Sun Princess - Why such negative reviews?

[Esprit]

12 hours ago, Nemanoxer said:

 

 

I will be on your cruise.

 

I am following the posts in the Facebook group every day, and it seems Princess is failing massively to act professional with this ship on many levels.

 

Here is what my guts pulled out of some dozen reviews:

 

Great staff, Food reviews vary from Walmart Food Court level to excellent. Entertainment mostly rated as average, sometimes poor. The Dome accessibility for show acts zero unless you decide to wait there at least an hour before the show. Brilliant new escalator approach. Nice staterooms. Poor enforcement of any kind of dressing recommendations. More details in the Facebook group.

 

My guts say I will get a mixture of NCL and the latest Celebrity.ships.

 

For me personally, it´s too late to cancel without losing all the price. So - see you there on the 19th October.

I think your gut summary is good, except for us we rated the entertainment far better.

Going on in October with low expectations I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[rhobbkf]

Things we love about the Sun:  The glassware is so nice!  Definitely a step up from other ships.  Even the Eatery uses real plates, not plastic.  We also like the wide hallways and bright open spaces.  The format of the Eatery helps to control our "eyes are bigger than our stomach" impulses, so we're ok with that.

 

Things have definitely gone wrong on this portion of our cruise (well documented in the Live Barcelona to Southamption thread, so I won't rehash).  We are glad that the "show off" portion of the trip should be over and we can relax on the TA without VIP's disrupting venues, schedules, etc.

 

Overall, we would book another SUN cruise, but still prefer the smaller ships (Emerald being a favorite).  The only ship we really didn't care for was the SKY and that had to do with the crew attitudes.  We sailed the SKY right as they moved all the "good crew" to train on the SUN, so it's possible it was just bad timing.  We found the SUN crew to be engaging and when asked they said they are well taken care of, although still learning. 

 

IMHO, everyone should give the SUN a chance, then decide if the format works for you. 

 

Fair winds and following seas!

[dog]

1 hour ago, Esprit said:

I think your gut summary is good, except for us we rated the entertainment far better.

Going on in October with low expectations I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

Let’s hope the TA passengers get better treatment.  Fb post says 1000 workers will be added onboard in Southampton for the TA.( cannot verify).

Maybe October 14 th cruise and those after will be a more enjoyable, less disruptive vacation.

[Esprit]

1 minute ago, dog said:

Let’s hope the TA passengers get better treatment.  Fb post says 1000 workers will be added onboard in Southampton for the TA.( cannot verify).

Maybe October 14 th cruise and those after will be a more enjoyable, less disruptive vacation.

My SIL is currently working on Island Princess (dry dock Palermo) and will likely stay onboard for the sail up to Civitavecchia to assist the crew with the Audio/Visual techno' changes. I doubt the passengers will notice he's a contractor. The same maybe said for the contractors on Sun Princess, unless of course they are still working on the Park 19 revamp!

[TRLD]

On 9/20/2024 at 3:03 PM, Globaler said:

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.

The Piazza is and has been a central entertainment venue on Princess ships for several years. So nothing unusual on it continuing with the Sun  Though the big screen is new. They still have piano, guitar, classical performances there along with a mixture of other events, including a rather large and loud internarional musical performance that usually occurs once each cruise.

Edited September 23 by TRLD

[Suite Susie]

We got off Sun on Monday. She is a beautiful ship and we loved the more modern contemporary feel. However, the ship has been very badly designed with all the venues just too small for the number of passengers. Princess Live for example has really bad sight lines, with big pillars and from where we sat, we could only see the top part of the screen, so difficult to participate in some of the game shows and quizzes. Very difficult to get into The Dome and O’Malleys. The food is OK, but Love by Britto was outstanding. I think you need to experience Sun once, but we are unlikely to return. 

Edited September 26 by Suite Susie
Error

[555]

11 hours ago, Suite Susie said:

I think you need to experience Sun once, but we are unlikely to return. 

We booked a long time ago but as you mentioned I think we'll go back to sailing on the Royal class ships in the future. 

[Esprit]

1 hour ago, 555 said:

We booked a long time ago but as you mentioned I think we'll go back to sailing on the Royal class ships in the future. 

Well I for one will be a little disappointed when we sail on Sky Princess next summer instead of the Sun, but DW wants to sail out of Southampton 😒

[PacnGoNow]

1 minute ago, Esprit said:

Well I for one will be a little disappointed when we sail on Sky Princess next summer instead of the Sun, but DW wants to sail out of Southampton 😒

Did you find a nice relaxing place to have morning coffee and a pastry?  Sounds like the piazza is a loud area all day. We usually enjoy the IC in the morning, on most ships. TIA

 

[Esprit]

2 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

Did you find a nice relaxing place to have morning coffee and a pastry?  Sounds like the piazza is a loud area all day. We usually enjoy the IC in the morning, on most ships. TIA

 

Sorry @PacnGoNowbut I'm not a coffee addict. All I used the IC for was to get biscuits to take back to the room to have with good old English tea!

The IC on the Sun was manic. Too close to the starboard side route to the Eatery so people would block the walkway waiting for their coffee fix!

[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, Esprit said:

The IC on the Sun was manic

Lol Thanks!  We will find an area, or just take back to our room.  🤔

[Leo37]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

Did you find a nice relaxing place to have morning coffee and a pastry?  Sounds like the piazza is a loud area all day. We usually enjoy the IC in the morning, on most ships. TIA

 

Two decks down from the IC on the bottom floor of the Piazza there's another much quieter coffee place. Coffee Currents I think it's called. Does the same drinks, has some food, rarely as busy.

[PacnGoNow]

1 hour ago, Leo37 said:

Two decks down from the IC on the bottom floor of the Piazza there's another much quieter coffee place. Coffee Currents I think it's called. Does the same drinks, has some food, rarely as busy.

Awesome! Thanks.

[tscoffey]

On 9/19/2024 at 3:20 PM, antsp said:

How close is this to being completely removed 

Are you referring to the park, or to the person who was responsible for getting it approved for use?

Edited September 27 by tscoffey

[BobandLizM]

On 9/19/2024 at 8:20 PM, antsp said:

How close is this to being completely removed 

@antspNot sure even Princess know this, it looks a big job.  There looks to be specialist contractors on board the TA working this challenge.  The jogging track has not been available.  I asked on ‘Chat’ Wednesday 25th, the answer took a bit of time to come back.    Means I have to go to the gym a bit more or not take advantage of my two a day premium deserts. 

[bstrauss3]

On 9/20/2024 at 3:00 AM, memoak said:

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

Except that last night was Italian night and the menu shown on the app was purportedly tonight's menu.

[louden]

On 9/27/2024 at 4:39 PM, BobandLizM said:

@antspNot sure even Princess know this, it looks a big job.  There looks to be specialist contractors on board the TA working this challenge.  The jogging track has not been available.  I asked on ‘Chat’ Wednesday 25th, the answer took a bit of time to come back.    Means I have to go to the gym a bit more or not take advantage of my two a day premium deserts. 

Sept. 28.  The back portion of deck 18 is closed including two spa tubs

[louden]

On 9/23/2024 at 11:12 AM, rhobbkf said:

Things we love about the Sun:  The glassware is so nice!  Definitely a step up from other ships.  Even the Eatery uses real plates, not plastic.  We also like the wide hallways and bright open spaces.  The format of the Eatery helps to control our "eyes are bigger than our stomach" impulses, so we're ok with that.

 

Things have definitely gone wrong on this portion of our cruise (well documented in the Live Barcelona to Southamption thread, so I won't rehash).  We are glad that the "show off" portion of the trip should be over and we can relax on the TA without VIP's disrupting venues, schedules, etc.

 

Overall, we would book another SUN cruise, but still prefer the smaller ships (Emerald being a favorite).  The only ship we really didn't care for was the SKY and that had to do with the crew attitudes.  We sailed the SKY right as they moved all the "good crew" to train on the SUN, so it's possible it was just bad timing.  We found the SUN crew to be engaging and when asked they said they are well taken care of, although still learning. 

 

IMHO, everyone should give the SUN a chance, then decide if the format works for you. 

 

Fair winds and following seas!

We have over 575 days with Princess.  We have  been onboard since Barcelona.  IMHO the biggest plus is the entertainment in large part due to Corrine and team.  Biggest shortcoming is the inadequacy of space in the Dome, Arena, Princess Live and O'Malleys for the crowds they draw.  The waiting area for the Dome and MDRs is immediately in front of the elevators which is chaotic, unsafe and idiotic. The terrace areas on deck 9 are wonderful.  Obviously even Princess realizes that the Specialty restaurants don't work as they are all being moved.  Spellbound is not worth a $149 upcharge as evident from the promotion they offered for one night at $45 for Plus package holders without dinner.

 

For us, if the Sun and another Princess ship,  excluding the Island and Regal, were doing the same itinerary we would take the other.  The Sun is like the Regal.  Needs a lot of work. Perhaps the third iteration will meet the goal?

 

Edited September 28 by louden

[louden]

43 minutes ago, louden said:

We have over 575 days with Princess.  We have  been onboard since Barcelona.  IMHO the biggest plus is the entertainment in large part due to Corrine and team.  Biggest shortcoming is the inadequacy of space in the Dome, Arena, Princess Live and O'Malleys for the crowds they draw.  The waiting area for the Dome and MDRs is immediately in front of the elevators which is chaotic, unsafe and idiotic. The terrace areas on deck 9 are wonderful.  Obviously even Princess realizes that the Specialty restaurants don't work as they are all being moved.  Spellbound is not worth a $149 upcharge as evident from the promotion they offered for one night at $45 for Plus package holders without dinner.

 

For us, if the Sun and another Princess ship,  excluding the Island and Regal, were doing the same itinerary we would take the other.  The Sun is like the Regal.  Needs a lot of work. Perhaps the third iteration will meet the goal?

 

Futher to my comments above, the crew has been excellent and the reason we keep coming back to Princess.  A problem we have with the intense entertainment program in place is that events, especially in Princess Live and the Piazza, are so closely timed that people don't move on but just stay in place for event after event.

[louden]

3 hours ago, louden said:

Futher to my comments above, the crew has been excellent and the reason we keep coming back to Princess.  A problem we have with the intense entertainment program in place is that events, especially in Princess Live and the Piazza, are so closely timed that people don't move on but just stay in place for event after event.

Sorry for this mis-print I meant to say "Royal"  not Regal.

[daydreamer16]

We just booked a cruise on the Sun for 2026 & booked the Premier package for the very first time. Which restaurants on the Sun are considered Specialty & which are Casual? It seems like there are so many venues.

 

Thanks, Denise 

[bstrauss3]

Just now, daydreamer16 said:

We just booked a cruise on the Sun for 2026 & booked the Premier package for the very first time. Which restaurants on the Sun are considered Specialty & which are Casual? It seems like there are so many venues.

 

Thanks, Denise 

Casual is lame... O'Malley and the sit down Pizza place.

[daydreamer16]

8 minutes ago, bstrauss3 said:

Casual is lame... O'Malley and the sit down Pizza place.

What about the American Diner?

[dides]

39 minutes ago, daydreamer16 said:

We just booked a cruise on the Sun for 2026 & booked the Premier package for the very first time. Which restaurants on the Sun are considered Specialty & which are Casual? It seems like there are so many venues.

Casual Dining 

Alfredo's Pizzeria

O'Malley's

Speciality Dining

Crown Grill

Sabatini's Trattoria

The Catch by Rudi

Umai Teppanyaki

Umai Hot Pot

Butcher's Block by Dario

Kai Sushi by Makoto

 

Love by Britto  is not included in the Premier package

 

 

Edited September 28 by dides

[daydreamer16]

6 hours ago, dides said:

Casual Dining 

Alfredo's Pizzeria

O'Malley's

Speciality Dining

Crown Grill

Sabatini's Trattoria

The Catch by Rudi

Umai Teppanyaki

Umai Hot Pot

Butcher's Block by Dario

Kai Sushi by Makoto

 

Love by Britto  is not included in the Premier package

 

 

Exactly what I needed, Thanks!😁