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Live From The Sun!


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Cathy ~ I do have your email. I'll drop you a line. We're in Florida on Spring Break so it will be next week when we're back north before i can get info off to you. I'll have to dig out my Hawaii binder :)

 

~Anne

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Anne,

Florida on Spring Break? I'm not sure if that sounds like fun or not! It was about as warm here in the midwest yesterday as Florida.

On another note completely unrelated to the Sun Princess, I have not been receiving my notifications of postings. I've subscribed to this thread and haven't gotten any e-mails. Has anyone else been having problems?

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Ok, the Sun is at Port Everglades right now and when she comes back in 10 days we will be on her!! YAHOOOO :D

I hope everyone who boards her today has a wonderful vacation and I hope you know that we won't be wishing your vacation time away.....

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Cathy ~ I do have your email. I'll drop you a line. We're in Florida on Spring Break so it will be next week when we're back north before i can get info off to you. I'll have to dig out my Hawaii binder :)

 

~Anne

 

Fun in the sun again Anne?You there soaking up the warm sun?I talked to my uncle from Florida last night and he said it was 88 yesterday and in the 90's the day before.Sure sounds better than this CA rain!

 

Take care and have fun...tell Andy I'm still drinking my Maker's Mark without him!

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I shot about a dozen rolls of film and about 400 digital pics...will be starting the editing of them tonite. If anyone has any questions or wants to see a spot that I might have captured on film, let me know.

 

We would love to see your photo's. Our camera die two days into the trip and we had to buy disposable cameras for the rest of the trip. So feel free to send us anything you please.

Thank-you

Dreamer

kylehoag@sympatico.ca

 

Gotcha.... just got back my print stuff and getting the web structure created for all the digitals, I was having problems uploading to my normal host..hopefully that problem will be sorted out very shortly.

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Cathy ~ I'll check on the notifications for you. Haven't heard of any problems recently but when I just returned to the boards a few minutes ago, it made me re-log back in (and that doesn't usually happen on my laptop) so I'll check.

 

It rained all weekend back in Ohio so we're glad to be in Florida. At least we're away from the office. PLUS we got to see cruise ships while we were in Miami over the weekend. We had friends sailing on Explorer. It was hard not to get on board with them.

 

John ~ I'm sure Andy will have a Makers tonight in your honor. It was a little on the cool side today -- just 73. But clear and sunny. And the stars are so bright at night....almost like being on a ship!

 

To all those sailing on Sun, have a fabulous time! Wish we were with you.

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Well we made it.

The weather cleared up and yesterday was a beautiful day to board the Sun Princess.

Boarding formalities were pretty slick without too many lines or delay. I reckon from kerbside to cabin in under 25 minutes. Pretty impressive.

What was not too impressive was to find we had more forms to fill in. One was a declaration that we weren't going to bring onboard the Norovirus. Now that's an impressive form.

How about a "world peace" form as well - it would be just as effective.

The other forms were the Bahamas immigration forms. They could have been sent out with the tickets and I would have dutifully filled them in without complaint.

The ship doesn't show its age unless you look carefully. Carpets and furnishings are well maintained and the public rooms are very clean.

Not so our cabin unfortuneately. The cabin was grubby and Mrs M set to work with the Chlorox before we settled in.

We'd forgotten how small the balcony cabins were (nevermind the windowbox balcony!)

Another problem soon manifested itself - the shower drain didn't. We reported it to our steward and this morning when still nothing had been done about to reception.

It is now 5 pm and still no action. Not good enough, Princess.

Jury is still out on the food quality - I suspect that some severe financial cuts have been made and this has affected the quality of the provisioning but I'll let things settle before I judge.

One thing though- the coffee is truely awful! How can they call it coffee I don't know. I've heard the complaint before on this site and so I'm sure people have raised it on their comment cards and yet Princess seem to feel they can continue to ignore it - I don't think they can.

Today is another spectacularly beautiful day. Princess Cays.

They have expanded it since we last visited and it would have been very, very pleasant apart from the behavoiur of some East European waiters on their day off.

Don't get me wrong - they deserve days off like the rest of us however I'm paying for a relaxing vacation and could do without the screaming antics of the staff.

I did politely ask them to lower the decibel level a little and a little was just what I got.

One thing which I had also forgotten about was Princess' poor tendering system.

Now consider that they do this at least every 10 days (more frequent if they tender in St Thomas as well) and it even becomes less impressive.

Remember these are the very same people who organise your lifeboat in a time of emergency!

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is I think a Princess management motto. The tendering system is broke and needs fixing.

Apart from that we're having a lovely time!!

Shame that they no longer serve Corona beer though!

 

PS Maitre D may end up with some money at the end of the cruise. The cruise director (a limey) hasn't said "at this time" once although the same cannot be said for his Canadian assistant!

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Sounds like you are off to a poor start, Mr Miserable....and here we thought we'd left the ship in tip top shape after our super ten days out preceeding your arrival. I hope things improve in your eyes. Can't speak for all the Mar 19 - 29 crew, but we had a great time. My husband couldn't stop raving about the shower head, so trust your drain starts draining soon so we can get your appraisal. The tendering to Princess Cays went fine, too. Maybe it was because we weren't attempting to be some of the first out? We found the ship in great shape. I'd have been annoyed if I felt our cabin needed recleaning on arrival...but, it didn't. If I were to TRY to find some downturn in quality since cruising the Coral last March, it would be slight changes in the dining room. We found the food to be very good but maybe quantity decreased....ie that slice of prime rib not quite as thick, etc. As for the coffee, the best I can say is it's drinkable. I, too, wish for an improvement in that department. Let's just say, tho, these issues didn't affect our overall positive impression of the cruise in the least. We wish we were back out there again with you....as it is, we'll just have to cruise along vicariously. Since we're left to hang on your reports from sea, it would be more fun for us if you were having a good time! Happy cruising.

Nan

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We were on the cruise with you NanD and have the same favourable impressions :) We loved the shower pressure!! My parents shower was slow draining too, but certainly didn't bother them, they never even reported it. They figured there cabin steward must have as someone was fixing it a few days in...

We thought the tendering went very smoothly, but then again, were not trying to be first on either. We thought the food was great in the dining room and our waiters were outstanding. We also had the best head waiter we've ever had, very personable and attentive.

I thought the ship was in great shape and didn't feel like our room was ever grubby. We did think the room was small but then again we'd been spoiled with a mini-suite on the coral last year. The balcony was small too, but we loved how private it was...that was a huge plus! And we still enjoyed breakfast out there every morning. I had a lady at one of the shows complain that the balcony was so small she couldn't even have breakfast out there...I didn't have that problem and I'm pretty sure my balcony was just as small ;)

I am an avid starbucks coffee drinker, we grind our own every morning so I was worried about the coffee. The room service coffee and dining room coffee were great. I was pleasantly surprised. I rarely drank the horizon court coffee, but again thought it was passable. I don't know, maybe I'm not that hard to please.

Gavin is the cruise director and we saw a lot of him and thought he had a nice personality. Sometimes we go the whole cruise not even seeing the CD, so we thought he did a decent job.

We'd been on the Sun about 6 years ago and thought she was still in great shape, no complaints really! Just too many kids on board compared to what we are use to, and we witnessed a baby with a diaper playing in the water next to the adult pool for hours, and then watched the pool staff do nothing. Other passengers confronted the parents..not pleasant for anyone and the pool attendant didn't do anything at all. They post in the Patter about no kids in the adult pool and no diapers allowed in any pools or hot tubs, so they had the right to tell the parents, but I think they are too worried about offending anyone. We did see kids running wild at times, but didn't see or witness any real damage done like I've read on other cruises.

We enjoyed the cruise, and would recommend the Sun. I think it's the perfect size ship.

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I too hope things smooth out for you Mr. & Mrs. M...they certainly went brilliantly for us on our 1/28 sailing.I don't drink coffee so I can't comment on that but I'm sure I'd be complaining too based on what I've read here if I was a coffee drinker.

 

Please let us know how things turn out and thanks for the update.

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I, too just got off the Sun 3/19-29 and I must say, we had a GREAT time! Thank God I didn't let anything I've seen on these posts effect my experience, because it was totally the opposite. Yes, the rooms are small, but not unbearable. I thought the food was great, not the best, but certainly not the worst I've had on a cruise. No problems with tendering at Princess Cays and we were happy to finally get a lounge chair and explore the island. We were on the Caribbean Princess last June and it was a madhouse. Couldn't do a thing. I guess that's the big difference in sailing on a big ship vs. a small ship. I'm having withdrawal symptons right now and would give anything to be on the Sun this week. So cheer up Mr. Miserable, things could be a lot worse!

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We also just got off the Sun Princess 3/19-3/29 and found everything to be great with no major complaints.

 

We had a suite and found that we did not need all that room nor did we need all the extras (except the free internet). So next trip we will try the mini-suite but I will miss the big bathroom.

 

Food was fine and service was also fine.

 

Ship appears to be in great shape and our cabin was in perfect condition when we arrived and was kept perfect thru out the cruise.

 

Weather was pefect at all ports.

 

I will be happy to answer any questions.:)

 

Haven't unpacked yet, guess I should do that soon. Happy and Miserable to be back home.;)

 

Bonnie

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So sad to have left the Sun Princess on Tuesday!! We had the most wonderful cruise and I will post a review - but just wanted to let everyone know how wonderful it was. We had a balcony cabin B521 and 523 - great location, nice accommodation - not large, but certainly more than adequate for two people and having the balcony was great - we had breakfast there a few mornings - the service was excellent we had Steward Jerry who was superlative and waiter Clife from Portugal and Assist. waiter Dan from Romania - both excellent - took service to the next level - the food was super - esp. the rack of lamb dijonnaise - to die for - and the chocolate souffle with sabayonne was beyond wonderful. We attended the two wine tasting events - the modest charge was more than worth the experience - our tours were great - highly recommend Godfrey on St. Thomas, Mandoo on Grenada and Hackshaws on St. Lucia - we met lots of great people - esp. our cruise critic friends from our roll call, the entertainment was great - loved Piano Man, Tribute and Curtain Up as well as Bayne BAcon and Chris Pendleton and Dan ?:?: the Ventriloquist - coffee was fine - enjoyed it no problem. After reading these boards I have figured out that your experience on a cruise is very much a personal, subjective thing - but from our perspective, and I speak for all the Ya Yas - it could not have been better - never met a single staff person who wasn't pleasant, friendly and helpful - any calls we had for room service, getting the balcony partition opened between our cabins etc. were dealt with promptly and pleasantly - would highly recommend the Sun to anyone. Only complaint about the cruise was that it ended.

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Ya Ya -- I totally agree with you. We were on the Sun 1/28 with CFL and had a great time. We also thought the low point was when it ended. Even though we had rough seas, we had a wonderful cruise, great food, and we even liked the coffee. Only had the coffee in the dining room, but we thought it was fine. Guess we aren't as hard to please in the coffee department. We also thought the staff was and pleasant helpful. We especially enjoyed the cruise activity staff with Trivia, etc. We thought the food was very good and the souffles in the dining room were outstanding. Would recommend the Sun to everyone, and before this cruise we were very loyal to Celebrity. We are now considering another Princess cruise in January. To those on board, have a great cruise.

 

Mary

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YaYa,

 

Glad you had a great time like we did.We had balcony cabin B605 and couldn't have been more pleased.I too was very happy with the attitude of the staff,everyone I encountered always greeted us with a smile and a "can-do" attitude.Service and food was superb and the ship is in amazing shape for being 10 years old.Gotta love the Sun-class size ships and in my mind,Princess does it better than anyone in this price category.

 

Mr.M,

 

Glad to hear things are progressing nicely.Hope the sun is warm and your drinks are cool.

 

Bonnie-Jean,

 

We had a mini-suite on the Star and it was the perfect size for us and the bathroom is certainly bigger with a separate tub.I might not want to ever leave my cabin if I had a full suite!

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How did you like the Sorrento Suite Bonnie? Wasnt that the most private balcony ever. We were given that as an up grade and were more than pleased...... I dont know how we will ever do a regular balcony cabin again....

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Hi Bonnie,

 

We are booked in D750 the Portafino Suite for our November cruise.

Did you like the balcony? Was it pretty much covered and were you able to get some sun.

 

We have been in the mini suites on the Sun class ships 2 other times and will be in one next week. We are happy with them lot's of room and nice bathroom with jacuzzi tub.

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Hi,

 

 

Yes we did enjoy the Suite on the Sun Princess....but for us I think next time a mini-suite will be fine.

 

Be sure and ask for the extras (perks) or you probably will not get all of them.

 

The balcony was fine, sun at different times of the day. But loud as all the suites are at the back of the ship (aft).

 

Enjoy your cruise. I know that we did. Miguel was our cabin steward but he told me he was changing decks so I don't know who you will get. He was rather shy and quiet but did a great job keeping everything in order.

 

You will love the bathroom and the walk-in closet and all the drawer space. Lots of towels, etc....you get to keep the slippers.....

 

Bonnie

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