Sun Princess - Why such negative reviews?

[commodoredave]

Just be grateful you are not on the current Sun Princess cruise from Barcelona to Southampton. Guests have been treated to the sounds of jack hammers and grinding saws as Park 19 is dismantled. 
 

[antsp]

How close is this to being completely removed 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, DHP1 said:

We took a look at an inside cabin as we were walking down the hall and I was amaze how large the cabin was. 
The Eatery (being served food) was a “non issue” with us. We didn’t mind it at all. The service was fast. We had our breakfast at the far back of the boat in the Eatery. It was less crowded there and same quality of food. 

Thank you. This makes me feel a lot better. 

[ISABELLA]

On 7/11/2024 at 4:04 PM, MonikaJ42 said:

We are booked on the October 19th sailing. I have been checking reviews and most are very negative and I can't understand why?

Its a new ship so I get there would be some hiccups but the Icon is new and it has rave reviews hence why RCCL prices are ridiculous right now.

 

Any comments? 

 

Regardless I'm looking forward to the cruise.  Its going to be my first Princess cruise in over 15+ years!

We were on the Sun for 2 weeks in May - our first Princess cruise in over 15 years. We enjoyed the cruise overall . Several things we didn’t care for, food in MDR was just ok, entertainment was  good, service was good. Go and enjoy. 

 

 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

I am not sure when you are boarding, but especially if it is later in October you might want to consider putting in a bid.  Those who have won bids have been able to move to any available cabin in their new exact category.

 

Princess has been sorting all of this out before the last minute.

If you had bid earlier, when there were still more availability, then you would have had a better chance of a cabin in a better location that you could switch over to.

 

I know somebody who is boarding Oct 14 who bid right at the weak/good mark, close to a weak bid, and got a really nice upgrade.

Thank you for sharing this with me. I really would like to try this but there are only a few cabins left for our b2b starting October 19th. If I received the wrong cabin, I would be sick for 14 days. I wish we were able to speak with someone about that or check mark areas that we would accept while placing our bid. Thanks again! 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, Abercrombie2019 said:

Like you, we also like the sideways interiors on Royal Class ships.  The sideways interior cabins on the Sun are not the same.  The TV is in a very awkward spot on the sideways Sun cabins.

 

We noticed that the ocean view cabins were less than the price of most of the interiors when we were looking at a cruise on the Sun Princess.

I saw a photo online that had the bed separated into two twins and the TV was on the wall above the side of the bed. Was that the Sun Princess sideways cabin?  If so, I would definitely be at the front desk, requesting a different cabin.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

4 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

We are on the Sun now for 25 days and I must say I agree with your review and we have been highly disappointed especially with the food.  We love the new design of the mini-suites and staff overall has really been really trying.  However, the food in the Reserve Dining room has been subpar and very limited.  They have changed the menu drastically and all my old favorite standby's, such as salmon and French onion soup,  are not on the menu any more.  Two out of five dinners now I have only had appetizers and no main courses because the menu is just so limited.  I have really never not enjoyed a meal in Club Class before or any dining room actually but now we are not even going to the Reserve dining room for breakfast and thinking of just going somewhere else for dinner.  The Reserve Dining is much bigger then Club Class on other ships was and the wait staff has to serve way more guests so it is not really personalized either.  Once we get off the Sun we will not be back on.  We will stick with the Royal Class ships.

Only appetizers were offered and no main courses? Would you please share the menus showing only appetizers available? We will be really bummed if salmon is not available. 

[IndyKid]

There's another thread on this board that's almost identical to this one, so I'd like to say a few words that reiterates what I said in that conversation. The Sun Princess is new, she's the first in her class, and has had to get a few bugs worked out. I've booked a bucket-list trip aboard her next May for the wife and I as a Christmas gift for the wife. Will it be perfect? I hope so, but I won't lose any sleep over it. I'm just grateful to have my life, my health and the financial means to be able to go on a trip like this - there are many people who have none of these. So I'm going with the determination that it will be very enjoyable. This will be our first journey across the pond, so to speak, so should prove interesting.

[Abercrombie2019]

1 hour ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I saw a photo online that had the bed separated into two twins and the TV was on the wall above the side of the bed. Was that the Sun Princess sideways cabin?  If so, I would definitely be at the front desk, requesting a different cabin.

Yes

[Wishing on a star]

Here is a video of one of the sideways inside cabins on the SUN.

There are 14 of these each on two of the upper decks, and only a very few more on lower decks.

One would not bid to upgrade to an inside, as this is the lowest category.  So, one would only be subject to Princess choosing if the category was getting sold out, and was RESERVE only.

They actually seem to have more floor space and might feel more roomy.

There has been a past thread discussing these.

The door opens right into the central area (no 'entry' between the hall)

The bath and closet on the wall to one side, and the TV on the wall is the wall on the other side.

The sideways TV placement IS odd!

 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

12 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Here is a video of one of the sideways inside cabins on the SUN.

There are 14 of these each on two of the upper decks, and only a very few more on lower decks.

One would not bid to upgrade to an inside, as this is the lowest category.  So, one would only be subject to Princess choosing if the category was getting sold out, and was RESERVE only.

They actually seem to have more floor space and might feel more roomy.

There has been a past thread discussing these.

The door opens right into the central area (no 'entry' between the hall)

The bath and closet on the wall to one side, and the TV on the wall is the wall on the other side.

The sideways TV placement IS odd!

 

 

Thank you for sharing this video. The photo that I saw had the bed broken up into two twins, so can you imagine what that would be like? I wonder who came up with that wonderful design? 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

7 hours ago, PrincessLuver said:

We are on the Sun now for 25 days and I must say I agree with your review and we have been highly disappointed especially with the food.  We love the new design of the mini-suites and staff overall has really been really trying.  However, the food in the Reserve Dining room has been subpar and very limited.  They have changed the menu drastically and all my old favorite standby's, such as salmon and French onion soup,  are not on the menu any more.  Two out of five dinners now I have only had appetizers and no main courses because they menu is just so limited.  I have really never not enjoyed a meal in Club Class before or any dining room actually but now we are not even going to the Reserve dining room for breakfast and thinking of just going somewhere else for dinner.  The Reserve Dining is much bigger then Club Class on other ships was and the wait staff has to serve way more guests so it is not really personalized either.  Once we get off the Sun we will not be back on.  We will stick with the Royal Class ships.

I misunderstood what I read, I’m sorry. I now understand that you only had appetizers because you could not find any of the mains that appealed to you.

[memoak]

12 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I misunderstood what I read, I’m sorry. I now understand that you only had appetizers because you could not find any of the mains that appealed to you.

Yea but you can see the menu in advance and we often choose another venue if we don’t like the menu. You are not restricted to one dining area

[stevenr597]

On 7/12/2024 at 9:32 AM, JimmyVWine said:

Huge Caveat--I have not yet been on the ship.  Two months from now, I will be.  But based on what I have read, seen on YouTube and seen posted here, I think much of it boils down to the negative reaction to a few specific design and operation decisions that PCL made, some of which are fixable and others that are not.

 

• The Buffet Location.  Odd placement on the ship as many people (myself included) tend the use the buffet on other ships as an extension of the pool deck area.  In all our days on board Princess ships, I think we have eaten dinner one time in the buffet because we were too exhausted from our day on shore to shower and change for dinner in the MDR.  99% of our buffet usage is for B or L and we like to be up top, near the open pool decks for that.  This isn't fixable (at least on Sun.  Future builds could move the buffet off of Deck 9.

 

• The Buffet Operation.   Same food every day.  I think people prefer the rotational aspect of the food being offered.  I know that I certainly do.  And many have not gotten used to being served at the buffet, which requires walking around a lot more from station to station to get what you want, each time getting into a new line instead of just sliding down the row of adjacent stations.  Some people have come to really like this.  Others, not so much.  Much of this is fixable, especially the decision to serve the same food every day.  They can fix that with the snap of a finger.

 

• The size and placement of the entertainment venues.  I think that Princess was assuming that if they had more venues, people would spread out and use each one equally, so they didn't need to build really big spaces.  Put a comedian in one, put aerialists in another, a production show in another, a dance band in another and a marriage game show in yet another.  Seems like a good idea...until 80% of the ship all want to see the aerialists, or the production show.  They have no way of accommodating that unless they go to a system where you get a ticket for a specific night for the most popular shows.  I suppose that this might work, but it would be a big change and would surely cause complaints.  Also, while most ships have now morphed the Piazza into a mixed use space of relaxation and entertainment, Sun has gone all in on the idea of it being an entertainment space.  Grabbing an espresso and a pastry at the International Cafe in the middle of the afternoon and listening to a string duo while seated in the Piazza is a pretty fantastic way to spend an hour, in my opinion.  They removed this option on Sun.  It will be up to us to find a suitable alternative, and I imagine that we will.  Perhaps other people reviewing the ship are a bit too rigid to find the workaround.  This is fixable if they decide to relocate the International Cafe away from its ridiculous positioning at the entrance to the buffet and bring it down to Deck 7 where it belongs.

 

• The conversion of the Sanctuary to a "ship within a ship" venue.  I am sure that I am overgeneralizing here, but on other ships the Sanctuary is a place where people who have booked less expensive cabins, (especially Inside cabins) can go to upgrade their experience.  Combine an Inside cabin or an Obstructed OV cabin with reserved deck space in the Sanctuary and you have a pretty good mix of cost and luxury.  The Sanctuary served as the balcony for many people who did not book a cabin that had one.  Of course people in other categories bought space in the Sanctuary as well, but it has always been an option for everyone on board.  Now it is reserved only for the people who already have spacious cabins with balconies.  The people with the smallest, most cloistered cabins cannot buy their way out of their claustrophobia.  This seems like a bad idea to me, and I think to others as well.

 

• Ghost Town 19.  Was supposed to be Park 19.  Enough said.

 

• And as others have mentioned, the "hiccups" of launching before the ship was ready for prime time.  Some of these missteps were not hiccups.  They were Princess throwing up on their shoes.  It's hard to live down a bad first impression.

 

All that said, the reviews of Royal were just as bad when it launched, and while I have not checked, it probably remains the lowest rated Royal Class Ship.  But lessons were learned and the Royal Class ships that followed have become some of the favorites among Princess loyalists.  Part of that is due to the continued aging of the Grand Class ships.  But much of it is attributed to lessons learned and changes made. Maybe we will see that happen with Sun and its progeny.    

    

I remember when we first sailed on the Royal Princess.  We felt that the Atrium was too big, that there were not enough pools and of course no central staircase.  But we did sail on her a second time, and found that we indeed liked the changes.  Then sailed several times on the Regal.

Now we love the class, and hope that the Sun Princess will be as good. 

[PrincessLuver]

16 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Only appetizers were offered and no main courses? Would you please share the menus showing only appetizers available? We will be really bummed if salmon is not available. 

Salmon has only been offered one night and is no longer listed nightly as a "Princess Favorite."  We have seen a lot of people finishing their meals very fast and only eating portions.  I would say that the many comments on CC about the Sun Princess MDR's food being subpar is more accurate then not.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

29 minutes ago, PrincessLuver said:

Salmon has only been offered one night and is no longer listed nightly as a "Princess Favorite."  We have seen a lot of people finishing their meals very fast and only eating portions.  I would say that the many comments on CC about the Sun Princess MDR's food being subpar is more accurate then not.

Taste is so objective. I’m not going to worry about the food. I’ve watched some YouTube reviews and the food looked great. It’s hard to know what to expect. I saw a menu that had salmon listed as a favorite. I guess that was the one night that it was on the menu? 

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, PrincessLuver said:

Salmon has only been offered one night and is no longer listed nightly as a "Princess Favorite."  We have seen a lot of people finishing their meals very fast and only eating portions.  I would say that the many comments on CC about the Sun Princess MDR's food being subpar is more accurate then not.

Well I have to disagree.

Every meal, except one, far exceeded my expectations compared with our Celebrity cruise the year before. I never had to resort to the "always available" choices.

I asked for my food to be very hot and our waiters never disappointed me. I will post one of the evenings menu's so you can see for yourselves the choices we had.

[Esprit]

[commodoredave]

13 hours ago, antsp said:

How close is this to being completely removed 

One poster said they were told that plans were to have it completed by the time the ship reaches FLL. My TA said Princess advised her that the worst would be over by September 23. But who knows for sure.

[PacnGoNow]

13 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

Thank you for sharing this video. The photo that I saw had the bed broken up into two twins, so can you imagine what that would be like? I wonder who came up with that wonderful design? 

You’d have to lay on your left side to watch TV.  Odd

We don’t watch TV, so wouldn’t matter to us.  

[Globaler]

12 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

I remember when we first sailed on the Royal Princess.  We felt that the Atrium was too big, that there were not enough pools and of course no central staircase.  But we did sail on her a second time, and found that we indeed liked the changes.  Then sailed several times on the Regal.

Now we love the class, and hope that the Sun Princess will be as good. 

I hope the Sun appeals to you. We didn’t like the Piazza. It now has a large screen which was a little tacky and they are trying to make that area a central entertainment zone. However; it lacks an atmosphere. We missed a vibrant piano bar and the other cocktail bars were pass through or were drowned out by the music in the Piazza.