Live From The Sun!

[iluvcruzin]

Yes Anne.. It's a Cincinnati RT. Leaves on Friday.. goes to Madison IN, Louisville KY and back to Cincinnati on Monday. It's my first riverboat cruise :)

[Host Anne]

Maureen ~ I'll be very interested to hear how you like the DQ. I love going downtown when she comes in to see her. Be sure to come back to Cruise Critic and give us an update!

[Smilin_Bob]

Could someone please explain a ghost booking.

Will winter ever give up?

[enymarsh]

Could someone please explain a ghost booking.

Will winter ever give up?

 

Unless I am mistaken, it is another name for "open booking" which is what you can make while onboard ship. The booking requires a reduced deposit of $100pp and you don't need to specify a specific sailing date or ship. The booking is good for up to 4 years (?) and you will get an onboard credit for an amount that is determined by cabin type and length of cruise when you do finally make it.

 

I think this is correct, but will welcome any other answers... just in case :)

[MCManders99]

This could have been asked already but I was away on business and no access to CC for the time. How much is beer on the sun at the bars?

[bmc alabama]

bmc alabama.. was that you with the beautiful blond little girl in the tropical dress? She was adorable! I'm sorry we didn't get to meet.

 

iluvcruzin, yeah, that was us. Thank you so much for your kind comments, and I too am sorry that I missed out on the CC meeting.

 

It was tough with a 20 month old, especially since she all of the sudden developed this aversion to high chairs (which, by the way, was fine again by Day 8 of the cruise, go figure). Usually, we were either chasing her or comforting her. She did, however, absolutely love the little wading pool on the top deck forward. We spent almost every afternoon up there.

 

All in all the cruise went OK since we had the grandparents on board, but we will be waiting until at least July 2006 when she turns 3 to cruise again so that we can enroll her in the youth program. Having seen it first hand as we were in there quite a bit, I was impressed with the activites that they had for the kids and I think that she will enjoy the experience.

 

That being said, we also went ahead and did an open booking with Future Cruise sales. One thing that we are looking at is the new Crown Princess out of NYC that goes to Bermuda and Grand Turk starting in the summer of '06.

 

Brad...

[Alaska05]

Hi Anne,

 

Fellow Cincinnatian here (west-sider). Really appreciate your review of the Sun. We have a group of 6 couples taking their first cruise on the Sun July 4th Northbound Alaska from Vancouver. Actually my DH and I have cruised once before 27 years ago on our first anniversary on the NCL Nordic Prince so that probably doesn't count. I know things have changed A LOT in 27 years. Will keep reading the "Live from the Sun" thread as long as it runs. Hope it is still going when the Sun begins its Alaska route. Keep it coming.

[Host Anne]

Alaska ~ we LOVE west-siders. We live on the east side but I keep telling our daughter she is really a west-sider at heart. 99% of her friends are from the westside. You will love Alaska ... we did it three summers ago. We'd go again in a heartbeat. Let me know if you have any questions on Alaska or the Sun. We can be sure that the thread is still running when you are on board. We can make anything happen!

 

Happy Planning! ;)

[cruiserforlife]

This could have been asked already but I was away on business and no access to CC for the time. How much is beer on the sun at the bars?

 

 

Manders,

 

Depends on what beers you're referring to.They always have a bucket special where you buy 4 and get the 5th. one free.

 

I will say that I think Princess drink prices are very reasonable in an area where they can really gouge you if they want.Cheaper than any other line we've sailed.

[Shelby Cruiser]

Finally got caught up on all the work (like washing, ironing, cleaning, photo albums, etc.), so can start complete review of our wonderful cruise. First off, I must start on Princess transportation. We booked a 1-day pre-cruise stay @The Marriott N. Ft. Lauderdale + transfers to & from airport, hotel & pier. We had to wait 1hr. after locating our luggage before got bus to hotel along with another couple on our flight from Detroit who were going on the Star & staying at our hotel. Then, the transfer from hotel to pier was a bigger fiasco. You had to chk. out of hotel by 11am but buses did not arrive until 1:30pm & with 2 ships having passengers at this hotel, there was this huge jumble of people in lobby trying to get on the buses. Princess should have arranged this transportation earlier in day & also coorinated it better. The girl handling it finally gave out numbers to board buses but I was told 3 times by her that only giving numbers for the Star as they would go first. There were 3 bus loads for them. Finally noticed her giving out numbers for our ship but at back of line instead of at front, so we had to wait for 2nd bus. We had been in lobby since 10am so could get the few seats there & some people just walked up & got numbers & boarded & it was an upsetting experience that we would not repeat. Next time will just take cab to pier. As it was, we didn't get any lunch since didn't get to ship until 3:30pm & our dinner was at 6pm. In regards to our hotel, it was nice, but too far from everything. Would recommend getting something closer to shops, restaurants & beach. They did have shuttle service for up to 5 mi. & drove us to very nice restaurant, "Blue Moon Fish Co." - Now the ship. It was beautiful & we saw no worn carpets, bad smells or any problems with cleanliness. Could have had more hand cleaning stations though. Our cabin steward was excellent & we gave him an extra tip for his hard work. We were on Aloha deck & had an i/s cabin. When got to our room, all our coupons promised us for wine & photos, were there. We did our normal quick tour of ship snapping photos of everything. We had the lifeboat drill prior to sailaway & then went to meet the C.C. grp. for get together at sailaway. They were all very nice people but not all 42 people showed up. It was fun meeting people & trying to guess who was who that you had been corresponding with on our roll call thread. We had 1st. seating & had only 1 other couple there at a table for 6. They were wonderful people from N. Carolina & thoroughly enjoyed their companionship for rest of cruise. We have been so very lucky in our table assignments & have never had a "bad" table on 13 cruises. Dinners were always excellent. The Zander & Turbor (mild fish) were very good. Try the chilled pear soup. Excellent. We only tried the main dining rm. for breakfast twice, but it was always excellent. The pools were fun & started out at main lower pool but by end of cruise found it much nicer at back of ship. It was quieter, as not so many people could sit there & also could get a breeze. The pools started out quite comfortable, but then got quite hot & that's when moved to back. It was cold but refreshing. The casino was very tight but still tried it out several nights. - The pizza @Verdi's is good & had it for lunch once & twice for snacks. We used the Horizon Court for quick breakfasts many mornings & for some lunches while at pool or getting back late from port. Don't miss the fried shrimp. The Terrace Grill has good brats. Try the melon colodas. Very good. We thank our new friends, Adam & Elena, for letting us get on the internet to send message to our neighbors who were going to board the Sun when we disembarked. They were very generous & kind to offer this to us. Thanks again guys. - We booked alll our tours prior to boarding & enjoyed them all. @St. Vincent took Fort Charlotte, Botanic Gardens & Scenic Dr. It gave you an overview of part of town & how they lived & then to beautiful viewpoint @fort. Gorgeous photo opps. The gardens are very nice but a little hard to hear our guide. Nice photos. Ride to Mesopotamia Valley pretty but a little too long. The stopping point for drinks @beach bar was nice. Sorry wasn't more time to see waterfalls. - @Grenada much devastation yet & some people only got electricity 2 wks. ago. Incredible. Booked Grenada's Highlights & had nice bus ride through town to Ft. Frederick with nice views of harbor. Bought spices there as didn't know if enough time later. Rode thru countryside & got photos of people, shoreline & churches. @Grand Etang Lake saw forests of trees down. How terrible for them. Then to Annadale Falls for nice photo time. After tour, walked to town for shpg. but didn't find anything. Tried getting lunch @local eatery that was recommended but couldn't get our server to take our order. Left finally & walked to ship for lunch. - @St. Lucia did Dia. Botanical Gardens, Waterfall & Mineral Baths tour & had wonderful trip. Previously took same tour, but this time was longer tour of gardens & wonderful. Gardens are beautiful & lunch was very good. Boat ride was very smooth w/views of spectacular Pitons & Marigot Bay. The shops @dock are great. - @Martinique did Martinique By Land & Sea - Enjoyed this. Got grt. views of shoreline as boat took us up coast to St. Pierre. Very hot on board as boat had a roof on it. Very smooth ride. Then boarded train thru part of town to Museum & saw eruption devastation. Boarded bus back to pier & got photos along route. Stopped @Balata Church for nice views & able to say prayer for safe return home. - @St. Thomas booked Best of St. Thomas Isl. Tour even though been here numerous times. Wanted to see St. Peter Greathouse & it was well wroth it. A lovely spot & spect. views. @Drakes Seat & Mt. Top also beaut. viewpoints of spect. Megans Bay + good shpg. @Mt. Top. The gardens @Greathouse lovely. Back to town for favorite pasttime, shpg. Did have lunch @Glady's Cafe, a nice restaurant in Royal Dane Mall. Even if don't shop, must walk these quaint alleyways. Also, take tram up Paradise Point for best views of ships. - We got together with 4 other couples from C.C. grp. for dinner 1 night @Sterling Steakhouse & had grt. time. Our host, Greg & Carolyn, were so kind to invite everyone to their mini-suite for drinks prior to dinner. They are very gracious & had enjoyable evening. Thanks to all. The daily special was surf & turf & most everyone got the filet w/lobster. Very good. I think the service could have been a little better as to serving coffee & bringing side dishes sooner but was still an enjoyable experience talking w/people you had only met thru the roll call. - The lobster for last formall night was excellent. Everyone @table had 3 but did pass up on 1 course so could. Our waiter & his assistants were great. Joaquin was from Portugal & our bus boy was going to become a waiter on next cruise. - Sorry missed Princess Cays but it was very windy that day & everyone felt Capt. made correct decision. Better safe than sorry. We'll just have to plan on doing this next cruise. - The entertainment was good. We enjoyed Cest Manifique & Piano Man. The ventriloquist was excellent at thowing his voice & very funny. The Carib. Deck party food display was wonderful. The singer, was excellent. He had a beaut. voice. Did dance a few evenings in Atrium Lounge w/Glen at piano. He was good some nights & others just OK. Disembarking went very smoothly & even though were about 9th grp. to go,were off between 8:30-9am. We so enjoyed our cruise that while on board booked another one for next Feb. on Sea Princess for 14 days. The Sun is great. I hope everyone has as good a time as we did. Enjoy. :)

[Ya Ya Cruiser]

thanks for the review, Shelby Cruiser - really good synopsis and just keeps us going till we sail this Saturday.

 

Happy Cruising, everyone.

[cruiserforlife]

thanks for the review, Shelby Cruiser - really good synopsis and just keeps us going till we sail this Saturday.

 

Happy Cruising, everyone.

 

Yes Shelby Cruiser,excellent review!Sounds like a mirror image of our 1/28 sailing.Both the Turbot & Zander fish dishes were both delicious!Glad you enjoyed the Sun as much as we did.

 

Ya Ya,I hope you're getting excited!

[Ya Ya Cruiser]

Hi CFL - yes, we are beyond excited!!! We're so excited we're almost non-functional - I had to take the balance of the week off because I'm useless at work - can't focus on anything except thinking about the cruise - that's why I'm on this board and not doing all the things I should be doing to get ready - just can't believe it's almost hear after almost a full 18 months of waiting!!

 

Will try to post from the ship, but if not will definitely post upon return.\

 

Cheers to all,

Deb

[Lindamalocup]

Shelby Cruiser we were on the same cruise with you! We loved listening to Glen in the evening in the lounge too! We were there almost everynite i am sure we saw u there too! I also enjoyed the shows the Piano Man was a great new show we liked it alot! I loved the all the shows i liked the comedian on the first nite he was good too. We went to the newlywed and not so newly wed game it was a riot!

I knew the older couple who was married over 50yrs would win ha ha! I enjoyed having a window cabin this time it was so good being able to look outside at everything from our room! It was our first upgrade too. We enjoyed the catarman cruise in St Lucia too it was so great we had a ball on that one too! I loved going to trunk Bay in St John my hubby said it was the best snorkling he has ever done and its so beautiful too! We were in the Plaza deck and thought it was real nice and close to the pursers office and dining room for pc dining which we loved doing too. We meet so many different people and also enjoyed eating ourselfes some nites! I liked having a different waiter too everynite we did have the same for maybe two nites. I loved having the icecream everyday at the horizon crt 3:30 -4:30 everyday we went to that alot! I loved the Italian fest they put on there one day it was great and very good desserts too! I miss it so much back to work now and dreaming about our wonderful cruise everyday! It was rough coming back to the snow here too! I wished i had the sun so send it back to us when u next set of cruiser go! thats all for now hope everyone who is on the cruise today is enjoying it as much as we did! Bye Linda

[cruiserforlife]

Deb,

 

I know the feeling.My sister is currently on the Diamond in the Mexican Riviera and her cruise is over tomorrow.I hate it when you only have a day or two and you still want it to last longer.That's why the 10 nighter is so great.

 

Have a great time and keep us posted.

[Shelby Cruiser]

The best night for dancing we think was early on in the cruise when Glen was playing the hit from TOP GUN, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling", & everyone on the dance floor was singing along with him. It was great fun & we were all laughing while dancing & trying to sing lounder than everyone else. We were out there most evenings. Are you the couple we met in the Shooting Stars Lounge for lifeboat drill & talked about the smoke smell & then later met @sailaway with the CC group or am I thinking of another couple.

[Lindamalocup]

Hi Shelby no that was not us but we were there almost everynite too! Yea we were there that nite too. No we missed the sailaway the first day. I am sure we must have run into each other there when we saw Glen. I posted to the other board too and met some of the CA group. Yeah it was alot of fun! We loved watching everyone dance too and dance a little ourselfs. I think i talked to u on this board too before we left. I have had many people send me cruise pics from this cruise too that i met on the ship! I hope the group thats on now are having fun have not heard too much from them! Bye for now Linda

[cruiserforlife]

Morning all Sun cruisers,

 

Well it's Friday so we should be hearing from the those disembarking shortly.

 

For those getting ready to set sail on the Sun,I hope the seas are calm and the the sun is warm.Have a great cruise!

[WASUP]

Cruisng on the Sun 5-30-05, we have sailed with Princess twice before, we are now ready to see Alaska and choice Princess as she has a very good reputation in Alaska.

 

So anyone cruised to Alaska on Sun?

 

Thanks

[dutrie]

I just checked the Bridge Cam for the Sun. It looks like a beautiful, sunny day in Ft Lauderdale. I am homesick for the Sun,. I wish I was boarding her today.

 

Here in Wisconsin it is snowing with 6-7 inches on the ground.

 

All of you boarding today, have a great vacation and let us know how your cruise is going.

 

David

[Alaska05]

Wasup,

 

We have a group of 12 sailing on the Sun northbound Alaska on July 4th. Be interested to hear how your cruise goes.

[Host Anne]

David & John & fellow Sun cruisers ~ it's great that this thread continues on. We are heading to Florida next week for spring break. Cannot wait to be south and warm again. It's raining in Ohio today and still chilly. We need to plan a SUN reunion!!!! ;)

 

Happy sailing to all those on board!

[rc51]

I just checked the Bridge Cam for the Sun. It looks like a beautiful, sunny day in Ft Lauderdale. I am homesick for the Sun,. I wish I was boarding her today.

 

Here in Wisconsin it is snowing with 6-7 inches on the ground.

 

All of you boarding today, have a great vacation and let us know how your cruise is going.

 

David

 

Yes it was a very nice morning when we finally arrived in Pt. Everglades after our 10 day jaunt... but a little on the cool side. I was up at 5am to watch the pilot bring her in.

 

Just got home after almost a 19 hour day with lousy flight timings thru Miami and Denver :( :( :(

 

Well, we've finally planned and completed our first ever cruise...but are still undecided if it's for us (wife and I). If you would have asked me after the first 3 days, I would have wanted OFF THE SHIP!! We missed P Cays due to rough conditions (but that's nature) but for some reason we felt 'cooped up'..not sure why. Had a balcony on Aloha deck, pretty much mid ship.

 

Maybe we're just too young for this cruising stuff (mid 30's)... but both myself and my wife are very puzzled why we didn't feel the 'wow' factor as so many had suggested and predicted we would feel.

 

Service was great in the dining room, room service, and room steward. However we felt that many of the open deck servers really didn't want to 'be there'. The sentiment was echoed by our travelling companions as well, another couple in their late 40's. Also, we felt our 'head waiter' was as phony as a 3 dollar bill.... he was just playing 'salesman' to encourage us to return to Princess in the future, as he completely ignored our table for the first 7 nights and then drowned us with attention the last 3 nights of the sailing.

 

The food to us was typical restaurant fare...nothing I would rant and rave about..maybe we're spoiled as we tend to eat out so much at home, (typically 4 or 5 times a week). I dunno... maybe we need to do another cruise to make a qualified descision. We're thinking of a 7 day Alaskan in Sept. possibly.

 

Maybe its just us...and its not our cup of tea as much as we were hoping it would turn out to be.

 

Port days were great though... but it's too bad you only get to experience the ports in their 'day flavor', it would be neat to experience some of the ports during their 'night mode' :) Also, too short, so much to do in so little time, shopping, helicopter rides, beach time, water sports, of course partying.... and your already out of time.

 

What did we do wrong??

[psupa]

 

Service was great in the dining room, room service, and room steward. However we felt that many of the open deck servers really didn't want to 'be there'. The sentiment was echoed by our travelling companions as well, another couple in their late 40's. Also, we felt our 'head waiter' was as phony as a 3 dollar bill.... he was just playing 'salesman' to encourage us to return to Princess in the future, as he completely ignored our table for the first 7 nights and then drowned us with attention the last 3 nights of the sailing.

 

I know what you mean about the "head waiter". Usually starts showing up towards the end of the cruise so he will get his tip. Well if I have a head waiter who I don't see until the end of the cruise he gets no tip.

[enymarsh]

What did we do wrong??

 

I wouldn't say there was anything you could have done wrong... it's just like matching personalities. Sometimes the experience just doesn't hit your comfort zone. We recommended cruising to some friends of ours and they took one on CB last summer and I thought they'd come back gushing over the experience but they came back and said it was okay but they'd probably not do one again.

 

I too agree with your estimation of the headwaiter, it sounds pretty accurate to me. We tend to just look for good service during dining and aren't looking for that "extra connection" to any of our wait staff that many passengers seem to be wanting so we book PC and usually are completely ignored by the headwaiter which is just fine by us :D . I think you probably hit another good point when you said that you eat out often at home. We hardly ever eat out, just special occasions at very special restaurants, so the dining part is a treat for us even if the food isn't always 5*.