JimmyVWine

I'm [more than] a bit confused. The chef (or is he a butcher?) who is heading up this partnership is Italian, with a famous butcher shop in Tuscany. The Crown Grill is going to get a Chef's Dinner featuring a Florentine Steak from said chef/butcher. But the Butcher's Block menu says at the bottom that all of the meat sourced for that restaurant comes from Spain. So is Princess tapping into this butcher's famous offerings at Butcher's Block, or is the chef/butcher merely adding his name to the operation?

Let that be a lesson to you, kids. Punctuation matters! 👨‍🏫

We took two cruises using Plus and never ordered a single glass of wine that was a "Plus Selection" other than an undrinkable glass of red at Alfredo's. Every glass we ordered was above that allotment, and we paid the difference. Our final tally had us a few dollars to the better compared to what our cruise would have cost with Premier. But now that they have placed a limit on Casual Dining visits we booked our next cruise with Premier. If you are a wine lover, you are rarely going to order the Plus wines, as they are sold as generic wines with no producer or vintage noted on the list. You just order "Pinot Noir" and you have no idea if it will be a wine from Sonoma, Oregon, Burgundy, New Zealand or Uzbekistan. No thank you.

Sorry, but I could not disagree more. Sun Princess is the first ship to roll out cabins with the following designations: Mini-Suites Reserve Mini-Suites Cabana Mini-Suites Reserve Cabana Mini-Suites Signature Suites (that are shaped like Mini-Suites) As well as being the first ship to roll out cabins that have: Reserve Cabana Deck Privileges Reserve Dining Privileges Signature Sun Deck Privileges Signature Dining Privileges. And is the first ship to have a newly configured Sanctuary that is partially a Sanctuary and partially not. I think that it is perfectly logical for people looking to figure out what they get for the price they are paying and what they do not get, to obtain that information in a thread with the title "Sun Princess." And now that the ship is operational and there are people on board, what were once assumptions can now be verified.

Totally get it. Just pointing out how the term "Full Suite" has lost its meaning when a cabin that is sold as a Suite is half the size of what we have come to know as a "Full Suite" and has no tub or upgraded bathroom. Princess just waved its wand and declared 11456 to be a Suite. Indeed, on any given cruise, it could declare that entire row of Mini-Suites from 11440 to 11458 to be Suites. Or declare them to be Reserve Mini-Suites. Or sell them as regular Mini-Suites. The point being that if a cabin can transform from a regular Mini-Suite to a Reserve Mini-Suite to a Signature Suite with a mere keystroke and color change based on demand for that particular cruise, is that cabin really a "Full" anything?

Well, that's the problem. There are regular Mini-Suites (11446). And then there are "upper type" Mini-Suites that have Reserve benefits, (11440) and then there are "upper, upper type" Mini-Suites that have Signature Suite status (11456). The cabins are all in a row with one another and are identical in all respects except for the benefits that are conferred upon the occupants of each. In other words, the cabins don't change. Only what comes with them.

And compare that to the description of a "regular" Mini-Suite: "Choose a luxurious Mini-Suite with balcony which is substantially larger than a Balcony stateroom. A Mini-Suite includes a separate sitting area with sofa bed, and premium bathroom amenities. For families or groups needing a little extra space, Mini-Suites offer an appealing and affordable option." The reference to a "balcony which is substantially larger than a Balcony stateroom" is a bit of a mystery. For example, looking at the Deck Plan, compare the balcony size of 11450 (MS) with 11466 (Balcony).

I guess we will all get used to it, but Princess has itself to blame for the confusion it created with the introduction of "Reserve" and "Signature" cabins that are no larger than their plain ol' counterparts, sold in tandem with "Suites" that are much larger with separate living areas. But I guess that is par for the course when they introduced the concept of the "Mini-Suite" that didn't get treated like a "Suite" in any way, shape or form. (Those cabins should have always been designated as "Deluxe Balconies"). That earlier confusion led to the usage of the term "Full Suite" so as to differentiate real Suites from Mini-Suites, but now with the inclusion of some Mini-Suite sized cabins into the ranks of "Suites that are treated like Suites", it is probably time to retire the term "Full Suite" as that term doesn't really have any applicability to the Sphere Class Ships. Putting an "S" in front of a Mini-Suite cabin does not make it a "Full Suite" when it does not have a separate living area, and does not have an upgraded bathroom with a tub. It is a Mini-Suite with "Signature Privileges."

Just to clarify, is the Signature Sun Deck only for guests in FULL SUITES, or is it also accessible to guests in cabins that are not Suites, but are being sold as having Signature benefits? If I book a Signature Mini-Suite, do I get in?

Not silly at all. We’ve given up leaving this to chance and bring our own. If the venue has decent stems, great. We use theirs. If not, we use our own. One added advantage is that when servers, bar tenders and Dining Room Managers see that you have brought along your own, nice glasses, they recognize that you take wine seriously and the level of service and even offerings improve. I can’t tell you how many times nicer bottles have appeared from behind the bars or from the dining room back room that were not listed anywhere and which were not offered to the general public. The downside is that you will be hit up for every wine tasting and event for the entire cruise. Although I suppose that this might not be a terrible side effect.

Ignore them.

While it is a valid point, to be fair, there should be two prices for the experience; one for people with packages and one for those without. If the $45 includes wine, people with packages are paying for wine twice. As is the case with chef’s tasting menus, there are always two prices: With wine pairings or without. Here, it would be fair to set the price at $40 and then add unlimited wine with dinner for $5. People with packages can opt for the lower fee and still get wine because they‘ve already paid for it up front.

I thought so at first, but concluded that this wouldn’t make much sense in a fixed price setting. If there is no difference in price between portion size, it doesn’t make much sense to offer multiple sizes. Most people are going to order the largest size to get their money’s worth. Sort of like fast food places that offer self-serve beverage service from dispensers with free refills, and then offer small, medium and large size cups at escalating prices. Why would anyone pay for anything other than the smallest, cheapest size?

For those who are on board, is there a specific bar that is more wine-centric than the others, serving as a poor substitute for Vines, or are all of the bars the same (which, if following the pattern of other ships, means that you have to have a frustrating conversation with the bartenders to figure out exactly what wines each bar is featuring.)

Does anyone know what the numbers in the red diamonds are describing?

Thanks, Maya. You have now ruined Tori Amos’ song “Cornflake Girl” for the rest of my life! 🤣

Neither have Kai Sushi or the Umai Teppanyaki. But both of those places have pretty elaborate build-outs. Especially Umai.

Thanks for your report. It confirms something that I suspected. A video posted YT (and linked earlier in this thread) showed a detailed view of the Lido Deck. One thing I noticed was the copious protected bistro seating around the perimeter, just like prior ships. But why? Horizon Court/World Market isn’t up there on Sun. These tables are very useful as overflow from the buffet area on other ships but seem like an awful lot of seating for ice cream cones and pizza slices on Sun. This same type of protected seating seems to be missing around The Eatery.

Carpaccio can be either completely raw, or quick seared on the outside, but still very close to raw throughout.

Looks like a really bad dance class template.

We’ll have wait and see, but I am not convinced that Spellbound is going to be a “dinner experience only” venue. Since the goal for every square foot of the ship is to generate revenue, I can’t imagine why they would leave money on the table by not selling $20 cocktails in the afternoon, separate and apart from the dinner experience.

The “nice” area in the video is not part of the Sanctuary. It is the Suite/Signature Sun Deck.

Well done! Large. Sufficient shade. Some sun peeking through by the rail. All good features.

People often comment about kids pushing all the elevator buttons. But somehow I have never seen or experienced it. Seems like a bit of an urban myth. (Can a myth be “urban” if it pertains to a ship?)

Unless you are in the circular banquet behind that huge column!🙃 The color scheme is awful, unless the photo is a bit off. A bit too “bordello”.