SUN - Oct 14th Part One - Details Details! New Sanctuary experience, ship, boarding, food, shows…

[Wishing on a star]

The good, the bad, and yes - the ugly.  It is all here folks.

I will give all the details that I can. And, this could be loooonnnng!   So I will be posting it by day and by each category.  Hope I can make this interesting and helpful.

 

I will be posting the negatives.  But, keep in mind that we had a WONDERFUL cruise!!!!   : )

 

UPGRADING - Absolute BEST decision that we have made!

We wanted to upgrade, if we could get a reasonable rate, from a Deluxe Balcony to a SANCTUARY Deluxe balcony.  We decided to bid just a bit over what it used to cost to book the Sanctuary for the days we wanted.   Of course, there are very few of these cabins, and this was not happening.  So, I bid that exact same amount for a Sanctuary MiniSuite.  Wow, instant success!  And, especially after experiencing the ship,  we are thanking the heavens!!!!

 

TRAVEL   - Are we actually gonna get there?

Ohhhh My…. Anybody driving Southbound from Chattanooga, Atlanta,  It is a mess!!!  I mean hours and hours in construction, congestion, accidents…. Be aware!   Driving Northbound on our way back was smooth sailing.  But, on the other side, we could see the same major stand-still backups that we had been in.

 

BOARDING - Excitement for the first full sailing from US, FLL.

We took the first shuttle from the Hyatt and arrived just minutes after 10:00.  Yes, the Sun Princess is BIG and impressive!!!  This shuttle has always worked out well, been SO easy and convenient.  Hyatt works with a service, and they have this down to an art.   [ Avanti Shuttle 954-655-1376 ] But, this time, seems EVERYONE was excited to board the new ship.  We jumped out, grabbed our bags, and joined the line of, ohhh, a thousand other people who had been determined to get up early and Uber/Taxi to the Port earlier in the morning!  And we queued up outside.

 

 

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE -  Refund to OBC for dining.

We wanted to head to Customer Service, which is no convenient, or spacious, to make sure to get the $90.00 refunded that we had prepaid for dining prior to upgrading to Premium and Sanctuary Class.  It wasn’t busy that early!  They have staff set up at the entry/line with their Tablets to help as many people as they can, to limit the numbers who have to line up at the actual guest service agents for any more complex issues. And, I understand that they are ushering in Elite guest directly to that counter.  So, that congestion and confusion is, hopefully, much improved!

 

We mentioned any confusion about charging refundable OBC before non-refundable OBC.  The guy told us that this would work correctly, that any problems with that had been worked out.   And, yes, our folio worked perfectly!

 

We headed to ALFREDO’S for lunch.   I don’t get good Pizza in this town, so this was our first stop!   The salad was, well,  so-so…. A bowl of field weeds with a drizzle of some dressing.  The antipasto plate was excellent.  The Italian cured meats that just melt in your mouth, the olives.  And a chunk of what I suppose was aged parmesan.  The soup was rich and savory (maybe a bit salty) Italian veggie soup.  The pizza…. SO good!!!  They make excellent pizza here on the Sun.

 

We were excited to spend the afternoon up in the Sanctuary, so we stopped by our cabin, and headed that way.  We were in 14445 which is, of course, a Sanctuary MiniSuite,  and yes, these are ver nice!!!  Especially when this is your first time in a cabin bigger than a balcony.  All of the cabin videos and reviews are correct.  Really nice.  And the space, storage, and everything (especially the slightly bigger shower, tile with the big shower door.

 

 

The SANCTUARY  -  Somebody get the door!!!!

The Sanctuary is definitely a new and different experience!!!!   They have the pool, hot tub, showers, bar, and light pop music playing.   If you go to the back where it had first been thought to be Suite only, you don’t really get the pool and music scene.  This area is more like the vibe of the other Princess Sanctuaries.

There is even a light Buffett at lunch, with things like different special hummus and dips and chips, cold seafood lightly marinated, spanakopita, and nice warm appetizers.   There is light live music, in the afternoon, like the ships onboard guitarist.  And a few other events at times.

Here is the drawback…. SHADE.   They have added umbrellas for the wonderful padded loungers along each side of the pool.  But, other than that, shade is not to be had.  So, at times, if we wanted shade, we sat in the little seating areas set up on the front and aft of the building where the restrooms are located.  That is def. Not the same as relaxing in a lounger.

 

So, friends, yes, on busy sea days, look at the direction the ship will be sailing, determine where the shade will be,  and GET THERE EARLY if you want shade.  Twice, we ended up in the little seating area.  NO shaded loungers.

The Sanctuary is supposed to be 'no seat saving'....  But, while some/many arrive early to get a spot,  everyone generally is spending that morning or that day in the sanctuary.  So, it was def. not like chair hogs that try to save the best seat, and then come back sometime after lunch.

 

SANCTUARY POOL

It is wonderful to have a sanctuary with a pool!

However, especially with the demographic of the Princess guests…

As you already know…. NO STEPS to access the pool.

And, not only that, but the pool has no area that is shallow enough to stand in.

We saw so many people struggling to pull themselves up and out of the pool on those stairs, or in the pool, with all of their weight on the one shoulder that they have anchoring them to the edge.   This is not enjoyable.   Is this some odd way to inflict frustration and pain???  I kept to the shallow edge areas and the hot-tub (which is wonderful) and the shower!!!!

 

The Sanctuary offers food and drink service.  People sometimes want to set up a game….  But there are NO regular height tables in the Sanctuary…. NONE.  We saw many people juggling their food or games or whatever on the little side tables.   I hope Princess corrects this oversight.

 

PRIVACY PLEASE!   Or, trapped in the restroom

Here is the one odd catch.  Which has probably been posted.

They have these strange electronic sliding doors for the restrooms.

But, this is a problem, because they are really strange, and NOBODY KNOWS HOW TO USE THEM!!!   So, if the light is green you activate the button to open the door to go in.  And after you stand there for a moment wondering what to do next, it slides closed.   BUT YOU HAVE TO THEN ACTIVATE A BUTTON TO LOCK THE DOOR.   And, if you don’t know this, know how to do this….  Somebody else walks up while you are there butt-naked changing or doing your business, activates the button and the whole door slides wide open!!!!!

Ohhhh, my eyes!!!  I can’t un-see this!!!

To make this more confusing, there are TWO buttons inside the door, so you have to figure out how to unlock and OPEN the door to get out!!!!

I believe the trick is to hit the first/right button to turn it red to Lock, Then hit it again to UN-LOCK…. And then maybe hit the button next to that on the left to make the door open so you can get out.

With all of this, and all of the constant confusion, frustration, opening doors…. Guess what…. THERE ARE NO SIGNS EXPLAINING HOW TO ACCESS AND EXIT THE RESTROOMS.   

Princess,  THIS IS A PROBLEM.   I don’t care if you get a piece of paper and some scotch tape.   You need to address this.  Like, yesterday.

 

SAILAWAY

At sailaway, we went by the Pool Deck, just to check out the whole thing, before going to get ready for supper.

The guide boats out making a big show for the new ship in Port!!!

Making rainbows.

 

 

SANCTUARY RESTAURANT   -  ELVIS has not left the building

This was very very nice!!!!   I can not say how Suite guests will feel about this, with their set of expectations.   But it was very very nice!!!  Fresh flower bouquets on the table.   Princess does still need to add some light filtering window treatments or blinds, with maybe sone other decorative piece on the windows.

They do have the Prime Rib cart, which is excellent.

But, I do have to say that the menu, other than that, is not really elevated.

Even the breakfast menu seems to be about the same as the MDR.

The Sanctuary Restaurant is open for breakfast, even on disembarkation day!!!

So, this evening we walked up, the hostess is like a floor manager.  She is very good!

She greeted us by name.  (Again the trusty medallion.)  We told them we really did not want to get a table on the bench seating.  My husband absolutely hates that!   She took us to a nearby table, a 4-top,  inside to the right….

We had ELVIS as our server, and Iryna, from Ukraine, as his assistant.

Elvis is a great server!  Both of them are very very good.

The hostess  (darn, I must not have her name) then seated us in that same place every time we arrived.  We were always seated immediately.  Our drinks and wine served…. Always offered to be refilled if needed.  Always had anything we needed or requested.   

Friends…. REAL, excellent quality butter!  No butter debate here.

And, for me, name brand real Sweet-N-Low.  Which I usually have to always pack and carry with me!

 

DH - checking out the menu in the Sanctuary restaurant.

 

 

Now, the iced tea that I sweeten with this, is another story.

Halfway thru the cruise, the tea changed from what was a regular acceptable tea to some kind of awful stuff that taste like fake Lipton or Kool-aid tea with fake lemon in it.  WTH!!!!

Not only that…. But with NO self service drink stations,  and little to no staff serving 4000 guests…. Well, good luck actually getting an iced tea.

This was bad…. PRINCESS, WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

 

WATER WATER EVERYWHERE,  BUT NONE TO DRINK

Perhaps this is because the ship recently arrived from Europe,  but when we asked for water, I saw right away that this was not fresh, filtered, or spring water, but a European Mineral Water.  Four of these a day would be about 100mg of Sodium.  We asked about regular fresh water,  and THERE IS NONE ONBOARD.

We were in the Sanctuary, and they were able to get us the little bottles of Evian.

(So funny how they pronounce Evian!!!).   Ohhhh, the Gods provided hydration!!!!

We immediately asked for some in our cabin…. More lucky fate.  10 bottles appeared!!!!

Well, after that, the ship must have realized that they simply could not keep up with the demand.  Finding Evian became a search for the Holy Grail!!

We drank ships water when possible….  And found an angel in the Sanctuary who would somehow ‘find’ us a couple of bottles.

PRINCESS -  You MUST have fresh non-mineral water onboard!

 

 

 

After supper we relaxed and checked out Mockingbird, the ships band in the Piazza, and then headed to our nice MiniSuite to wind down and turn in, looking forward to our next day.  A day at sea.

 

I will continue to post these as quickly as I can find time!

Catching up with everything here at home, laundry, ohhh my!!!

 

 

Edited Monday at 06:52 PM by Wishing on a star

[c-boy]

🙂  nice dinner jacket

[jwattle]

Loving this thread; thank you for the very descriptive narrative! ❤️

 

[voljeep]

@Wishing on a star  Your call - I can post some of my experiences in this thread (deluxe balcony, old Premier package) or not.  Your posting is amazing

[Geoffa30]

Having sailed in a Signature Suite on the TA and now in a standard mini suite in the Caribbean, I will say the menu in the MDR and the Signature / now Sanctuary dining room is effectively the same. However the preparation, at least from our experience in the Signature dining room, was much better than the MDR. In our opinion, the food in the Signature dining room on the TA was as good as we’d ever experienced on a cruise including our sailings on Celebrity, Viking and in Queens Grill on Cunard. Whether it’s exactly the same now in the much larger Sanctuary dining room, we will wait to hear. Thankfully our friends who we sailed with on the TA are sailing again in a Sanctuary Collection Suite over Christmas and New Year so will be interesting to hear their opinion on how things compare.

[Wishing on a star]

Vol,  We love to hear all insights!!!

 

Geoff,  Something tells me that the food and preparation in the Sanctuary dining room was much closer to the MDR????  Of coarse, we did not do both, and can not compare.  But it just didn't seem highly elevated to me?

We did love the experience in the new Sanctuary Dining room.

It was never really 'busy'.  It was a nice experience!

Those bare windows with the "view", to me, could be improved.

There is no real sea-view after dark, anyhow.

[dog]

12 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

Vol,  We love to hear all insights!!!

 

Geoff,  Something tells me that the food and preparation in the Sanctuary dining room was much closer to the MDR????  Of coarse, we did not do both, and can not compare.  But it just didn't seem highly elevated to me?

We did love the experience in the new Sanctuary Dining room.

It was never really 'busy'.  It was a nice experience!

Those bare windows with the "view", to me, could be improved.

There is no real sea-view after dark, anyhow.

Popping in for a few minutes because I was excited to see your post!

So happy you got that upgrade to Sanctuary mini suite!

 

I read your review and said that is exactly what I would write. No need for me to do a review.

Looking forward to hearing more from you and Voljeep.

 

logging out of cruise critic for rest of week

dog

[chamima]

Thanks for this live from/review.

I have a question about the mini suite. Are there curtains between the sofa area and the bed area?

Specifically, if the sofa area is closer to the entrance are there curtains that can be drawn to separate it from the bed?

 

Thanks!

 

***

 

Edited Tuesday at 01:14 PM by chamima

[RNRcruisers]

I am excited to read this review. We scored a Sanctuary mini-suite for a great price in January and have never had anything nicer than a balcony before (many insides in fact!). This will be to celebrate our 40th anniversary so we are hoping to really enjoy it.

 

We are looking forward to the Sanctuary and a bit worried about the shade issue. We'll see how it goes. Also wondering how crowded areas around the ship are. 

 

The restaurant looks really nice. We will definitely be spending some time in there!

 

[Wishing on a star]

Dog,  hope you enjoying your cruise!!!  Even you might be spending time online to see this!

 

Chamima,  Yes, there is a very nice curtain.  We never pulled it out, but I understand that you can completely separate the two areas.  The sofa (sleeper) is always at the balcony door in MiniSuites.  The alternation is whether the closets are at the entry, or the Bed is at the entry.

I much prefer the closets to come first, and then the bed and sofa.  

When traveling with more than two, then the additional separation of having the closets in between the bed and the sofa would be good.

Enjoy!

 

I hope that they add some more shade, EVENTUALLY.

I do think it could be done.  Think of the way the sides of the main pool deck are covered by the open deck above.  I think they could add a section of some kind of structurally sturdy solid covers.

 

I really felt so bad for the bartenders when the ship was headed North, and the hot afternoon sun came directly in on them...  I don't know how they could see in the late afternoon!

PRINCESS....  Please, you must build some kind of cover/awning over the bar counter!

 

Crowds....  With these exceptions, the ship was at full capacity, and to us, never felt too crowded.

The new elevator system works well to totally alleviate the whole 'crowds of people running for the first door that opens'.   (Except for at one time, more on that later!!!!)

Three venues are MUCH too small for this ship.

- The Arena (but once you see it as it is intended to be used, it is great!!!!)

- The Dome when there is a popular show in the evening.

- Comediens in Princess Live when they appear in the evenings.

More on how to work with this later.

 

WE avoided the Buffet when it was a busy time.  This was Just as one would expect.

 

Edited Tuesday at 02:33 PM by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

Day TWO!   At SEA    FORMAL NIGHT

 

DH got us two coffees an Almond Croissant from International Cafe, and we began to get ready for the day.

Ohhh, love those croissants and a good specialty coffee!!!

When we were ready we went down and had a nice full service breakfast.  Have to remember how much you will end up eating on a cruise ship in a day!!!

 

We had gone up to the Sanctuary to find a spot,  And, as the ship was headed in a fairly Easterly direction, the ship shaded the very AFT of the Sanctuary.

These new comfy loungers are divine!  it was so nice to spend the morning there, before the sun got too high!  Now THIS is 'cruising'!!!

We had to move out of the sun, later, but still had a great day!  We spent some time inside at mid-day, and had lunch.

 

LUNCH   Can I get a burger from the Hilton????

For lunch I decided I just wanted to go with a basic burger and dog, and try those.   

We decided to see what the Lido Deck was like.   OMG!!!   On a sea day on a full sailing.  It was packed!!!    It was 'a lot'!

Sorry to say this, but the burger was just not that good.  Thin overcooked patty, dry, a small piece of half-stem romain was the lettuce.

Ohhh, I miss the days when Princess served a pretty decent burger!   The cooks were actually using the big spatulas to smash them like smash burgers.

The dog was actually a pretty good hot dog!  I would have had another of those.  I used to like to get the brats or dogs with sauerkraut and mustard, but they don't have that as an option.  

 

We were SO happy to get back to the Sanctuary!

Tried some of the mini-buffet in the Sanctuary too!  It was not set up when we left our seats....  Very Mediterranean inspired.

We cut our sea day off early, as this is formal night, and we have early reservations at Sabatini's.   Even when cruising, we like to have supper early, so then we can continue our evening, and not be up really late.  Okay, the years are catching up to us!!!  

 

FORMAL NIGHT  -  Sparkley Shoes!

We were dressed to our finest for Formal Night.  Yes, I brought out my sparkly strappy heels.

And, when we went down, there was light music in the Piazza, and a good number of people in their nice attire, getting the photos, etc.   Got a couple of the photos, a glass of wine.    It was the perfect pre-dinner formal evening!

 

SABATINI'S

Since we were there at an early time, they weren't full and they gave us a nice table.

I was looking forward to the Lobster Tortelloni.  It looked really really good!  But, when I tried it, the flavor just wasn't there.

It was like it was missing seasoning?   This actually has small chunks of Lobster over the Tortelloni.  But, Lobster is tricky.  If it is cooked 45 seconds too long, it is chewy.  And mine was chewy.

Everything else was as expected.  I had the Branzino, keeping with the seafood theme, as we seemed to having a lot of beef and heavier meals.

It was very nice!   But, just too much salt.    Had a Tiramisu Martini for dessert!

 

There wasn't a show that we were interested in, so we once again checked out the Piazza, and then called it a night.

 

CASINO

As you can see, we are not cruisers who are into the Trivia, Casino, etc.

We did walk thru the Casino during the cruise, and I was surprised that there was not as much smoke as I expected.

To me, anyway, it wasn't too bad.

[voljeep]

I'll briefly add a little ...

 

Milton paid us a visit early Thur morning before embarkation on Monday - no power, but still had water and cell service.  No damage (until we discovered the beer fridge in the garage wasn't cooling, but still had power - compressor?

 

decided Friday to bump up our scheduled driven down on Sunday to Saturday (with power still out) and spend 2 nights at the Hilton Marina - our go to, but now may be former - the pool tiki bar is gone.

Ate lunch at Southport Raw Bar and 15th Steet Fisheries the 2 days - good and consistent with prior visits.

 

later for now, but will add as I can

[Sharon Wilson]

Thank you for posting from the SUN, we are so looking forward to boarding in a few weeks,

Really appreciate your insight and first hand experiences.

 

Question regarding PREMIER @ $90.00 with Specialty Dining Included

So not specific to SUN, but that is our next Princess cruise.

 

We are currently booked on the Sun Princess for 14 Nights (Nov 9th Sailing) and we booked 

and paid for it as a 14 night cruise.

 

We are sailing in a full suite and when we booked we added the $80.00 PREMIER PKG

We booked OCT 2023 for clarity and have the same suite for both weeks.

 

Even though this is a 14 night booking, my understanding is that because we turnaround in

Port Everglades (FLL) after week 1, in essence this is a B2B and guests will be processed

as “In Transit Guests”.

 

So here is my 1st question

Will we be able to upgrade the PREMIER PKG from $80.00 to PREMIER at $90 for the second week

With both of us just paying the difference of $70 each for the second week whilst we are on the ship?

 

(We have all the SD we require for week 1 booked and locked in and totally happy with our schedule.

So no requirement to Upgrade for week 1.

 

I know this is not a normal occurrence and something out of left field, but a nuance that if we 

could actually do this on the ship, we would be happy to pay $140.00 total to have SD every night

for the second leg of the 14 night (B2B cruise).

 

I also understand we could just Upgrade now for $280, but because we have week 1 all as we like, 

Its only the second week we would want to take advantage of the NEW $90 PREMIER PKG

 

So interested on Y’alls thoughts on this, obviously once onboard we will ask and see what is said

and report back

 

2nd Question (Bed Placement)

We are in a Vista Suite (Booked as a Penthouse Suite), we were never notified of this change from

Princess - Found out on cruise critic.

(Deck 15 - AFT) Are all the Vista Suites Set up 

Closet - Bed - Sofa  Configuration (We are team sofa nearest to Balcony)

 

Thank you

Look forward to hearing more about the Sanctuary Collection and all it has to offer, can’t wait to be onboard.

[Wishing on a star]

I can not answer your specific questions with any certainty.

I believe you SHOULD be able to upgrade to the new PREMIER.

But, whether Princess thinks this is another thing altogether.

Maybe somebody can post the standard policy for adding a package onboard.

Do they not require this be done by the first day onboard????

 

I will say this.  If you are in a Suite, on the SUN Princess, and you dine at the Sanctuary Dining room, you might not want to do Specialty Dining every night.  

Our visit to Crown Grill was underwhelming.  And, actually about the same as some past visits.

I would hope that some of the newer Specialty Restaurant options are better.

 

Of course, you can upgrade your booking/sailing to the new PREMIER.  

It might not work online, but you should be able to do this by calling Princess or your Travel Agent.

 

I think you might get some good insight if you post your own separate thread... UPGRADING FROM PREMIER 80 TO NEW PREMIER FOR LAST PART OF 14 DAY CRUISE.

 

I could help look at deck plans and photos and videos of these suites, and this might answer your question about the sofa.   But, will have to do this later if you do not find out for sure.

 

Happy Sailing!

Edited Tuesday at 04:13 PM by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

I just went back to my photos, as I forget to pull some of these in my post!

We did actually see one show...  ( a cruise goes by so fast, it all runs together!!! )

Here is Janice Martin...  She also goes up on aerialist satin drapes, and performs and plays her violin while she is upside down!  She was on America's Got Talent.

 

 

 

 

Here is DH enjoying the wake view from the loungers at the Aft of the Sanctuary.

 

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 04:46 PM by Wishing on a star

[Wishing on a star]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

I'll briefly add a little ...

 

Milton paid us a visit early Thur morning before embarkation on Monday - no power, but still had water and cell service.  No damage (until we discovered the beer fridge in the garage wasn't cooling, but still had power - compressor?

 

decided Friday to bump up our scheduled driven down on Sunday to Saturday (with power still out) and spend 2 nights at the Hilton Marina - our go to, but now may be former - the pool tiki bar is gone.

Ate lunch at Southport Raw Bar and 15th Steet Fisheries the 2 days - good and consistent with prior visits.

 

later for now, but will add as I can

 

Wow,  I am so glad that you were relatively unscathed by Milton!!!

I see what you mean by changing your go-to when the Pool Tiki Bar is a must!

 

[voljeep]

not that when we saw her ... technical difficulties 🙄

[Wishing on a star]

Ohhh shoot!!!!

 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 04:53 PM by Wishing on a star

[voljeep]

Our day 1 - Embarkation - we arrived about 10:15, and as stated, the line was looped from the entrance.  I walk with a quad cane for balance purposes.  The Princess rep at the entrance saw us and asked if I needed a wheelchair - nah, all good - then he proceeded to undo the velvet rope and said come this way - behind 2 wheelchairs - total line averted - NO stops until on board easily by 11:00, if not sooner.

 

went to cabin, ready, just finishing vacuuming

 

confirmed UBD time for Amber Cove Day

 

ate lunch at O'Malley's - will expand later,  dinner at Catch - very good for us

[JGmf]

@Wishing on a star  Thanks for this review.  I will eagerly read all of it as you posts.  We're in a Sanctuary mini-suite 4 doors down from your room this January, so your perspective is extra relevant to us.

 

(Glad you got over the anxiety of not having the Retreat Pool as your non-Sanctuary option. I recall that was a big concern of yours...same with the window treatments in the Sanctuary dining room!)

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

Ohhh shoot!!!!

 

 

IMG_5026.MOV 35.82 MB · 3 downloads  

 

that was shown on the screen during the on stage performance

[Wishing on a star]

Sailaway at Amber Cove was wonderful !!!!

Wish we had reserved Catch instead of Crown Grill....  Hindsight!!!!

 

Did you notice when the captain rotated the ship?

The effect was stunning from the 360' atrium!

[Wishing on a star]

FGmf...  Enjoy!!!

The cabin and the location are wonderful.

And, on a longer cruise, you will have time to spend in the Sanctuary, and the newly Adult-Only Sea View Terrace!

[worldtraveller]

Any photos of the breakfast menu on a sea day?

[Wishing on a star]

Sorry, no actual photo...  But it seems pretty standard and limited.  

Like the MDR.

You can request what you like!