by Crete!😒

We are still going to Santorini as of today. No change has been announced. Yet. We are supposed to arrive in a couple of days. 

On 4/8/2024 at 2:55 PM, levonfan said:

Is the Park 19 area open yet?? My daughter is asking will be on June 1

Nothing yet. 

Your picture is on their screen. On the Sun Princess they are actually addressing all of us by name as they hand us our drink. Problem solved. 

On the original deck plan only deck 17 extended for an aft view but they all do and the plans have been changed. I will maybe pick a lower level next time. But I think our ceiling is taller to give it a more open view.

(I’ll try for a picture of that later)

I’ll wait to answer about the movement until the end of the cruise. But right now we haven’t had any other than the vibration when we were docking this morning. 

Here is the balcony. It’s a little longer because it extends past the cabin for the aft view. 

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

Thanks for reporting.  We were originally assigned deck 17 penthouse suites but switched to deck 15 penthouse suites due to noise concerns from the Sanctuary.

 

With the large number of loungers in the Sanctuary I guess some noise would be inevitable during setup.

 Luckily they leave the loungers in place. So the movement is minimal. 

We LOVE our deck 17 aft Penthouse Suite except for one thing. The noise from the Suite Sanctuary above between 6:30 and 7:00am every morning. While they don’t take the loungers in at night, there is still some noise as they set up the area for the day. Little scrapes on the ceiling as they adjust the loungers is waking us up. We are able to fall back to sleep but it may be troublesome for many. When we booked this cabin, the images had a hot tub above us so we thought we would be okay. 
 

Just a warning. 
 

ps. The balcony is amazing!

12 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I thought they were sending emails now?  We are 18 days out and haven't heard anything yet about the Go lounge so I was thinking of reaching out to our CVP.

Do it. Talking to your CVP ensures you will get an invite. Why leave it to chance. 

Princess is doing it right!  Service has been outstanding!!  And I’m a snobby cruiser!  🤪

More to come…

I’ll let you know in a few days. 😜

We also asked our CVP and she hooked us up. They did say they tried to contact us anyway but if you don’t answer the phone they don’t leave a message and move on to someone else. 

6 hours ago, CatMom72 said:

I wonder if the suit-and-tie thing was only required when they were doing the media-only/by-invitation-only events.  I hope so!  @Sox Fan Cruiser, please let us know!

I was completely up front with the suite concierge and said I didn’t bring a tie and suit and he started to say “ Well, it doesn’t have to be a suit.” and I told him I don’t have a tie or a blazer with me. So he asked if I have a nice shirt and nice pants and if so I would be fine. He did act like he was “ breaking the rules” a little bit would make an exception. 
 

I’ll let you all know if I’m the only one dressed down. 

We just booked it onboard through the suite lounge. Dont need a tie or a blazer. Shhhhh.

My first complaint:  The cushions on the loungers in the suite area of the Sanctuary are so soft I keep fallen asleep while I’m reading!!  😂🤣🤪