Sun Princess Changes?

[TRLD]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

 

Totally agree  That said, regardless of the ship, there's not a lot of perks to a suite on Princess, except the size of the room...at least relative to other top tier room categories on other cruise lines.  So Princess is ratcheting back to their norm on the Sun.

 

 

Agree with this as well.  I'd go further.  I'm in a Sanctuary mini suite on the Sun this January.  My wife loves all that pool and sun lounger stuff, hence paying for the upgrade.  To me, it's a screaming bore, so count me and other like-minded folks on not spending any notable hours in the Sanctuary crowding the space like its a college bar on a Friday night.  Everyone take a deep breath...it'll be fine.

When Princess first came out with the Sun they had a pretty aggressive plan for their first move to a Celebrity like class system with 2 additional tiers. Their plans did not survive operational reality. The end result is something that more resembles Celebrities first move to a class system several years ago.

 

Those that booked thinking that it was going to be like Celebrity today or like the ship within a ship Haven on NCL or Yaucht Club on MSC are finding out that it is not any of those.

 

Not surprised that Princess is back tracking on the implementation to a single additional class instead of 2, just as they are toning down their multigenerational family marketing for the Sun and Star. 

[CalTexCruiser]

22 minutes ago, abouna said:

We just got off the Sun, second week we bid and were upgraded to a suite. Used the Sanctuary and it was great (although our 14 year old couldn't use it). There was a separate area in the front for suites only but neither that nor the other part was ever crowded and was especially great on sea days when the pools were packed. 

 

With the current setup (separate Sanctuary suite area and dedicated suite restaurant), most of the reports from full suite passengers are that the suite experience is great on the Sun.

 

We'll see how things go after the changes on Oct 14.

[keldaria]

20 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

 

With the current setup (separate Sanctuary suite area and dedicated suite restaurant), most of the reports from full suite passengers are that the suite experience is great on the Sun.

 

We'll see how things go after the changes on Oct 14.

This is my understanding too. Aside from park 19 and startup glitches from the sun being not only a new ship but a new class of ships, the overall experience being reported by suite passengers seems to match expectations for what I booked.

 

I’m hopeful the experience after Oct 14th will continue to match but only time will tell.

[Wishing on a star]

1 hour ago, abouna said:

We just got off the Sun, second week we bid and were upgraded to a suite. Used the Sanctuary and it was great (although our 14 year old couldn't use it). There was a separate area in the front for suites only but neither that nor the other part was ever crowded and was especially great on sea days when the pools were packed. 

Thank you so much for posting your experience!

It is good to know that, even with what must have been a pretty full ship, that the Sanctuary, which was open to be paid for by any adults, did not seem to be full.

I am thinking that the new system, where it is only for the given number of Suites and Sanctuary Mini-Suites, and the handful of DO Sanctuary cabins, that it would not add any crowding.

 

Princess is flying by the seat of their pants her, like they seem to be doing on a lot of things.

Perhaps they will try tweaking this with the original Suite area (or maybe slightly extended area) as a Suite Only area????

 

Suite guest seem to be really concerned about this.

But, time will tell whether this is a real issue, or something that works out okay.

 

[Suite Susie]

23 hours ago, vjmatty said:

I’d recommend waiting until you’re actually on the Sun before canceling next year’s bookings, since you’re only talking about a month before you get the actual experience.  Suite have been getting decent reviews from what I’ve seen. 

We will wait Ginny until after our sailing before we cancel, but we are having a number of issues with Princess on our upcoming Sun cruise that we are very unhappy about, which compounds our dissatisfaction.  We will go and have a blast as we are with good friends, but I have a feeling this might be our last Princess cruise for some time. 

[voljeep]

8 minutes ago, Suite Susie said:

We will wait Ginny until after our sailing before we cancel, but we are having a number of issues with Princess on our upcoming Sun cruise that we are very unhappy about, which compounds our dissatisfaction.  We will go and have a blast as we are with good friends, but I have a feeling this might be our last Princess cruise for some time. 

agreed.  it would be hard for us to go on any kind of trip/adventure with so many negative feelings.

 

Time to re-group and move-on and keep an open mind.

[MonikaJ42]

I'm a little nervous after reading this post as we are booked on the Oct 19th sailing in a S9 suite. 

We booked via a casino offer so it was a tremendous deal looking at what they are charging for this type of suite and what we paid.  Keeping our fingers crossed that by the time its our turn to cruise it will all be worked out.  

 

Happy cruising everyone!

[keldaria]

4 hours ago, MonikaJ42 said:

I'm a little nervous after reading this post as we are booked on the Oct 19th sailing in a S9 suite. 

We booked via a casino offer so it was a tremendous deal looking at what they are charging for this type of suite and what we paid.  Keeping our fingers crossed that by the time its our turn to cruise it will all be worked out.  

 

Happy cruising everyone!

I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Overall I think they have things figured out. Some of us were just grumbling because they changed course on what they initially sold us. If you got a casino deal on an S9 suite then you likely got a good deal even with any changes.
 

I don’t expect there to be any issues post change, although your sail date is literally right after the shift so maybe some quirks will happen.

[MonikaJ42]

17 hours ago, keldaria said:

I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Overall I think they have things figured out. Some of us were just grumbling because they changed course on what they initially sold us. If you got a casino deal on an S9 suite then you likely got a good deal even with any changes.
 

I don’t expect there to be any issues post change, although your sail date is literally right after the shift so maybe some quirks will happen.

Thank you! Appreciate your reply! ☺️

[Wishing on a star]

I don't believe that we can assume that the Suite Experience will be watered down.

There is an amazing Suite Lounge...  There will be a Suite restaurant.  There will be a huge and nice Sanctuary available to Suite guests....   The current experience, on other ships, can not begin to compare.   Again...  We will have to see how it goes when it all goes into operation in October.

 

Now, people like myself, who booked expecting to have access to that (much larger) Sanctuary...

Our benefits/experience has lost something, for real.

 

I have not canceled our booking.  But, will we book another cruise on these new ships...

probably not.   But, I a not going to make a decision until we see how it works out.

[Mast5]

On 8/12/2024 at 2:32 PM, abouna said:

We just got off the Sun, second week we bid and were upgraded to a suite. Used the Sanctuary and it was great (although our 14 year old couldn't use it). There was a separate area in the front for suites only but neither that nor the other part was ever crowded and was especially great on sea days when the pools were packed. 

Did you check out cabins 14102 or 14101? Was looking forward to your input/photos prior to your upgrade.

[wineglass]

On 8/11/2024 at 7:44 AM, Hobby3333 said:

Sorry, we only walked thru the buffet and didn’t take notice.

I have seen in reviews that there are NO self serve coffee, tea or water . You must ask a server. Don’t like that.

[Wishing on a star]

I believe they have set up like carts/tables with water, and maybe coffee.

But NO ice...  NO drink station.

This is good information, because I will be stopping at the nearest bars for large glasses of ice, every single time!

 

We do bottled water, as much as possible.

Preorder the 6-packs on the APP / Personalizer.

Some say that they do not have that cruise-ship swelling (feet/ankles/etc.) if they do not drink ship water.   But, I drink a lot of the ships tea and ice!!!

Edited August 25 by Wishing on a star

[555]

12 hours ago, wineglass said:

I have seen in reviews that there are NO self serve coffee, tea or water . You must ask a server. Don’t like that.

Don't tell me they add the sugar & cream for you also ! 😦

[Esprit]

13 hours ago, wineglass said:

I have seen in reviews that there are NO self serve coffee, tea or water . You must ask a server. Don’t like that.

We got off the Sun on Saturday and I can categorically state you can help yourself to tea, coffee and water in the Eatery.

We always make our own tea as the waiters can’t grasp we Brits want our COLD milk put in separately once the tea has had time to brew 🙄.

We also asked for a water kettle in our cabin and our steward happily obliged, together with a selection of teas and a cup & saucer.👌

 

[dog]

Changes? Well my app has completely wiped out all my dining reservations for October 19/24 on the Sun. Hoping it is doing an update.

[peder]

On 8/12/2024 at 3:36 PM, vjmatty said:

On some Celebrity ships they’re experimenting with a pay-extra option for non-suites to use the Retreat amenities such as Luminae and the Retreat lounge. From what I understand, it is intended for those with connecting rooms to a suite so families can eat together, but you can imagine the uproar it’s causing. 

 

On this note, I have no idea why ships have connecting rooms that are different categories.

[peder]

On 8/12/2024 at 4:49 PM, TRLD said:

When Princess first came out with the Sun they had a pretty aggressive plan for their first move to a Celebrity like class system with 2 additional tiers. Their plans did not survive operational reality. The end result is something that more resembles Celebrities first move to a class system several years ago.

 

Those that booked thinking that it was going to be like Celebrity today or like the ship within a ship Haven on NCL or Yaucht Club on MSC are finding out that it is not any of those.

 

Not surprised that Princess is back tracking on the implementation to a single additional class instead of 2, just as they are toning down their multigenerational family marketing for the Sun and Star. 

 

So the Sanctuary won't be a "ship-within-a-ship" completely because the restaurant is located outside the area, but isn't the Sanctuary otherwise very similar to the MSC Yacht Club? What key differences will exist going forward?

 

I do think it's odd that Princess created the Sanctuary Collection but also basically has another level above that with the Suites. Seems redundant and complicated.

[LAS!!1414]

2 hours ago, Esprit said:

We got off the Sun on Saturday and I can categorically state you can help yourself to tea, coffee and water in the Eatery.

We always make our own tea as the waiters can’t grasp we Brits want our COLD milk put in separately once the tea has had time to brew 🙄.

We also asked for a water kettle in our cabin and our steward happily obliged, together with a selection of teas and a cup & saucer.👌

 

Thanks for the clarification about the Eatery !!!

Do you notice the availability of Oatmeal for breakfast ??

 

Jerry

[555]

2 hours ago, Esprit said:

We got off the Sun on Saturday and I can categorically state you can help yourself to tea, coffee and water in the Eatery.

We always make our own tea as the waiters can’t grasp we Brits want our COLD milk put in separately once the tea has had time to brew 🙄.

We also asked for a water kettle in our cabin and our steward happily obliged, together with a selection of teas and a cup & saucer.👌

 

That also may change once the ship is in the Caribbean, just like the availability of kettles in the cabin. 

[sptrout]

2 hours ago, peder said:

 

So the Sanctuary won't be a "ship-within-a-ship" completely because the restaurant is located outside the area, but isn't the Sanctuary otherwise very similar to the MSC Yacht Club? What key differences will exist going forward?

 

I do think it's odd that Princess created the Sanctuary Collection but also basically has another level above that with the Suites. Seems redundant and complicated.

MSC's YC is a true ship-within-a ship-because it has restricted access to all YC cabins/areas (this has changed a little since they have added a few larger cabins that are outside the YC restricted area; I think this is correct). In addition to restricted access to cabin areas, the YC has its own restaurant and causal dining, very nice lounge area with nightly entertainment, and private outside area; all access restricted. It is entirely possible to sail an entire cruise and never leave the YC. A passenger would miss the main theater entertainment if they did not leave the YC.

 

MSC's YC is very nice and competes directly with Celebrity's "Retreat" and NCL's "Haven". The YC use to be considerably less expensive than either of these two, but that may not true in some sailings. (I believe that NCL's Haven is much more expensive than either the YC or Retreat in every sailing where I have looked at competing similar cruises.)

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, peder said:

 

So the Sanctuary won't be a "ship-within-a-ship" completely because the restaurant is located outside the area, but isn't the Sanctuary otherwise very similar to the MSC Yacht Club? What key differences will exist going forward?

 

I do think it's odd that Princess created the Sanctuary Collection but also basically has another level above that with the Suites. Seems redundant and complicated.

NCL And MSC have specific areas on the ship that put everything together in a area reserved for that class of passengers. What Princess is doing is more like Celebrity's original class system and Cunard. 

 

Sanctuary includes suites. It is not another class above suites.

Edited August 26 by TRLD

[voljeep]

3 hours ago, dog said:

Changes? Well my app has completely wiped out all my dining reservations for October 19/24 on the Sun. Hoping it is doing an update.

Ouch - mine are still there for my cruise in October, thankfully

[vjmatty]

On 8/24/2024 at 9:48 AM, Mast5 said:

Did you check out cabins 14102 or 14101? Was looking forward to your input/photos prior to your upgrade.

I’m guessing that since they were upgraded to a suite they no longer had access to the original cabins. 

[peder]

57 minutes ago, sptrout said:

MSC's YC is a true ship-within-a ship-because it has restricted access to all YC cabins/areas (this has changed a little since they have added a few larger cabins that are outside the YC restricted area; I think this is correct). In addition to restricted access to cabin areas, the YC has its own restaurant and causal dining, very nice lounge area with nightly entertainment, and private outside area; all access restricted. It is entirely possible to sail an entire cruise and never leave the YC. A passenger would miss the main theater entertainment if they did not leave the YC.

 

MSC's YC is very nice and competes directly with Celebrity's "Retreat" and NCL's "Haven". The YC use to be considerably less expensive than either of these two, but that may not true in some sailings. (I believe that NCL's Haven is much more expensive than either the YC or Retreat in every sailing where I have looked at competing similar cruises.)

 

So I'm quite familiar with the YC, but I guess I don't see how it's much different than what Princess is offering. I'd have to leave the Sanctuary area for dinner, but is that even worth mentioning as a problem/distinction? It's still an exclusive restaurant. And the Sanctuary still has an exclusive sundeck and pool. Seems very similar even if not a "true" ship-within-a-ship.

 

The stated similarities are what have drawn me to Princess.