Meldrum

40 minutes ago, SouKnoMe said:

I find my preference is for specialty dining over MDR. And from the pictures shown so far I haven’t been impressed. This still does not address the fact that with the extra cost of the room and packages there’s no deck accommodations for this category “reserve”. What’s so special about it other than a no wait bland looking dining room. 
 

Please remember this will be my first experience with Princess and I’m just trying to understand what I’ve purchased. Thanks 

The Reserve restaurant does indeed look a bit austere in daylight, but the atmosphere can be a lot different and more pleasant in the evening, with warm and appropriate lighting. Most importantly, this restaurant will be calmer, more intimate and quieter than the main restaurant. If, in addition, the service is more attentive and the menu choice is more extensive, then it is worth an upgrade to a Silver collection mini suite for us.

6 hours ago, cruisedoctor said:

Snuck into The Arena early this morning.  Obvious progress being made, in that the electronic screens are now operational.  While it was reported in an earlier post, that Padgett said The Arena would be ready for the next sailing, they said something similar about the ship and then cancelled the 2/18 sailing.  I certainly hope at least some of the shows will be available to those on the next sailing.  I’ll have to wait to see them on the September Transatlantic.

Thanks for letting us know and see the progress. I suppose the theater must be inspected and approved by authorities before the artists can start rehearsing for the production shows. It seems unlikely to see these shows in the next two or three cruises. I hope that at least a musician or a small group of musicians, a comedian or any other guest entertainer is able to perform here during the next cruise or so. 

48 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

If like me you drink wine it includes “vino rosso”…for me the meal with wine at $45 is a good deal. While the Caymus Winemakers dinner has more upscale food & wine it also comes with a $140 fee plus 18% tip which is now added to specialty dining.

 

We have the premier package because we like better wines at dinner as well. Maybe I misread the menu and you do not need to make choices, but it’s a fixed menu with all the items? Then the $45 makes much more sense. 

20 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

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

 

Is this the whole menu for dinner with only a few options for starter and main and just one dessert? I hope there is much more to choose from for the steep $45 cover charge?

3 hours ago, valdean said:

Can any passenger use the Cabana sun deck?  Or is that restricted to Cabana cabin passengers only?  

The private cabana deck on deck 9 is only accessible for Reserve Cabana mini suite guests, not for all mini suites or cabana suites. I think this private deck will not be too crowded. 

5 minutes ago, TRLD said:

I read somewhere that teppanaki was going to be in the third dining category Experience dining. A new category that also includes 360.

Yes, it was listed as Experiental dining in the app for only a few weeks. It is now listed again as Speciality and covered with the Premier package again.

We could also finally book restaurants for our March 29 cruise. The first 2 reservations were free of charge (we have Premier), the others were charged $45 p.p. The only speciality restaurant we did not book was ‘Hot Pot’, because we have no idea what to expect and if it’s worth the $45 cover charge. There is not much information about this restaurant. Has anyone an idea of what to expect?

Regarding diner reservations: the app is still a work in progress. For instance: a few weeks ago, Umai was listed as Speciality dining, included in the Premium package. This changed into Experiental dining not included in Premium. Today it is again listed as Speciality dining but still not included in Premier.

Info about the prices change as well. E.g. Sabatini's was $39, now it is listed as $45 per person. Prices for the other restaurants now disappeared from the info in the app.

I'm sure Reserve restaurant is only for Reserve guests, Signature only for full suites and no reservation will be needed. 

I just saw on the app and on the website that the itinerary for our upcoming cruise on March 29 changed drasticaly. They inverted the ports, from clockwise to anti-clockwise. Instead of going from Rome to La Spezia, Genoa... and ending with Gibraltar followed by two days at sea, we are now starting with two days at sea and going to Gibraltar first, ending with La Spezia and Rome. How annoying! Our cabin is now on the 'wrong' side of the ship, facing the sea instead of the coastline. We can also start cancelling a rental car and excursions we booked on land as well. It is strange we did not even received an e-mail from Princess or from our travel agent.

I have no idea why they changed this.

Well, at least we are sailing...

12 minutes ago, fpsphil said:

Tugboats at the front and back. Maybe she's leaving now

 

Sun Princess has left the shipyard!

7 minutes ago, Meldrum said:

With a Reserve Cabana Mini Suite you also have access to the Reserve Restaurant and, more important for us, to a private cabana deck with loungers and a hot pool. We hope that this terrace will be quieter than the main pool deck and that sun loungers will always be available. Other than the restaurant and the private deck, I don't know if there are more Reserve benefits.

I looked into it and there is more: a complimentary bottle of wine in the stateroom upon arrival, premium terry shawl bathrobes, priority specialty dining reservations and evening canapés upon request. 

41 minutes ago, fishmom said:

I received an email with a bid upgrade offer for our 4/27 sailing.  I was surprised to see this since it is showing as sold out.  I haven't cruised since the upgrade bidding was introduced, so I am not sure if that means there is some capacity or not.  The upgrades were for reserve cabana suite and above, which would be the next level up from what we have booked. I realize there is a whole thread about the bid upgrade process, but thought in interesting in context of the new ship.  The Reserve Collection benefits are so fuzzy when I look at their website, which is why we didn't book in the first place. But now I am curious! I went ahead and placed a bid on a couple of the categories, since we were already waiting for room assignment.  (Sky Suite was still more than I was willing to pay, LOL)  So wherever I land I will be OK with.   

With a Reserve Cabana Mini Suite you also have access to the Reserve Restaurant and, more important for us, to a private cabana deck with loungers and a hot pool. We hope that this terrace will be quieter than the main pool deck and that sun loungers will always be available. Other than the restaurant and the private deck, I don't know if there are more Reserve benefits.

1 hour ago, dides said:

Another look at a restaurant onboard - here is a reel  of the Reserve Collection Restaurant. The chairs look a bit er functional.

 

 

Good to see and to know. It doesn't look that luxurious or cozy, it looks a bit like a modern school refectory. Not comparable to Sabatini's or Crown Grill, both of which look fantastic and warm. I give Reserve a try on the first or second night of our upcoming cruise in March. Luckely there are so many choices for diner that we can select a different venue every night during our 10 day sailing. We are spoiled :-). 

25 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

 I don’t think there is a “door” on your “balcony” that you can open and walk onto the cabana deck. You have to walk out your cabin door, down the hall and come out onto the deck. I did not see one in image. 

Not for the cabin we booked, but in the cabins directly on the cabana deck, I think you can open up a segment of the balcony closure to go directly to the deck. It is not very clear on the renderings though, but I presume it is.

1 hour ago, [g]cruiserke said:

 

No, reservations for the specialty restaurants are grayed out.

 

Strangely, I CAN book a table in the Reserve restaurant, which isn't supposed to be our designated dining room.  I went all the way through the booking process and the app confirmed my table.

 

I cancelled the table afterwards, as I wouldn't want to claim a table from someone who needs it 😊

The app is changing almost daily. I suppose there are still some errors to be fixed. In the list of available restaurants I can also select the Signature restaurant with the same message ’You’re always welcome and don’t need to make a reservation.’ This is definitely not true for Reserve cabin guests. The description of Hot pot and Umai Teppanyaki is also still wrong. Work in progress…

1 hour ago, [g]cruiserke said:

 

No, reservations for the specialty restaurants are grayed out.

 

Strangely, I CAN book a table in the Reserve restaurant, which isn't supposed to be our designated dining room.  I went all the way through the booking process and the app confirmed my table.

 

I cancelled the table afterwards, as I wouldn't want to claim a table from someone who needs it 😊

The app is changing almost daily. I suppose there are still some errors to be fixed. In the list of available restaurants I can also select the Signature restaurant with the same message ’You’re always welcome and don’t need to make a reservation.’ This is definitely not true for Reserve cabin guests. The description of Hot pot and Umai Teppanyaki is also still wrong. Work in progress…

1 hour ago, [g]cruiserke said:

 

No, reservations for the specialty restaurants are grayed out.

 

Strangely, I CAN book a table in the Reserve restaurant, which isn't supposed to be our designated dining room.  I went all the way through the booking process and the app confirmed my table.

 

I cancelled the table afterwards, as I wouldn't want to claim a table from someone who needs it 😊

The app is changing almost daily. I suppose there are still some errors to be fixed. In the list of available restaurants I can also select the Signature restaurant with the same message ’You’re always welcome and don’t need to make a reservation.’ This is definitely not true for Reserve cabin guests. The description of Hot pot and Umai Teppanyaki is also still wrong. Work in progress…

31 minutes ago, New2cruise2022 said:

So is there any access to the rest of the ship from outside your cabana or is your cabin door the only way in or out?

Only one entrance, yes. The cabana is the area between the bedroom and the veranda or terrace. I’m not sure if it will be a veranda (with roof) or a terrace, an open area without roof. This is not clear to see on the room layout. 

11 minutes ago, [g]cruiserke said:

We're sailing in an S9 Signature Suite, departure on 4 January 2025 (so lots of time to read reviews and get tips from all you wonderful people who are sailing before us 😊) and I am now available to reserve dining in the Signature dining room for Suite guests.

 

I can choose day, time and table size (private or shared).  There's an option to make a standing reservation for all nights of the cruise, which gives an error message, bit I AM able to make single night reservations.

 

We're used to the Luminae Suite experience on Celebrity (this will be our first Princess cruise) and in Luminae, you do not need to make prior reservations for dinner, but it seems on Sun Princess reservations in the suite dining room will be if not required, then at least optional.

 

Good to know. Can you also book one of the speciality restaurants, e.g. Crown Grill?

As of today I can only select the Reserve restaurant under Reserve dining. I cannot select a day or hour, it says:’You’re always welcome and don’t need to make a reservation.’ Would this mean that the Reserve Restaurant has more than enough places for the small number of Reserve guests and the Signature restaurant is more intimate but with  not enough places to serve all suite guests at the same time? 

1 hour ago, New2cruise2022 said:

I’ve heard some complaints about privacy when it comes to the cabana rooms. I think they seem wonderful. I like the idea of a nice sea day with the sun shining and me laying out on a chair — that I didn’t have to fight for or rush to reserve when I get on board — that has a walkway that servers can use to deliver drinks or food to me and I never have to leave my lounger. If it were a balcony, I’m still getting up from my relaxation to answer the door when room service stops by. I would put OceanNow to work. 

We also booked a Reserve Cabana Mini Suite, but deliberatly not one of those with an open end on the cabana deck. These are numbers 9239 to 9321 and 9238 to 9320. The benefit is that you walk out of the veranda or terrace to the cabana deck with the hot pool. The downside is the view is obstructed by fellow passengers and loungers and you can barely see the ocean from your veranda. We booked cabin 9329 which ends at the side of the ship, giving us unobstructed views directly on the ocean.

4 minutes ago, jwattle said:

Yours might be because you have Reserve Collection? 🙂

 

We stay in a Reserve Mini Cabana Suite on deck 9. For us, a very new kind of cabin. Very excited about this :-). Yes, we can dine in the Reserve restaurant without reservation. But we also want to try most of the speciality dining restaurants (apart from Kai Sushi). I'm pretty sure we are also obliged to make reservations for these, but they are not yet available for online reservation. I have to be very patience...

2 hours ago, lstone19 said:

 

As far as I know, that's true for all but what the first two or three cruises. We board Apr 27 and cannot make dining reservations yet.

Same here, we are on the March 29 sailing and booking a restaurant is not possible yet. The message is: ‘There are no available restaurants’. 
 

Sun Princess is now still in Monfalcone. In order to arrive on time in Civitavecchia for february 28th, when should it leave the port of Monfalcone? Will it stop at other ports during this trip?

22 minutes ago, Bollycats said:

On the Princess Instagram app there are lots of upset passengers. Some comments say that customer service is telling them the February 28th cruise will be canceled and all cruises through March . I hope this isn't true.

I suppose they mean that the first cruise you can book is the one departing April 8th. All cruises on the Sun are fully booked until March 29th.

3 hours ago, hawgwildterry said:

Anyone having luck booking normal dinning reservations for the April 27th 14 day Med cruise aboard the Sun?

We are on the March 29 sailing and we cannot book dining reservations in the app yet. So far only the first three cruises seems to be open for dining reservations. I check daily, but maybe I have to wait until February 18th.