LIVE from Sun Princess Barcelona to Southampton September 14th-23rd

[suekel]

On 9/18/2024 at 10:15 AM, Geoffa30 said:

Not very happy about the continuing Park 19 dismantling. We’re in a penthouse suite on the TA. Will be our first and more than likely last Princess experience given the cost. If we’re presented with the incessant sound of axle grinders whilst ‘relaxing’ in the Sanctuary for 16 days, we will be requesting significant compensation.

Our guess is they are doing so much now so they can offload it in Southampton.  So maybe less on the TA?

[2UKSotonCruises]

• As promised here are some lovely tunes courtesy of Sun Princess.. see if you would enjoy your cruise with these melodies in the background:

 

Simon - YouTube see both the videos and the shorts.. there are a few different tunes to play lol.

 

I don't usually post on cruise critic or use YouTube but I feel the need based on the customer experience onboard this ship.

 

[Wishing on a star]

2UKs...  No it does not mean that you will get a less desirable location.

It really is up to chance.   Many people do get cabins that are okay or even good.

The thing is, I ALWAYS select my cabin, because I am picky.  

The same situation applies to bidding for an upgrade.  People have tried to have their cabin marked as DO NOT UPGRADE, for this same reason.

It is entirely up to chance.  Which cabins open up when those cruisers upgrade or cancel

I usually book far in advance, and choose a cabin that is one of those that might book up more quickly.  

There are the tried and true rules that many are familiar with when it comes to cabins.

Look at what is directly above and below.  And, there is the small chance that the 'gray areas' you see could be something that could have noise.  Lower to Mid deck, and Mid-Ship if you are concerned about motion.

 

.

 

[Pink-belle]

They have changed some of the light fittings in Horizons Deck 8 Today, I. Readiness for new restaurants.  Gone are the black pleated shades, and now rose gold glass chandeliers. 

[Pink-belle]

New lights

[dides]

14 hours ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

@dides, I have a reservation at The Butcher Block but after watching some reviews I think I want to cancel. Your photos from Sabatini‘s look really yummy and I think my travel friend would really enjoy that venue. I unfortunately have a rare severe dairy allergy. Do you think they would be able to work with my dietary restrictions at that restaurant? I would hate for my friend to miss out because of me. 

Hi @MsSoCalCruiser I asked on Crewcall chat if they could tailor the Sabatini's menu to someone with a severe dairy allergy and the response, after a while, was:

 

Hope this helps

 

Sandra

 

 

[coopero27]

1 hour ago, Pink-belle said:

New lights

Hopefully new tables and chairs too! 

[SotonScotty]

23 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Does the light come on at full intensity, or does it work more like a night light?   It looks like it is set to stay on for up to 10 minutes. It appears you can adjust the time it stays on.  

Will agree the night lights are far too bright we put extra pillows in front of bedside tables to stop them coming on. 

[dides]

Day 7 - Patter

 

Patter:

 

 

 

 

Well it's got a lot cooler and rockier for our penultimate day before arriving for our double overnight in Southampton

 

I hadn't slept well so begged Chris for a lie in after our 8am alarm. As a result. we left the room at 10am which is like a twilight zone if you are searching for breakfast - and Chris didn't want to go to the Eatery.

 

I wish OceanNow had better breakfast options - you know we haven't used.it once this cruise which is unusual!

 

So we went to the Lido deck for some coffees and hot chocolate from Coffee and Cones. It wasn't as busy as yesterday - much cooler and windy!  I took the opportunity to try a slice of one of the Premier cakes as they didn't have them in April. Here is the Red Velvet Cake:

 

 

Chris decided to be contrary and not go for a Lido deck burger saying you shouldn't have one for breakfast and suggested a trip to the International Cafe next. 

Golly the cool weather meant there were so many more people seated inside. We were lucky to grab.a window seat. I went lookimg for a warm ham and cheese croissant but no luck - Chris was not happy with the breadier substitute:

 

We had some drinks instead and watched the mass of people getting their coffees that morning.

 

We then headed to wait just outside Princess Live! while there was an enrichment lecture on Herculaneum. 

 

 

Chris met up with those UK vlogger friends with the Owners Suite who had very kindly offered to let him film their stateroom. I stayed behind the watch and interesting behind the scenes lecture on navigation on Sun Princess.

 

 

 At 2:30pm we headed to Good Spirits for the Royal Afternoon Tea event. This the one that costs 30 dollars pp.and has pre-filmed commentary on the TV screens from the chef who used to work for the Queen. We had managed to get a last minute booking via our Suite Concierge - couldn't see how to book it on the app.

Well it was very popular - one of the busiest they had ever had and the room was full!

 

 

 

We were asked to select our choice of tea.Chris always goes for English Breakfast Tea but I actually don't like tea and usually middle through with some lemon and honey tea - none of that milky stuff!  

 

 

They interspersed the tea, sandwich, scones and cake sections with pre-segments from the chef.

 

There were smoked salmon and cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches:

 

 

Plain and fruit scones with jam and thick cream - they called it clotted but it's not like true UK clotted cream.

 

 

 

 

Then finally to there delicious little chocolate ganache cakes and while the servers called the other cakes a Victoria Sponge they clearly were not - I could taste banana (which I hate) and it was clearly some kind of banana bread concoction. I swiftly gave mine to Chris to finish!

 

 

Stanley the Bear came in for photos at the end and it seemed to go down well - feeding into the obsession with British Royalty

 

For the rest of the afternoon we popped into O'Malleys for some drinks - during a very loud Musical Spoons Class!

 

We then had an early dinner in the Signature Restaurant. Here is the menu:

 

 

 

 

Chris had the French Onion Soup for starters and I chose.the Prosciutto and Melon. Then he has the Spaghetti Carbonara for Mains and I had the Prime Rib. For dessert, Chris chose the Creme Brulee and I had to the Coconut Cake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris liked his soup and melon was just ok. The.he found the spaghetti too al dente and my prime rib was a bit tough. The desserts were nice though!

 

We then went to watch the UK comedian David Arnold who was amusing but not laugh out loud worthy. We sat out the Broadway Music Trivia - not our area -  although we got 18/20 correct. There were 3 winners with perfect scores of course.

 

We came back to our cabin to watch a movie and then had an early night.

 

Interestingly there was an offer leaflet Spellbound without the meal for the last night of the cruise. We have other plans or might have considered going again at that price!

 

 

To be continued.

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by dides

[karatemom2]

@dides Thank you for sharing this information and wonderful photos. I'm wondering what you thought of the Royal Tea and whether it was really worth the charge compared to standard afternoon tea. We did it once on the Royal, and I must say looking at your photos, it appears they have downgraded the experience - we at least got a glass of champagne along with our tea, and a traditional tiered serving stand with the sandwiches, scones and sweets, plus a nice upscale trifle for a final dessert. While the photos look like it was nice - it strikes me as not that much different then your typical afternoon tea offerings - albeit slightly more upscale. Curious as to your thoughts on it and if you would recommend it to others?

[karatemom2]

10 hours ago, 2UKSotonCruises said:

• As promised here are some lovely tunes courtesy of Sun Princess.. see if you would enjoy your cruise with these melodies in the background:

 

Simon - YouTube see both the videos and the shorts.. there are a few different tunes to play lol.

 

I don't usually post on cruise critic or use YouTube but I feel the need based on the customer experience onboard this ship.

 

 

Well that is certainly not a pleasant background for any activities going on in the area. Am I understanding correctly that they were holding a yoga class there with all the grinding going on?

[h20skibum]

29 minutes ago, dides said:

Interestingly there was an offer leaflet Spellbound without the meal for the last night of the cruise. We have other plans or might have considered going again at that price!

I wonder if that is a sign that it is not selling as well as they hoped.  I do have it reserved for our upcoming cruise, but those prices for the bar and the show are more reasonable.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

10 hours ago, dides said:

Hi @MsSoCalCruiser I asked on Crewcall chat if they could tailor the Sabatini's menu to someone with a severe dairy allergy and the response, after a while, was:

 

Hope this helps

 

Sandra

 

 

@dides, Thank you so much! That was really kind of you to do that for me! My friend will be so happy to try another new specialty dining venue (we are also going to Catch). I’m super happy and I’m going to check for reservations right now. Thank you again! 🤗