Shogun Live from The Sun

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Glad to hear you got home safe and sound

Thanks for the live thread, it has been interesting reading between yours and others views on there threads.

Hopefully we will continue to have live posts from the SUN and hear first hand what is going on before our sailing in September.

Thanks :)

[Bettyboop66]

Shogun, I wish that you had been on my cruise on the Sun 12/10-12/20. We had problems as well, and people were complaining everywhere I went. It almost ruined my cruise. Hopefully we will cruise together one day.

Betty

[SailAways]

Hi Folks,

 

Well made it home just, the plane got struck by lightening.

 

My point is we all need our posts to reflect the true picture on board,

 

I will be sending Princess a letter in it I will praise the good points and highlight the bad points, of this cruise.

 

bye for now

 

Shogun

 

Wow - sorry about the lightening strike, that is always scary! Glad it worked out.

 

Realizing that you are such a positive person, this sounds rather ominous.

 

If there is anything which truly does need to be shared with those of us who have future Sun cruises booked, please reveal it to us.

 

Your positive attitude should not keep you from being able to discuss the negative with us here on CC. We can then each determine, as always, if the issues are important to us individually.

 

Your teaser only makes me, for one, even more skeptical. Can you please enlighten us somewhat.

 

Thanks Shogun. Your "Live" thread has been the best!

 

Glad you are safely home, and ready for the next cruise!:D

[SailAways]

Drats - Double post - Again!!! Sorry

[las313]

Thanks Shogun for all your reports on the Sun. We were on the 12/10 cruise that lost it's a/c. Seems like on the last few cruises Princess has had to shell out $100's lots. Good PR. Enjoyed reliving our cruise thru you.

Louise in FLA:)

[haggis]

Welcome home to the real World. Your live reports have been greatly anticipated every day. Good work.

Now you'll see your tan drain down the plug hole.

Regards. Jimmy

[huskerdan25]

she said she had almost cancelled, but had read posts from Shogun, and thought the cruise could not be all that bad.

 

My point is we all need our posts to refect the true picture on board,

 

while we may be unhappy with many points on a cruise to make others consider cancelling there cruise because of what we write, is not something I would want to be responsible for.

 

Shogun, thanks for sharing your cruise with us and for pointing out the good and the bad while keeping such a positive attitude about things. I couldn't agree more that we do the board a great service in sharing our experiences without a motive of encouraging others to either cancel their cruises or signing up for a cruise with Princess. I believe we should share our experiences and let those that read them decide without adding comments like "I will never cruise with this line again." Things happen, some worse than others. Thank you for being so positive and again, it would be great to cruise with you!

 

I hope your next cruise is better.

 

Dan

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

Thank you for your kind words,

 

The bad points as I see them are,

 

When we first arrived at check in we were not told straight away that there was going to be a delay in boarding,

they did tells us the reason about the bug on board and the cleaning, they did not tell us that we would be sailing under bug conditions, closed of loos no self service etc, no reason why they should not, they did not tell us how long this would last OK an out break on board would have thrown all plans out the window, but they could have stated that these conditions would last the cruise, and then if we got a day or of normal service we would be happy, not knowing if the ship was sick or when restrictions would be lifted made people worry.

The engine problems was handled as far as I can tell as best as possible, however my concern is when did the ship know about the problem, if this happened on the last few days of the cruise before us the ship could welll have covered up this fact and still made times for ports, the fact that we had long sailings into stong head winds ment without full power we had no chance of making or times. Was or problem connected to any other problems on other cruises.

 

I found no problems with the service, or the food, or any other aspect of the cruise, some times things were slow but with so many people handing out food or cleaning the ship this was acceptable.

 

Now as we got into the port far to early on the morning of boarding we were able to see Princess clean everything that could have been touched by the out going passengers including the metal luggage cages used by the fork liffts, the lifts inside the terminal etc so was pleased to see such a level of cleaning just did not realise what it all would mean for my cruise.

 

hopes this helps,

 

 

on the ligther side of things

 

last night Mrs Shogun went to the casino with $20 and walked out with $250, she then spotted my clean clothes for the next day and put them in a suit case and gave it to the porter. On our day in Ft L she booked a taxi to take us shopping to the local plazza, the driver dropped us off we walked in it was a retail park for home improvements etc miles from anywhere with no taxis or buses, she had picked the wrong one, I had to walk to a near by Marriott go up to the front desk and request a taxi as a guest would as there were 5 ships in no taxis could be got the hotel made many calls not wanting to up set a guest we got a taxi that came from Miami. Then she did it again my clothes that I had looked out for going home in were to be put in our carry on bag she locked them in the suitcase so I never got to see them again until I got home. Some times you win other times you don't but that does not stop you playing the game, travel is an adventure.

 

 

yours Shogun

[mii]

Shogun I cannot begin to tell you how refreshing your "live" thread was. You listed the good and the bad but you still kept a positive attitude. That is exactly the way we cruise too. Naturally no one has a perfect cruise, but you just deal with it and go on. Lately there has been some reviews that everything has gone wrong, they want compensation for this and that, missed ports, etc. You had all of those things happened to you and you dealt with it in a proper manner. I thank you again for a great live thread.

 

Marilyn

[mii]

Sorry, double post.

 

marilyn

[renal]

Shogun,

 

I appreciate all the details of your cruise. 7 of us are going to take the Sun on Feb 8th, we're a little nervous about some of the things you've discussed, but we'll make it fun. Typically, we sail on larger ships like the Caribbean Princess or the Grand, but those also have problems with overcrowding, lack of beach chairs, not great service, etc. Wondering if you could tell me which of the Islands are worth touring - Curaco, Isla Margarita?

Anything else you can add would be appreciated.

Welcome home!

[SailAways]

The engine problems was handled as far as I can tell as best as possible, however my concern is when did the ship know about the problem, if this happened on the last few days of the cruise before us the ship could welll have covered up this fact and still made times for ports, the fact that we had long sailings into stong head winds ment without full power we had no chance of making or times. Was or problem connected to any other problems on other cruises.

 

yours Shogun

 

Engine problems on the Sun were mentioned by geoherb in their" Member Review" for CC. Their cruise was 12-06-06.........

 

There have been several other folks mention engine and AC problems on this ship within the past month to 6 weeks.

 

So, the problem has been around for a bit - probably through several cruises. Makes one wonder, doesn't it????:confused:

[SailAways]

Double again - these boards are really stuttering today!

[cruiseapril]

Thanks for your very good and enjoyable reports. Travel is an adventure and you know how to make the best of it!

[Shogun]

Hi Renal,

 

 

On IM there is an American couple who do very good tours in there SUV you need to book them well in advance, the island is I think the most misunderstood island ever, some people hate it think it should be dropped,

part of the problem is where you dock its in the middle of nowhere, so you have three options, stay on ship, go to very good local stalls at ship and then to beech next to dock or go on tour either a ships on your own, but you can not just walk off and do your own thing. Now Princess overs a range of tours most people seem hapy with what has been offered, the only one I would raise a question againest is the dolphin encouter as this takes place miles away in a old type zoo in a big above ground tank. Then if you do not go and spend money what will happen to the animals etc.

 

The jeep 4*4 is total mad a little bit risky but great fun, party bus gets drunk etc.

 

Curaco, very good shops, but also very nice highlight tours of the island etc, If I was picking a cruise and all things were equal and I had to pick between them I would Curaco every time one of my reasons would be is that IM is always a short day.

 

yours Shogun

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

For those who asked about hotels in Ft L.

 

We stayed at The Red Carpet Inn, do not stay here, it has been given a coat of white wash and it needed it, I know there is building work being done, also watch out for changing its name, as my taxi driver said after I had stayed there the only people who enjoy it are the long distance truckers who stay there, pay for the services of the women who operate from there and the bed bugs that bite them.

 

We also stayed at the Ramada Inn Airport/Cruise Port Hotel which is opposite the one above, this has one great advantage over many in that it has a luggage store room you can arrive early leave your luggage all day then go to your room at night, you can put your bags back into storage have a day out and about go back in the afternoon collect bags and they will still provide a free bus to air port or cruise port. The room is nothing to right home about, it does have a very good tv system with cable so loads of films to pick from etc. Has bar , night club and place to eat, now this is a two star place, while room wash clean and bath room wash very clean, sheets on bed were not did not spot this wish I had as got bitten by a few bugs. However would still say to use this place but it is not the Hilton. While there met loads going on the QM2 they were not happy about being put up in this hotel,

 

Staff were helpful. Food plenty of it but rather home made did not eat breakfast as to many hands had been in the buffet before I got there, but it was free.

 

Went to saw grass mall from here before getting planre home cost was $26 for taxi which seemed Ok to me took about 15 minutes to get there, same taxi came back for us at agreed time, mall is very good prices and range of shops would keep any shopper happy for a day or two.

 

Any questions about things please just ask and will try to answer.

 

 

yours Shogun

[JohnGaltny]

Shogun,

 

We were on the SUN to Alaska in July and reading your stuff was like Deja Vu all over again. I especially like your take on the weird stuff and odd bits. You and I apparently agree they are part of the fun.

 

If you'd like, see if you can find my Alaska Journals topic on this board. I have a feeling you'll look at them and either say "Yep -- that's right" or "Jeez, what a moron". Let me know which it was.

 

Thanks again for a most entertaining read.

 

JG

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,

 

This boards at it again you post and it does not appear then you check and you have a reply so others can see it so were is it gone.

 

yours Shogun

[robtulipe]

Hi Renal,

 

 

On IM there is an American couple who do very good tours in there SUV you need to book them well in advance, the island is I think the most misunderstood island ever, some people hate it think it should be dropped,

part of the problem is where you dock its in the middle of nowhere, so you have three options, stay on ship, go to very good local stalls at ship and then to beech next to dock or go on tour either a ships on your own, but you can not just walk off and do your own thing. Now Princess overs a range of tours most people seem hapy with what has been offered, the only one I would raise a question againest is the dolphin encouter as this takes place miles away in a old type zoo in a big above ground tank. Then if you do not go and spend money what will happen to the animals etc.

 

The jeep 4*4 is total mad a little bit risky but great fun, party bus gets drunk etc.

 

Curaco, very good shops, but also very nice highlight tours of the island etc, If I was picking a cruise and all things were equal and I had to pick between them I would Curaco every time one of my reasons would be is that IM is always a short day.

 

yours Shogun

We stayed a week on Magarrita Island and did a cruise stop there about 5 years ago and we were not impressed with it either time. We found the island to be very dirty and the water not clear for swimming since it is so close to S.A. where many rivers empty into the sea. It was a good inexpensive shopping port for leather goods, clothes, liquor, cigarrettes , electronics and jewellery as it has duty free status. It is better to buy electronics in St. Thomas or P.R. ( duyt free ) since you can get a US warranty.

[las313]

We took the Sun on the 12/10 cruise. In dominica we did the princess tour with Jaco falls. It was amazing. The island is beautiful. The people are poor but very proud.

In Curacao we did the trolly. OK but really not worth the money.

And Isle Margarita - don't miss shopping for pearls at the shops on the dock.

If you have never been to St John's in the Virgin Islands, take the Princess tour that does the island. They take care of getting you to the ferry and back. You will be in St Thomas on a sunday and the shops in town close at 1 so you will miss this as the tour is in the morning. In the afternoon, you could take an island tour with Godfrey. Check out the cc website for more details.

Hope this helps

Louise in FLA

[Icedog]

Back in Canada after our "maiden" cruise....

 

As Empress of Purple mentioned, had a couple of hiccups at the opening that, to be quite honest, seemed insignificant come the end of the cruise. We just had a stellar time and highly doubt that we will ever go on a land based vacation ever again. Just awesome....

 

We are going to do up a member review from our first time cruiser POV and we will detail all the thumbs up and thumbs down.

 

Briefly, some of the positives and negatives....

 

Had no issue at all with the bug measures being taken and really appreciated the efforts of the staff to mitigate the possibility of contracting the "BIG D". I am happy to report that we never experienced any issues and the staff were #1 on #2!!!! :-)

 

The entertainment was top notch. Saw all the production shows but the curtain up show. The two lead performers were just so talented and the supporting "Sun Princess Dancers" just worked so hard but looked as if they loved being up on stage and doing their thing. Lots of comedians!!! Being stand up fans, the variety of shows was great. We pretty much went to two shows a night.

 

The steakhouse up in the Horizon Court was incredible. Moonlit nights in the middle of the Carribbean Sea, your beautiful wife across from you and two 10 oz. filet mingnon's with melting chipotle butter sitting on a plate before you.... Top notch. We went there three times over the 10 days. Well worth the $15 cover charge.

 

I also have to say that the wait staff at our table were also awesome and two great guys to boot. We were the early sitting, table 150 and had Marshal and Cheewin. These guys bent over backwards, ensured that all of our special orders were met, and did it all with a smile. We made certain to fill in the C.R.U.I.S.E. nomination forms for them.

 

New Years Eve in the Atrium was a blast!!!!

 

Some of the inevitable negatives....

 

We did find two socks under our bed when we arrived in our stateroom. Room cleanliness was sometimes an issue. Made beds were about the extent of the room service. I'm not going to be overly critical, but I am thinking that there were better cabin stewards on board.

 

Our flower order go messed up. We had to wait in excess of 2 hours in our stateroom on the first sea day waiting for this to get cleared up. Not what you want for your first sea day, and on new years eve at that.... They they still got it wrong as we received two boudinears (sp?). We wanted a wrist corsage for my wife to go with the formal night on new years eve. That never arrived, but we did get a phone call from the pursers desk to apologize.

 

The propulsion issues.... This was more disappointing then cause for anger. We live in the eastern Canadian arctic. The wind chill in our hometown of Iqaluit, Nunavut on the day we left Port Everglades was -52 celcius. Missing our day on Mambo Beach in Curacao was extremely disappointing. It really meant something to us to experience that given our typical January cold weather.... It cost us in excess of $5k in airfare to get to Fort Lauderdale from Nunavut. To be reimbursed only $100 for our lost experiences was not equitable in our opinion given the investment that we made to be there.

 

As I did say though, there was no anger over the situation. It was more disappointing then anything. We did all that we could to make the best of it and made lemonade with the lemons and still had a blast.

 

Have an eye out for our "Member Review". Cheers folks!!!! g.

[Icedog]

Back in Canada after our "maiden" cruise....

 

As Empress of Purple mentioned, had a couple of hiccups at the opening that, to be quite honest, seemed insignificant come the end of the cruise. We just had a stellar time and highly doubt that we will ever go on a land based vacation ever again. Just awesome....

 

We are going to do up a member review from our first time cruiser POV and we will detail all the thumbs up and thumbs down.

 

Briefly, some of the positives and negatives....

 

Had no issue at all with the bug measures being taken and really appreciated the efforts of the staff to mitigate the possibility of contracting the "BIG D". I am happy to report that we never experienced any issues and the staff were #1 on #2!!!! :-)

 

The entertainment was top notch. Saw all the production shows but the curtain up show. The two lead performers were just so talented and the supporting "Sun Princess Dancers" just worked so hard but looked as if they loved being up on stage and doing their thing. Lots of comedians!!! Being stand up fans, the variety of shows was great. We pretty much went to two shows a night.

 

The steakhouse up in the Horizon Court was incredible. Moonlit nights in the middle of the Carribbean Sea, your beautiful wife across from you and two 10 oz. filet mingnon's with melting chipotle butter sitting on a plate before you.... Top notch. We went there three times over the 10 days. Well worth the $15 cover charge.

 

I also have to say that the wait staff at our table were also awesome and two great guys to boot. We were the early sitting, table 150 and had Marshal and Cheewin. These guys bent over backwards, ensured that all of our special orders were met, and did it all with a smile. We made certain to fill in the C.R.U.I.S.E. nomination forms for them.

 

New Years Eve in the Atrium was a blast!!!!

 

Some of the inevitable negatives....

 

We did find two socks under our bed when we arrived in our stateroom. Room cleanliness was sometimes an issue. Made beds were about the extent of the room service. I'm not going to be overly critical, but I am thinking that there were better cabin stewards on board.

 

Our flower order go messed up. We had to wait in excess of 2 hours in our stateroom on the first sea day waiting for this to get cleared up. Not what you want for your first sea day, and on new years eve at that.... They they still got it wrong as we received two boudinears (sp?). We wanted a wrist corsage for my wife to go with the formal night on new years eve. That never arrived, but we did get a phone call from the pursers desk to apologize.

 

The propulsion issues.... This was more disappointing then cause for anger. We live in the eastern Canadian arctic. The wind chill in our hometown of Iqaluit, Nunavut on the day we left Port Everglades was -52 celcius. Missing our day on Mambo Beach in Curacao was extremely disappointing. It really meant something to us to experience that given our typical January cold weather.... It cost us in excess of $5k in airfare to get to Fort Lauderdale from Nunavut. To be reimbursed only $100 for our lost experiences was not equitable in our opinion given the investment that we made to be there.

 

As I did say though, there was no anger over the situation. It was more disappointing then anything. We did all that we could to make the best of it and made lemonade with the lemons and still had a blast.

 

Have an eye out for our "Member Review". Cheers folks!!!! g.

[Icedog]

Back in Canada after our "maiden" cruise....

 

As Empress of Purple mentioned, had a couple of hiccups at the opening that, to be quite honest, seemed insignificant come the end of the cruise. We just had a stellar time and highly doubt that we will ever go on a land based vacation ever again. Just awesome....

 

We are going to do up a member review from our first time cruiser POV and we will detail all the thumbs up and thumbs down.

 

Briefly, some of the positives and negatives....

 

Had no issue at all with the bug measures being taken and really appreciated the efforts of the staff to mitigate the possibility of contracting the "BIG D". I am happy to report that we never experienced any issues and the staff were #1 on #2!!!! :-)

 

The entertainment was top notch. Saw all the production shows but the curtain up show. The two lead performers were just so talented and the supporting "Sun Princess Dancers" just worked so hard but looked as if they loved being up on stage and doing their thing. Lots of comedians!!! Being stand up fans, the variety of shows was great. We pretty much went to two shows a night.

 

The steakhouse up in the Horizon Court was incredible. Moonlit nights in the middle of the Carribbean Sea, your beautiful wife across from you and two 10 oz. filet mingnon's with melting chipotle butter sitting on a plate before you.... Top notch. We went there three times over the 10 days. Well worth the $15 cover charge.

 

I also have to say that the wait staff at our table were also awesome and two great guys to boot. We were the early sitting, table 150 and had Marshal and Cheewin. These guys bent over backwards, ensured that all of our special orders were met, and did it all with a smile. We made certain to fill in the C.R.U.I.S.E. nomination forms for them.

 

New Years Eve in the Atrium was a blast!!!!

 

Some of the inevitable negatives....

 

We did find two socks under our bed when we arrived in our stateroom. Room cleanliness was sometimes an issue. Made beds were about the extent of the room service. I'm not going to be overly critical, but I am thinking that there were better cabin stewards on board.

 

Our flower order go messed up. We had to wait in excess of 2 hours in our stateroom on the first sea day waiting for this to get cleared up. Not what you want for your first sea day, and on new years eve at that.... They they still got it wrong as we received two boudinears (sp?). We wanted a wrist corsage for my wife to go with the formal night on new years eve. That never arrived, but we did get a phone call from the pursers desk to apologize.

 

The propulsion issues.... This was more disappointing then cause for anger. We live in the eastern Canadian arctic. The wind chill in our hometown of Iqaluit, Nunavut on the day we left Port Everglades was -52 celcius. Missing our day on Mambo Beach in Curacao was extremely disappointing. It really meant something to us to experience that given our typical January cold weather.... It cost us in excess of $5k in airfare to get to Fort Lauderdale from Nunavut. To be reimbursed only $100 for our lost experiences was not equitable in our opinion given the investment that we made to be there.

 

As I did say though, there was no anger over the situation. It was more disappointing then anything. We did all that we could to make the best of it and made lemonade with the lemons and still had a blast.

 

Have an eye out for our "Member Review". Cheers folks!!!! g.

[Shogun]

Hi There Icedog,

 

Got to ask do you have a dog back home,

 

Apart from that glad you enjoyed your first cruise, the steak house is excellant why folk complain about it is some thing I do not understand, you should try there fish dish, it is massive, and very good. I have written a note to Princess about the $100 as I think they could give us more in the way of a future crise credit you may wish to do the same.

 

I think this was a very nice cruise, OK seas were a little rough, it was windy most days the temps were OK but not great and there was sun every day between the clouds, but this has nothing to do with Princess.

 

Princess controls, the food the service the shows etc and on this they did a good job, it could be better but then again the cruise price could be more, so I for one think I got value for my money and that is all I can wish for from a holiday company.

 

As to the ship breaking down, it happens to all ships at some time, as for the bug they did an excellant job in preventing us all getting it.

 

Next years cruise is already book on the Emerald sailing on Dec the 26th.

 

yours Shogun

[Shogun]

Hi Folks,,

 

 

I spend 10 days on an infected ship catch nothing, go to a hotel for one night get eaten by bugs, eat something in FT L that I should not have then fly home to find that some kind person on the plane has given a sore throat which has now ment no voice can not swallow and feel as sick as the green parotts that we saw.

 

 

yours Shogun