Just Booked Sun Princess TA 2024…..Love It Or Hate It?

[Lady Arwen]

13 hours ago, DHP1 said:

Our cruise in 2024 is $4,000 more compare to the same cruise (same month) this year just a different ship. I shouldn’t check that. 😂 

Our British Isles cruise on Regal in 2023 in a mini suite with Princess Plus is just over $7k and the same cruise in exactly the same cabin for 2024 is over $12k!  Crazy!

[rmsmith]

Love it or hate it?  I don't know, but I'll find out the on the TA in 2024.  Planning to book it for a 20th anniversary cruise after our honeymoon was on the previous Sun Princess.  Having not liked being on a large Norwegian Christmas cruise a few years ago I have some reservations but willing to give Princess a change on a big boat, please being 16 nights during the school year there shouldn't be too many 3 and 4 people to a stateroom on this one to bring a 4k person boat to almost 6k.

 

Definitely some major layout changes for a Princess boat which will be interested since one thing we like about their boats is we generally always know where everything will be regardless of the ship.  I hope they have a Vines and then slice pizza and the grill together on the pool deck.

 

Now to make a call on what type of stateroom - premium balcony, mini-suite or cabana mini-suite

Edited February 3, 2023 by rmsmith

[Lady Arwen]

12 hours ago, rmsmith said:

Love it or hate it?  I don't know, but I'll find out the on the TA in 2024.  Planning to book it for a 20th anniversary cruise after our honeymoon was on the previous Sun Princess.  Having not liked being on a large Norwegian Christmas cruise a few years ago I have some reservations but willing to give Princess a change on a big boat, please being 16 nights during the school year there shouldn't be too many 3 and 4 people to a stateroom on this one to bring a 4k person boat to almost 6k.

 

Definitely some major layout changes for a Princess boat which will be interested since one thing we like about their boats is we generally always know where everything will be regardless of the ship.  I hope they have a Vines and then slice pizza and the grill together on the pool deck.

 

Now to make a call on what type of stateroom - premium balcony, mini-suite or cabana mini-suite

We chose this TA sailing because we just wanted a couple of weeks to relax and enjoy the ship.  We’re also spending a few days in Southampton.  If you look at the deck plans you’ll see there is Vines and Crooners.  However, the buffet, World Fresh Marketplace, is not on the pool deck nor is the usual outdoor grill or pizza.  They’re on deck 9 and the pool deck is on 17. The best deck plans are not on Princess.  We found better ones online, but it’s all just basically wait and see.  Anything can change.  Hoping to get a better idea in the coming months.  We usually book mini suites, but since we know so little about the staterooms, we just grabbed a balcony for now and then we’ll start looking in earnest.

[rmsmith]

5 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We chose this TA sailing because we just wanted a couple of weeks to relax and enjoy the ship.  We’re also spending a few days in Southampton.  If you look at the deck plans you’ll see there is Vines and Crooners.  However, the buffet, World Fresh Marketplace, is not on the pool deck nor is the usual outdoor grill or pizza.  They’re on deck 9 and the pool deck is on 17. The best deck plans are not on Princess.  We found better ones online, but it’s all just basically wait and see.  Anything can change.  Hoping to get a better idea in the coming months.  We usually book mini suites, but since we know so little about the staterooms, we just grabbed a balcony for now and then we’ll start looking in earnest.

Vines - excellent.  I must be overlooking it on the deckplans (have looked at non-princess sites), but either way, vines or no vines we'll be ok!   And one plus of the buffet and possibly grill and slic being on deck 9 vs the lido- it'll save me a few pounds over 16 days.  Always enjoy grabbing a burger and fries or slice of pizza with a beer on an overly regular basis!

 

I think I'm leaning towards a cabana  mini-suite to see what those are like. And if as more info comes out and the ship sails next year if we don't like it we can try to drop down to a regular mini-suite or a premium balcony. Right now the ship seems pretty popular and I imagine there will be a healthy number of cancellations as moire info comes out or people realize for whatever reason they can't make the cruise.  I'm certainly looking forward to 8 back to back sea days for lots of relaxing.

 

And absolute worst case scenario if we are not liking how the Sun shapes up, we change to the November TA on the Sky (I think it's the Sky) and we haven't sailed on that class of ship before so it would be a bit new for us too.

[Guest ldtr]

35 minutes ago, rmsmith said:

Vines - excellent.  I must be overlooking it on the deckplans (have looked at non-princess sites), but either way, vines or no vines we'll be ok!   And one plus of the buffet and possibly grill and slic being on deck 9 vs the lido- it'll save me a few pounds over 16 days.  Always enjoy grabbing a burger and fries or slice of pizza with a beer on an overly regular basis!

 

I think I'm leaning towards a cabana  mini-suite to see what those are like. And if as more info comes out and the ship sails next year if we don't like it we can try to drop down to a regular mini-suite or a premium balcony. Right now the ship seems pretty popular and I imagine there will be a healthy number of cancellations as moire info comes out or people realize for whatever reason they can't make the cruise.  I'm certainly looking forward to 8 back to back sea days for lots of relaxing.

 

And absolute worst case scenario if we are not liking how the Sun shapes up, we change to the November TA on the Sky (I think it's the Sky) and we haven't sailed on that class of ship before so it would be a bit new for us too.

Its not the grill and slice on 9.  It is Alfredos and the IC.

 

There are two unmarked areas on the deck plane that could be the grill and slice on Lido.

[Lady Arwen]

44 minutes ago, rmsmith said:

Vines - excellent.  I must be overlooking it on the deckplans (have looked at non-princess sites), but either way, vines or no vines we'll be ok!   And one plus of the buffet and possibly grill and slic being on deck 9 vs the lido- it'll save me a few pounds over 16 days.  Always enjoy grabbing a burger and fries or slice of pizza with a beer on an overly regular basis!

 

I think I'm leaning towards a cabana  mini-suite to see what those are like. And if as more info comes out and the ship sails next year if we don't like it we can try to drop down to a regular mini-suite or a premium balcony. Right now the ship seems pretty popular and I imagine there will be a healthy number of cancellations as moire info comes out or people realize for whatever reason they can't make the cruise.  I'm certainly looking forward to 8 back to back sea days for lots of relaxing.

 

And absolute worst case scenario if we are not liking how the Sun shapes up, we change to the November TA on the Sky (I think it's the Sky) and we haven't sailed on that class of ship before so it would be a bit new for us too.

I really don’t want to sail in November, much prefer the September cruise.  We’ll stick with Sun just to see something different on Princess.  Also,  Regal September 2023 and doing Celebrity Ascent in 2024.  My plate is full!

[Lady Arwen]

11 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Its not the grill and slice on 9.  It is Alfredos and the IC.

 

There are two unmarked areas on the deck plane that could be the grill and slice on Lido.

BTW every time I see your profile red letter “L” I think it’s me and I wonder when did I post that!

[Guest ldtr]

7 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We chose this TA sailing because we just wanted a couple of weeks to relax and enjoy the ship.  We’re also spending a few days in Southampton.  If you look at the deck plans you’ll see there is Vines and Crooners.  However, the buffet, World Fresh Marketplace, is not on the pool deck nor is the usual outdoor grill or pizza.  They’re on deck 9 and the pool deck is on 17. The best deck plans are not on Princess.  We found better ones online, but it’s all just basically wait and see.  Anything can change.  Hoping to get a better idea in the coming months.  We usually book mini suites, but since we know so little about the staterooms, we just grabbed a balcony for now and then we’ll start looking in earnest.

The other deck plans online came out when Princess first released theirs.  But then Princess revised theirs deleting some labels, but the other sites (cruisemapper, cruisedeckplans) did not

 

The pizza on deck 9 is Alfredo's not slice.  The grill is not marked anywhere though there are two unmarked areas on Lido that could be the grill and slices or the grill and a bar.  Crooners is marked on the plans, but Vines is not (nor is vines mentioned in the latest press release).  Though there is a unmarked bar area on 7 next to the Piazza that could be Vines.

[PacnGoNow]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:11 AM, Lady Arwen said:

If you go to the deck plans on Princess, you will see lots of balconies on deck six.  Not sure why you don’t see them.  

Looks like cove balconies.

[Lady Arwen]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

Looks like cove balconies.

You are correct.  

[duchess7]

On 1/27/2023 at 10:38 AM, DHP1 said:

You could book a mini suite now and if the price drops, phone Princess and they will adjust the price. We have done that many of times in the past, almost every cruise. If the price does drop for us, we have to be careful because we may lose our OBC promotion which is $100 each therefore, the price has to drop by $200 to make it worth while. The way things are going, I don’t expect a price drop. An increase will be more likely. 
Funny, 15 years ago our CVP from Princess will call us and ask us would you like to me to adjust the cruise cost. Those days are long gone now. 

Check now, my Med. Cruise for June 2024 just went down by $100.

[rmsmith]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:05 PM, ldtr said:

Its not the grill and slice on 9.  It is Alfredos and the IC.

 

There are two unmarked areas on the deck plane that could be the grill and slice on Lido.

and i see they updated the deck plans.  slide, tacos, grill, greens and of course a bar up on the lido deck.  I see the normal waistline expansion will carry forward!

[DHP1]

16 hours ago, rmsmith said:

and i see they updated the deck plans.  slide, tacos, grill, greens and of course a bar up on the lido deck.  I see the normal waistline expansion will carry forward!

Slide should read Slice. 😀

 

[Jadn13]

2 hours ago, DHP1 said:

Slide should read Slice. 😀

 

Ha! I thought, A slide..Really?!

Thanks for the clarification.

Booked the Sun for 19 days in March/April  After taking the Sky TA over to Southhampton staying in England then jumping a flight 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Jadn13

[Lady Arwen]

Well,  I’m the OP of this thread and we have now cancelled the cruise and booked a TA with another cruiseline.  We just feel it’s not a good fit for us right now and 16 days is very long if you’re not completely satisfied.  I want to thank everyone who voiced their opinions, both for and against,  it certainly factored into our decision.

 

I sincerely hope everyone who sails on Sun has a wonderful time and gets back to us with your review.  

[DHP1]

1 hour ago, Lady Arwen said:

Well,  I’m the OP of this thread and we have now cancelled the cruise and booked a TA with another cruiseline.  We just feel it’s not a good fit for us right now and 16 days is very long if you’re not completely satisfied.  I want to thank everyone who voiced their opinions, both for and against,  it certainly factored into our decision.

 

I sincerely hope everyone who sails on Sun has a wonderful time and gets back to us with your review.  

😢  

[Suite Susie]

On 1/27/2023 at 2:07 PM, Geoffa30 said:

We’re also on the TA. Looking forward to our first suite experience as we’ve booked a Penthouse Suite. Our first TA too hence why we’ve booked the suite as, with the number of sea days, wanted somewhere to relax away from the crowds. Will be interesting to see whether Princess ups the ante on their suite offering especially around the food in the Signature dining room. Here’s hoping it’s not just the same menu as the MDR 🤣 We’ll be keeping an eye on the reviews of earlier cruises to ensure it’s worth the money before paying the final balance.

We have also booked  a Penthouse Suite, but on a different sailing to you. Love the look of the ship and its design. We too are interested to see what the menus will be like in the Signature Restaurant. We only have one sailing under our belt with Princess - had one of Sky Suites and obviously had a fabulous time. However we were very underwhelmed with the Club Class dining in the main restaurant, so hope it is better than this. Will be reading all the reviews with great interest when she sails next year. 

[Suite Susie]

On 1/27/2023 at 3:22 PM, ldtr said:

buffet on deck 9, IC and Pizza next to buffet, stern viewing space part of new class system. No thanks.

 

If I wanted to sail on a ship with a class system I would be on Celebrity.

 

Going on P&O Iona. Same ship platform, more traditional layout, no class system. The layout is more what the Sun should have been.

 

Your choice I know, but be aware that Iona has 900 more passengers on the same footprint, so will be more crowded in the public areas. Also their drink package is awful.  Have a fab cruise on Iona, she certainly looks beautiful and let us know how it compares to Princess. 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Suite Susie
Re wrote

[Guest ldtr]

6 minutes ago, Suite Susie said:

Your choice I know, but Iona has 900 more passengers on the same footprint, so will be more crowded in the public areas. Also their drink package is awful. Having a class system on a ship should not impact your cruise in any way. Have a great time though, we are all different in what we want from our cruises. 

It did one Celebrity when they went that route with formerly public lounge converted to private. The spacing in the dining rooms got much tighter when they took portions of the MDR for the other dining room.

 

On the Sun the formerly public viewing areas are now private.  The buffet area on Lido is now suites taking away what is a nice inside area for viewing and shoving it down to the much lower deck 9.

 

So yes it does impact. Some cruise lines do it better. When NCL did Haven it added the space on top minimizing the impact. Celebrity for example did impact. Princess seems to be even more intrusive with the design of the Sun.

[hokiefans]

On 1/27/2023 at 7:52 AM, Jemnibabe said:

It's a new experience, something new to explore, a new adventure, what's not to love?  Maybe you shouldn't go into it trying to compare it to past ships, etc but look at it as a brand new experience.  I have been booked on this cruise and can hardly wait for something new.

Looking forward to seeing you again!