Sun Princess Signature suite questions answered!

[FLAlaska]

1 hour ago, Hobby3333 said:

Not funny but kinda funny.  My wife is on the Shots and when we sailed HAL the servers kept asking if she didn’t enjoy her meal because she left most on her plate.   Not to worry, I made up the difference!

I’m a bariatric patient and never finish a meal. I always hate going to restaurants for that same reason…did you not like it? Do you want something different? I know they are tying to be nice but I hate having to repeat myself all the time lol.  

[Hobby3333]

59 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

I let them know the first day that I wouldn’t be finishing my plate and not to be concerned. I never had dessert either and they push those hard!!  (I actually lost weight on this cruise!!  Woo hoo!)

My ideal weight for me is 196.  Before I go on a cruise I try to to get down to 192. That way when I gain my 6 lbs on the cruise I only have to lose 2 lbs after the cruise.   Do I make this more complicated than it should be?  Might try to find the gym this time on the Sun.  I lied 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Seems like a good time to talk about the Signature Restaurant.

 

Again, I went into this cruise we high hopes and low expectations.  When I heard that this special restaurant was going to have the same menu as the main dining room, I was more than a little disappointed.  I love Luminae on Celebrity and was looking for the same thing. But I was pleasantly surprised!

 

We don't eat dinner until 8pm so all my experience will be from that timeframe.  I have no idea what it's like earlier.  We never had to wait for a table and sometimes we even got a seat next to the window.  The place was never more than half full so we didn't have to sit next to other people.  The tables are pretty close together so "next to" sometimes means "with".  🙂  

 

The decor is sparse to say is nicely.  In fact the entire ship feels under-decorated.  Where Celebrity has art (and some pretty strange stuff at that!) all over the place, this ship is lacking some better color and design.  I would even call the Signature Restaurant plain.  There is the glass piece in the center of the room but the rest is white on white on white.  And while most of the room is warmly lit, the tables at the back wall have way too many lights and it's unpleasant to sit there.  We were put there the first night and nicely refused to sit there again.

 

The wait staff was wonderful!  The past 3 or 4 Princess cruises, the wait staff didn't know how to course things.  We would get our appetizers before the wine  was even delivered and then the main dish would come out while we still had our appetizer wine.  We would have to direct them throughout the entire meal.  Not this cruise.  It was exactly as it should be.  We were sat and given our menu.  Then sommelier would come over and "talk us into" a glass of champagne. Once we decided what we wanted the sommelier would come over and discuss the wine pairing.  We would then order from the waiter.  The right wine would come with the right course and everything was timed perfectly.  The wait staff would offer suggestions and would realize early in the cruise our likes and dislikes.  I almost always choose the fish dish for my main and never eat cow.  After a few days they stopped suggesting the beef option to me even though they would for my husband.

 

And the food was definitely a step up from the main dining room fare that we are used to.  The escargot tasting a lot better and more refined than in the past.  I've already mentioned it on this thread but I will repeat it.  The kitchen for the Signature and Reserve dining rooms is the same.  And while they have the same menu as the main dining room, there are some additional items and it's all prepared just a little different.  It's also made to order so you can make some substitutions.  The last night they had a pasta dish with shrimp on it.  Since there was already a scallop dish on the menu, I asked if they could swap out the shrimp and replace it with scallops.  They said it was no problem at all and you could tell that the scallops were not just taken off the other dish and added to mine.  They were cooked separately and incorporated into the dish as if that was the chef's intent all along.  It was the best pasta dish I have had in any of my 45 cruises, including specialty restaurants.  I raved about it for days!  

 

We tried not to eat desserts on this cruise but my husband buckled a couple of times.  Of course the waiter brought me a spoon and one night I did take a bite and it was delicious!!  They were also good with our coffee course making sure the husband had decaf every night.  We joked that we would find their cabin in the middle of the night if it wasn't decaf as my husband would be up all night, but they got it right every time.  Limoncello also made it to our table a few evenings as a gift from the sommelier.

 

I will say that we had the Plus package and we ended up drinking "not included" wines most nights.  I wouldn't say that the sommelier pushed the more expensive wines but he did learn our taste and usually suggested wines out of our package.  We did try a few covered by Plus and didn't really like them.  I would say that it is more Princess' fault than the sommelier's but we did notice it.  And we really weren't going to let a $3 charge ruin our fantastic dining experience but I know it would bother others.

 

My biggest negative of the entire cruise is the Atrium.  I know Princess is moving towards that place being the center hub of the ship and that's fine.  Not what we like but there are other places we can go.  But the problem is that it is really really loud!  Crooners is useless because it's open to the atrium so while there IS a piano there, there was hardly ever someone playing it.  The atrium is non stop from morning until late at night.  And loud!

 

The reason I bring this up is that the Signature Restaurant is right off the atrium.  But they keep the doors closed and you can't hear anything in the restaurant.  Although when people come in or go out, you can hear it but it's not for long.  

 

Overall, it was a wonderful experience each night.  We ate there every night except when we went to Spellbound and Teppanyaki and the one day in Mykonos where we ate too much on land and were still full at dinner!  🙂 As I said, we never went there for breakfast so I can't answer the breakfast questions.  I also forgot to ask if we could eat in the Reserve restaurant.  My apologies.  

Speaking of the Reserve Collection restaurant, there seemed to always be a little bit of a wait for a table.  We would go to the Wheelhouse bar at 7pm for our pre-dinner cocktail and would end up chatting with people waiting for their table.  Not sure if more of the Reserve folks eat later or the restaurant just isn't big enough to handle everyone.  It was not usually a long wait but we never had that problem at the Signature restaurant.

 

Next topic:  Signature Sun Deck (tomorrow)

[dides]

15 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

 We would go to the Wheelhouse bar at 7pm for our pre-dinner cocktail and would end up chatting with people waiting for their table.  Not sure if more of the Reserve folks eat later or the restaurant just isn't big enough to handle everyone.  It was not usually a long wait but we never had that problem at the Signature restaurant.

Was it an annoyance that the Signature Restaurant wasn't part of the suite area? It does seem strange that you have to walk half of the ship to get to it, and the Reserve Cabana passengers have to walk half the ship in the other direction to get to their restaurant.

 

I think you have answered my question on your recommended method of getting there - down to 7 to the Wheelhouse and then past the shops towards the Piazza,  with the other decks being quite awkward. 

 

Also, did the mysterious missing carving trolley ever turn up? 

 

Edited April 20 by dides

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We seriously only spent time in the suite lounge, the suite sundeck and the suite restaurant except for Spellbound, Teppanyaki and The Wheelhouse so it was actually nice to walk around the ship a little bit!  Didn’t bother us at all!  😜

 

And yes, we would walk to the aft elevator bank (not to be confused with the glass elevator at the back of the ship), get off on 7 and walk forward to the atrium. Just be aware that the aft elevator bank opens up to the main dining room waiting line and deck 7 can be a madhouse, especially the first few nights because everyone doesn’t know where to go. The traditional seating diners don’t know that they have to go to 6 and the only way to get there is that aft elevator/stairs. It was a mad house the first few days at 7pm. 
 

The prime rib cart has not made it to the ship yet. 

[dides]

2 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

 Crooners is useless because it's open to the atrium so while there IS a piano there, there was hardly ever someone playing it.  The atrium is non stop from morning until late at night.  And loud!

With Crooners in mind, do you know if you also get an invite to the Elite Lounge as a suite guest? You may be Elite or Platinum anyway of course!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We haven’t gone to the Elite lounge in years. There was no mention of it in the suite documents but I think I remember reading about it in our Elite notice. With the Suite lounge there is no need for the skimpy Elite lounge. It’s too early for our evening plans anyway.  5-7pm?  We don’t even start getting ready until at least 6:00. 

[dides]

1 minute ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

We haven’t gone to the Elite lounge in years. There was no mention of it in the suite documents but I think I remember reading about it in our Elite notice. With the Suite lounge there is no need for the skimpy Elite lounge. It’s too early for our evening plans anyway.  5-7pm?  We don’t even start getting ready until at least 6:00. 

Fair enough. We only went once to try out their new cocktails and it said it was a Captain's Circle event so was unsure about suite guests. And the timing for us at the start of April was 3:30pm to 5pm - barely a pre-dinner event!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We haven’t been to the Captain’s Circle event in years either. 

[shirazcruiser]

20 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

We seriously only spent time in the suite lounge, the suite sundeck and the suite restaurant except for Spellbound, Teppanyaki 😜

 

Thank you for the review! We're booked on a 21 day in May 2025 in an Owners Suite and I appreciate the info to share with DH (who is thinking about cancelling😝...over my dead body!). Did you enjoy the Teppanyaki and Spellbound? Is the cost of Spellbound $149 pp and I read that they have a cocktail/formal dress code?  After almost 50 cruises, we're done with formal attire. Thanks for any info.

[whitcruising]

Thank you for your time explaining the details! We are in a Sky Suite to celebrate our daughter's high school graduation so I love that the hosts mentioned the outstanding service and that your suite experience was incredible. We have only sailed Princess one other time and it was 15 years ago. We've probably only been on 8 cruises with 4 of those being with Disney. Looking forward to your continued reviews! Btw, we've also booked Spellbound. Can't wait and thanks again!

[keldaria]

7 hours ago, whitcruising said:

Thank you for your time explaining the details! We are in a Sky Suite to celebrate our daughter's high school graduation so I love that the hosts mentioned the outstanding service and that your suite experience was incredible. We have only sailed Princess one other time and it was 15 years ago. We've probably only been on 8 cruises with 4 of those being with Disney. Looking forward to your continued reviews! Btw, we've also booked Spellbound. Can't wait and thanks again!

Same, we’re booked in a Sky Suite next April and this thread has been most encouraging and helpful. I extremely appreciate the great details and information being shared here. Still lots of planning and learning to do for my trip but with the sky suite being a huge piece of the expense I’m happy to be reassured it appears to be a good investment based on what I’m hearing.

 

The only thing I’m slightly concerned about is that we won’t be able to go back to more budget friendly trips after our once in a lifetime splurge vacation is done. 

[whitcruising]

36 minutes ago, keldaria said:

 

The only thing I’m slightly concerned about is that we won’t be able to go back to more budget friendly trips after our once in a lifetime splurge vacation is done. 

Same! This is very much a splurge for us:) 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Next Topic:   Signature Sun Deck  (Part 1)

 

I need to start this by saying that we had great weather, but I don’t think my experience is anything like what it will be when the ship moves to the Caribbean.  This area was not very crowded the entire cruise.  There were only about a dozen couples that used it on a regular basis.

 

With that said, I feel like this area is more like the Retreat Sun Deck on the Celebrity ships (for suites only) and should not be looked at like the Sanctuary on other Princess ships.  But fret not, there are SO many different places to lounge about on this ship that I don’t think people will need this space to get away from the crowds and the noise. 

 

And as in the other suite areas, the service was outstanding.  As soon as you entered the space there was someone coming up to greet you and address you by name.  They have machines that recognize your medallion.  People have a fear that because those aft glass elevators open up right in the Suite section that people will “sneak in”.  There is no fear of that!  They are on you as soon as that elevator opens asking what you need and where you want to sit.  I even heard them ask one couple to leave who just came in to take pictures.  They wouldn’t allow them to. (It wasn’t the first day but towards the end of the cruise).  So they are on top of it.

 

Once you pick a lounger, they cover it in towels so you are laying on that and not the cushion itself.  They also give you a rolled up towel for your head.  They then inquire about a cocktail or flavored water or even coffee drinks if it’s early or a little cold out.  And yes, there is a full bar with bar stools.  You can sit and have a drink or have one of the staff go and get one for you.  I know that drinks in the suite lounge don’t count towards your drink package maximum, but I think the ones in the Sun Deck do.

 

At lunch time, they are right there with the bento box menu if you don’t want to leave the area.  I’ll post a picture of the menu as well.  And while I didn’t ask, I guess you could mix and match items from different themed boxes, but most likely they will just bring you both!  They did not offer to go get you other menu items such as burgers or pizza as some do in the Sanctuary, but we always use that as an excuse to get up and walk around a bit anyway.

 

 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Next Topic:   Signature Sun Deck  (Part 2)

 

I am very happy to report that the pool is over 5 feet deep as opposed to the 3 foot “bathtub” Retreat Pool located in the adults only section of the Royal class ships.  We could actually swim and do other activities as in other “real” pools.  Unfortunately, there is only a ladder to get in and out and it will be difficult for some people to do so.  Definitely a design flaw there.  It was hard for me to get out so I’m not sure how some older folks will manage.

 

Let’s talk about the biggest flaw.  There are absolutely no loungers in the shade except for a couple of oversized, 2 person, circular “beds” under the roof at the aft by flavored water.  Even the $499 for a day cabanas have no roof where the loungers are!  You could pull them back into the TV/Couch area, but doesn’t that defeat part of the purpose of the cabana?  Every other lounger is in the sun most of the time.  And a lot of us did NOT want sun.  There is minimal shade cast from the center building and the radar balls on top but that is constantly changing and only covers a few loungers at a time.  Because there were so many open loungers, we all kept moving our loungers as the shade moved on the deck.  And when we did, the poor attendants kept taking the towels off our old loungers and re-wrapping them on our new one!  There are some soft chairs in the shade depending on where the sun is but we were not able to  lounge with our legs stretched out.    I asked if they were going to bring umbrellas in for the Caribbean season and they said no, that this was the intent. 

 

We didn’t technically reserve chairs as you do in the other Sanctuary spaces either.  We just sat down where we wanted and that was our lounger as long as we wanted.  If we left for lunch or something, we just told them we would be back and we left some stuff on it.  Again, not sure how it will work in the Caribbean.  Not sure that anyone paid to come to this section and as I said, I don’t think you need to.  The cabanas are first come first serve (regardless of suite status or not) but you can make reservations for future days in advance.  Again, we only saw one or two of them being used at any time during the cruise.

Getting to the Sanctuary is complicated as is navigating some other parts of the ship.  Aside from the back glass elevators you have to use aft elevator bank.   There is no way to get to the entrance the sanctuary on deck 18 itself other than the aft stairs/elevatior.  Just as with deck six there is no way to get from the front of the ship to the back staying on deck 18.  I am not sure if it was a conscious decision to avoid “walk ins” but you would never stumble across the area on a casual stroll.  On both sides of the ship on deck 18, there ARE glass doors that separate the Sanctuary loungers from the “common area” but they weren’t working at the time.  I assume that our suite medallion would open it up such as the Retreat doors use our suite cruise card on Celebrity.

 

I did ask, and regardless of staying in a suite, no kids under the age of 16 are allowed in the Sanctuary.  One kid did come in to talk to his parents, but he was escorted in and escorted out by his dad.  He only stayed a little while.  The staff was very friendly to him.  They joked around with him and got him a soda but the parents obviously knew the rules. 

 

As I said, this isn’t the normal Sanctuary.  There is no afternoon tea.  There is no seating chart.  Non-suite folks need to pay $90 for access for a day.  It really is a separate sun deck for suite passengers.

 

And note that all of the above was for the entire Sanctuary area and not just the Signature designated area.  Again, there weren’t many of us so it was just one big Suite Sun Deck in my opinion.

 

(I will be going back and reviewing the thread again, to see if I missed any questions.  I know there are a few that came in later that i didn't answer yet so I will get to them.)

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Signature Sun Deck menu:

 

[c-boy]

42 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Next Topic:   Signature Sun Deck  (Part 1)

 

I need to start this by saying that we had great weather, but I don’t think my experience is anything like what it will be when the ship moves to the Caribbean.  This area was not very crowded the entire cruise.  There were only about a dozen couples that used it on a regular basis.

 

With that said, I feel like this area is more like the Retreat Sun Deck on the Celebrity ships (for suites only) and should not be looked at like the Sanctuary on other Princess ships.  But fret not, there are SO many different places to lounge about on this ship that I don’t think people will need this space to get away from the crowds and the noise. 

 

And as in the other suite areas, the service was outstanding.  As soon as you entered the space there was someone coming up to greet you and address you by name.  They have machines that recognize your medallion.  People have a fear that because those aft glass elevators open up right in the Suite section that people will “sneak in”.  There is no fear of that!  They are on you as soon as that elevator opens asking what you need and where you want to sit.  I even heard them ask one couple to leave who just came in to take pictures.  They wouldn’t allow them to. (It wasn’t the first day but towards the end of the cruise).  So they are on top of it.

 

Once you pick a lounger, they cover it in towels so you are laying on that and not the cushion itself.  They also give you a rolled up towel for your head.  They then inquire about a cocktail or flavored water or even coffee drinks if it’s early or a little cold out.  And yes, there is a full bar with bar stools.  You can sit and have a drink or have one of the staff go and get one for you.  I know that drinks in the suite lounge don’t count towards your drink package maximum, but I think the ones in the Sun Deck do.

 

At lunch time, they are right there with the bento box menu if you don’t want to leave the area.  I’ll post a picture of the menu as well.  And while I didn’t ask, I guess you could mix and match items from different themed boxes, but most likely they will just bring you both!  They did not offer to go get you other menu items such as burgers or pizza as some do in the Sanctuary, but we always use that as an excuse to get up and walk around a bit anyway.

 

 

 

 Good to read ..

"They are on you as soon as that elevator opens asking what you need and where you want to sit.  I even heard them ask one couple to leave who just came in to take pictures.  They wouldn’t allow them to. (It wasn’t the first day but towards the end of the cruise).  So they are on top of it."

[oteixeira]

So this sounds less and less like ship within a ship.  You are telling me anyone onboard can go to the suite sun deck by simply paying a fee for a day or week?  Just trying to understand as this is a new concept and of course I have not sailed Princess in a long time (and not in a suite).

[Nikkibird]

54 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Signature Sun Deck menu:

 

Thank you so much for your thorough review. We are really enjoying it.

So the menu doesn't thrill me. Can you use the OceanNow app and get something delivered to you there?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, Nikkibird said:

Thank you so much for your thorough review. We are really enjoying it.

So the menu doesn't thrill me. Can you use the OceanNow app and get something delivered to you there?

Absolutely!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

25 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

So this sounds less and less like ship within a ship.  You are telling me anyone onboard can go to the suite sun deck by simply paying a fee for a day or week?  Just trying to understand as this is a new concept and of course I have not sailed Princess in a long time (and not in a suite).

It’s actually the reverse for a lot of people. The Sanctuary on other ships is an adults only quiet place. Not for suites. When the Sun Princess news first came out they had the Sanctuary plus an area in there that was for suites only. So there is truly a ship within a ship concept buts it’s very small. The overflow goes to the Sanctuary. But now the Sanctuary isn’t like the Sanctuary on other ships and cost twice as much. So think of it as a suite sun deck plus other folks can buy in at $100 a day. Not many people will. The non suite designated area is very large so it can accommodate all suite guests plus those that what to buy in. Suite guests won’t notice a difference. But those expecting the old Sanctuary are a little upset. Some of the loungers don’t even have padding.

Edited April 22 by Sox Fan Cruiser

[azbirdmom]

Thinking this must have something to do with suites.  It's another webinar this Thursday and it looks like everyone is invited.  And apparently there will be something new announced tomorrow too.

 

[oteixeira]

24 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

It’s actually the reverse for a lot of people. The Sanctuary on other ships is an adults only quiet place. Not for suites. When the Sun Princess news first came out they had the Sanctuary plus an area in there that was for suites only. So there is truly a ship within a ship concept buts it’s very small. The overflow goes to the Sanctuary. But now the Sanctuary isn’t like the Sanctuary on other ships and cost twice as much. So think of it as a suite sun deck plus other folks can buy in at $100 a day. Not many people will. The non suite designated area is very large so it can accommodate all suite guests plus those that what to buy in. Suite guests won’t notice a difference. But those expecting the old Sanctuary are a little upset. Some of the loungers don’t even have padding.

I hope this is true in the Caribbean. (That not many will buy it) I know on NCL they get $250 for the adult only vibe area and it is sold out on every ship every sailing (but that is for the week).  Thanks for all the info you have shared.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

58 minutes ago, azbirdmom said:

Thinking this must have something to do with suites.  It's another webinar this Thursday and it looks like everyone is invited.  And apparently there will be something new announced tomorrow too.

 

Very interested!!  Let us know what they say. 

[CalTexCruiser]

thanks for the detailed report @Sox Fan Cruiser.  Very much appreciated.

 

One question regarding the suite lounge...are alcoholic beverages available all day in the lounge.  If so, that would be unlike the concierge lounge on the Royal Class ships where free alcohol is available only during happy hour (5-7pm).

 

If free alcoholic beverages are available all day in the suite lounge, then there would less of a reason for folks in a suite to buy a Premium Plus/Premier package.