Princess Sun ship

[beshears]

I understand the Princess Sun is a brand new ship. If you have been on this ship within this year, would you mind giving me YOUR pros/cons of this ship? We cruised on Princess earlier this year and were very happy with it, and this ship is much larger than what we were on before. Since this ship has more people, did that seem to cause any issues? If you did have some issues, what were they with this ship? I am asking, as there are 6 or 7 that are to go with me, so I try to get ALL of this information ahead of time.

[beg3yrs]

There are lots of existing and recent threads on the Sun Princess. There's even a current "Live From" thread. You are likely to get a lot more information from what's already written. Take a look.

[beshears]

beg3years, thanks for letting me know. I tried looking on the Princess board, but did not find much, but I will look again.

[Mud_Shark]

But it would be interesting to see - do people prefer the Sun over the Royal class?

 

When we first started cruising, the Royal had just come out.  We cruised on any ship - (itinerary over ship) but loved the Royal class.  Over time, our booking preference shifted and we tend to avoid the older class in preference for Royal class now. 

 

I wonder if people will begin to feel like that about the Sun class over the Royal class?  If you have sailed Sun - do you feel it is better than Royal class?  How much better - enough that you would now seek to book Sun class only?

 

We are booked on the Sun for January, and the Star for Oct 2025.

[beshears]

If you do the Sun in January, I hope to read/see your feedback on the ship too. We may do it the latter part of February.

[jennybenny]

@Mud_Shark We LOVE the Royal class ships. Going on the Sun in August. I'm curious how we will like it.However, we've never have a bad cruise, so there is that...

[LittleTinker]

Pros

Its all new and sparkly.

It doesn't feel crowded

The Eatery food isn't bad

WiFi works great

The medallion tech is great

The cabins are nice

Lifts are good

 

Cons

Entertainment is lacking

Not enough seats in most of the venues

Too many 'pay extra' places that generally aren't worth it

Smoking in the casino stinks

Wake View Bar area can't be walked on in bare feet when it's hot

Swimming pools are not good enough or big enough

It's too big

Slow service

Running out of items

Shops are lacking

Park 19 not open

No Prom deck

 

I'm sure there are more pros and cons but I'm tired and can't think  lol

 

 

 

 

[beg3yrs]

7 hours ago, LittleTinker said:

Pros

Its all new and sparkly.

It doesn't feel crowded

The Eatery food isn't bad

WiFi works great

The medallion tech is great

The cabins are nice

Lifts are good

 

Cons

Entertainment is lacking

Not enough seats in most of the venues

Too many 'pay extra' places that generally aren't worth it

Smoking in the casino stinks

Wake View Bar area can't be walked on in bare feet when it's hot

Swimming pools are not good enough or big enough

It's too big

Slow service

Running out of items

Shops are lacking

Park 19 not open

No Prom deck

 

I'm sure there are more pros and cons but I'm tired and can't think  lol

 

 

 

 

Agree with most of @LittleTinker comments with some additional comments of my own:

 

I really like the availability of electrical outlets and bedside USB-A and USB-C ports in our cabin. Our multi-tap "octopus" is relegated back into a suitcase.

 

A word of warning, if you're in an "accessible" cabin the bed is too low for suitcase storage. However, with the extra width, there's plenty of space between the desk and wardrobe cabinet to keep your bags. I do not know if this is true for the non-accessible cabins.

 

Pillows are very soft and no other option is available.

 

The automatic night light is still just as obnoxious (personal opinion here) so rather than tape it, I use the extra pillow to block it.

 

Lifts are a big improvement over the old style "elevator roulette" system as you now make your floor request from the elevator lobby and get an elevator assigned to you. I did notice the software update (I won't call it an upgrade) where you could now select your floor from inside the car has disappeared.

 

Entertainment, i.e. production shows, is improving. One show was added last week for a total of three and a fourth show is being prepared. Also, the acrobats are great! Do not miss them.

 

Venues like the dome and arena do seem a bit smaller than I expected for a ship with more passengers than the Royal class. Crooners is larger but O'Malley's is too small for the crowd it draws. Wheelhouse Bar is now the kind of a place where you stop on the way somewhere else, it's not a destination in itself, i.e. there's no entertainment there. Good Spirits is out of the way and smaller too.

 

Sightlines on decks 8 and 9 in the Piazza are pretty bad for observing events happening on deck 7. I believe someone didn't check this during design or it was a problem they couldn't easily solve. I've suggested they use a camera to display the Piazza activities on the large LED screen.

 

Casino smoking, while IMHO is always bad, is better than on other Princess casinos. Seems the air handling is much improved there.

 

Yes, the shops are smaller with more emphasis on higher-end items. Effy has been replaced by Diamonds International. DI has a wider selection of lower-priced items than Effy and the sales tactics are much more subdued.

 

While there is a Promenade deck, it isn't a walking deck. Rather it's now a place where you can dine al fresco or just sit at a table and enjoy the outdoors. I like it.

 

The walking/joggng track on deck 19 is actually smaller than the Royal class. According to my measurements (GPS tracker while in port), it's 8 times around for a mile versus 7 times on the Royal class. This is not (yet) posted anywhere on the deck.

 

Service speed is definitely hit and miss. In the morning the IC is very busy but I find it amazing how quickly the team can get orders out. It's a well-oiled machine. However in the afternoon the reduced staff level can make your wait longer.

 

The ship is big and at first I thought that would be a problem. We didn't even see the Dome until our second week on board. I've gotten used to a few longer trips (we're in a cabin at the stern) and my Health app is very happy as I'm getting in my steps!

[Jadn13]

Not a fan of the ship.
The layout is like an obstacle course. 
On other ships it’s easy to just stumble across a fun event or music but on the Sun everything is very spread out. 

Not a fan of the eatery at all, food was very repetitive.

I did not like the placement of the IC, outside the eatery.

The piazza seating in theory was a good idea but it was poorly executed. 
 

The ship is New and shiny and I enjoyed the cabin layout but I’d rather sail on the Enchanted or Sky. 

 

[Essiesmom]

20 hours ago, beshears said:

beg3years, thanks for letting me know. I tried looking on the Princess board, but did not find much, but I will look again.

There is a feature of CC that apparently many members have not discovered, although it has been here for years.

  At the top of the cruise line page is the option to ‘See posts about’ and then Select ship, which produces a dropdown menu.  Select your ship and you will get a page of threads about that ship.  (First picture)

 in fact, you do not even have to go into the cruise line forum to see this feature(second pic)

 

[KKB]

On 6/9/2024 at 7:59 PM, beshears said:

I understand the Princess Sun is a brand new ship. If you have been on this ship within this year, would you mind giving me YOUR pros/cons of this ship? We cruised on Princess earlier this year and were very happy with it, and this ship is much larger than what we were on before. Since this ship has more people, did that seem to cause any issues? If you did have some issues, what were they with this ship? I am asking, as there are 6 or 7 that are to go with me, so I try to get ALL of this information ahead of time.

SIL & BIL were on the Sun last week.

She loved how new it is, said the music played throughout the ship was great.

I will see them tonight & ask them for more detail & report back.

18 hours ago, LittleTinker said:

 

Cons

Entertainment is lacking

Not enough seats in most of the venues

Too many 'pay extra' places that generally aren't worth it

Smoking in the casino stinks

Wake View Bar area can't be walked on in bare feet when it's hot

Swimming pools are not good enough or big enough

It's too big

Slow service

Running out of items

Shops are lacking

Park 19 not open

No Prom deck

 

I'm sure there are more pros and cons but I'm tired and can't think  lol

 

I find several of these things Princess issues & not Sun issues--particularly lacking production shows, smoky casinos & running out of things.

Slow service--everywhere? All the time?

Lack of seating--we find this in various venues at various times on all ships when fairly full

Most of the other things don't affect me.

[KKB]

some recent/ongoing reviews:

 

[dides]

8 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

The layout is like an obstacle course. 
On other ships it’s easy to just stumble across a fun event or music but on the Sun everything is very spread out. 

Not a fan of the eatery at all, food was very repetitive.

I did not like the placement of the IC, outside the eatery.

The piazza seating in theory was a good idea but it was poorly executed. i 

Agree these are some of the disadvantages of sailing on Sun Princess but we loved some of the new outside spaces like the Sea View Terrace, The Promenade for casual dining and the service in The Sanctuary.  Above all, we really enjoyed the new beverage menus with almost 200 new cocktails to try (and Spellbound cocktails were amazing!) BUT more drinks seem to appear in the Premium bracket on Sun Princess. 

 

 

Edited June 12 by dides

[cheezenip]

11 hours ago, Jadn13 said:

Not a fan of the eatery at all, food was very repetitive

The Sun Princess Eatery (aka buffet) intentionally does not change their selections (except for the meat carvings and desserts); thus what you see at lunch will be the same ALL week and the same goes for dinner. Corporate management is watching to see how many people notice and actually complain. If you object to this “new concept” (quote from the managers manning the Eatery), speak up in your post survey and tell the managers on the ship to pass your complaint up the chain of command. If not enough people complain, this will be permanent!!

[Esprit]

12 hours ago, cheezenip said:

The Sun Princess Eatery (aka buffet) intentionally does not change their selections (except for the meat carvings and desserts); thus what you see at lunch will be the same ALL week and the same goes for dinner. Corporate management is watching to see how many people notice and actually complain. If you object to this “new concept” (quote from the managers manning the Eatery), speak up in your post survey and tell the managers on the ship to pass your complaint up the chain of command. If not enough people complain, this will be permanent!!

I certainly wont be complaining after my time on the Sun this August. I can never understand the attraction of buffets, but then I'm not a big eater and can't stand lukewarm food.

[cheezenip]

4 hours ago, Esprit said:

I can never understand the attraction of buffets, but then I'm not a big eater and can't stand lukewarm food.

I think you just answered your own question.

[LittleTinker]

4 hours ago, Esprit said:

I certainly wont be complaining after my time on the Sun this August. I can never understand the attraction of buffets, but then I'm not a big eater and can't stand lukewarm food.

I didn't mind the Eatery's selection.

Yes....there were the same options everyday more or less  but I think you could have a different meal every day for 20 or so days. Noone eats everything every day.

 

What annoyed me the most about the Eatery was food going cold. I maybe want lasagne and some chips   (example)   the lasagne is served in one spot and the chips are right round the other side and I might have to queue again.

Not to mention the plates are not warm to start with as they don't use plate warmers.

Cold dinner by the time I get back to my table

 

The plates are nice but are rough stone and make a terrible noise when scrapped  lol

[cheezenip]

25 minutes ago, LittleTinker said:

What annoyed me the most about the Eatery was food going cold. I maybe want lasagne and some chips   (example)   the lasagne is served in one spot and the chips are right round the other side and I might have to queue again.

Not to mention the plates are not warm to start with as they don't use plate warmers.

Cold dinner by the time I get back to my table

 

The plates are nice but are rough stone and make a terrible noise when scrapped  lol

Great points. Be sure to make these observations known to management. If people don't express areas of improvement, management will think everything is fine. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, cheezenip said:

Great points. Be sure to make these observations known to management. If people don't express areas of improvement, management will think everything is fine. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Put some microwave ovens available for guests to use themselves in the Eatery.

Its not rocket science and not expensive either.

[happy42cruise]

14 hours ago, Esprit said:

Put some microwave ovens available for guests to use themselves in the Eatery.

Its not rocket science and not expensive either.

But there are issues with people over heating, not covering so things explode & get all over the inside so the next person won't use it or the crew has to supervise usage and clean-up a mess, people put metal in, etc!

[555]

On 6/12/2024 at 8:02 AM, Jadn13 said:

Not a fan of the ship.
The layout is like an obstacle course. 
On other ships it’s easy to just stumble across a fun event or music but on the Sun everything is very spread out. 

Not a fan of the eatery at all, food was very repetitive.

I did not like the placement of the IC, outside the eatery.

The piazza seating in theory was a good idea but it was poorly executed. 
 

The ship is New and shiny and I enjoyed the cabin layout but I’d rather sail on the Enchanted or Sky. 

 

We haven't sailed on the Sun yet but from what I'm reading & your post I'm beginning to think the layout of the Sun leaves me wanting to return to any Royal class ship. 

I'll reserve my final opinion after our initial cruise.

[beg3yrs]

16 hours ago, 555 said:

We haven't sailed on the Sun yet but from what I'm reading & your post I'm beginning to think the layout of the Sun leaves me wanting to return to any Royal class ship. 

I'll reserve my final opinion after our initial cruise.

I found one thing in common with the other classes! Deck 6 is blocked by the galley starting at midships and somewhat aft of that. To go aft you must take deck seven and can then go back down to 6.

[LittleTinker]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

I found one thing in common with the other classes! Deck 6 is blocked by the galley starting at midships and somewhat aft of that. To go aft you must take deck seven and can then go back down to 6.

Same situation when coming out of the lifts on deck 5 and having to walk all the way round because of the lotus spa and no door on one side.

 

And all filing past cabins on deck 11 to get to the Eatery is crazy too

[ISABELLA]

On 6/11/2024 at 6:12 PM, LittleTinker said:

Pros

Its all new and sparkly.

It doesn't feel crowded

The Eatery food isn't bad

WiFi works great

The medallion tech is great

The cabins are nice

Lifts are good

 

Cons

Entertainment is lacking

Not enough seats in most of the venues

Too many 'pay extra' places that generally aren't worth it

Smoking in the casino stinks

Wake View Bar area can't be walked on in bare feet when it's hot

Swimming pools are not good enough or big enough

It's too big

Slow service

Running out of items

Shops are lacking

Park 19 not open

No Prom deck

 

I'm sure there are more pros and cons but I'm tired and can't think  lol

 

 

 

 

We were on Sun for 14 days 2 weeks ago. We have not sailed on Royal class. Our last Princess was over 15 years ago.

Agree with all above. Just to add:

Decor is not atractive. 

Food is served luke warm in many occasions in MDR and Eatery.

Coffee still bad

No actual beverage stations in Eatery ( tables with hot water and pre-maid coffee dispensers), no trash cans to throw tea bags.

No fancy teas, lemons. Have to go and search for honey.

Theater is very small for the size of the ship.

Pool areas will be crowded in the Caribbean.

Dome was a nice place.

Staff in some areas needs to be more trained.

[555]

1 hour ago, ISABELLA said:

No actual beverage stations in Eatery ( tables with hot water and pre-maid coffee dispensers), no trash cans to throw tea bags.

I could have sworn that I saw pictures of self serve coffee & tea stations set up quite a while ago.

Maybe they've removed them?