deladane

Great start to the review!  Your writing style reminds me of my own reviews haha  Wishing you a wonderful trip and I can't wait to follow along.  We just booked this same itinerary for 2026 for our 10 year anniversary.  When I looked at the travel agent list of the ports, it included Santorini, Istanbul, and Kotor.  When Princess officially posted the itineraries on their website, they dropped Santorini and Istanbul and replaced it with Naples and Kusadasi.  I was heartbroken as they replaced 2 of my bucket list places with 2 places I have already visited!  And now I am hearing that Kotor is being replaced with Bar.  I seriously considered booking something else, but Princess doesn't have any other similar itineraries, so I'll make this itinerary work.  Plus, DH hasn't been to most of these ports so it will be fun to see them through his eyes.  My cruise is still over 2 years away, so I look forward to living vicariously through you!  Safe travels!

Oh wow, that is very different from what I was expecting based on the other sideways inside cabins on the last few ships.  It still seems like it will feel bigger than a regular inside cabin with all of that floor space when you first enter.  Too bad it doesn't have the extra closet and desk space of the other layout!

I watch a ton of TV at home, but on a cruise, I never even turn the TV on while on a cruise.  There's way more exciting things to do!  I do agree that is an absurd place to put the TV for people who do want to watch it. 

Thank you for your reply and the schematic of the cabin layout!  That is very disappointing since it seems to have way less counter and shelving space versus the Royal class’s sideways interiors.
 

Has anyone actually stayed in one of these cabins who can verify for certain what the layout is?  
 

Also, the deck plans on princess.com show 11617 as a mini-suite, not an inside cabin… I can only hope that it is a different layout 🤞🤞

I have seen lots of great photos and reviews of the sideways inside cabins on many Princess ships, but I can't find any details on these sideways cabins on the Sun.  They only have a few of them on decks 15 and 17 aft, and 10 and 11 forward.  Has anyone stayed in one of these cabins on the Sun, and can you please share some photos of the layout?  Is it the same layout as the ones on other ships where the entry door is in the middle of the cabin, and the bed is on one side, and an elongated desk is on the other side, with the bathroom, closet and lots of shelving around the corner behind the desk?  I am seriously considering one of these cabins for an upcoming cruise, but just want to know what I'm signing up for!  Thanks in advance! 

OMG!  That story about losing your GoPro had me on the edge of my seat!  I'm so glad your instructor was able to find it and return it to you safely!!  It reminds me of when I went stand up paddle boarding in St. Kitts on my 2012 Carnival Victory cruise, and the instructor offered to take my camera to take photos of us SUPing.  Towards the end of the tour, he put it in the cargo pocket of his swim trunks and when I asked for it back at the end of the tour, I saw a look of horror on his face as he realized he no longer had the camera in his pocket.  One of his friends took him on a jet ski to backtrack along the route we had taken and an hour later, he returned with my camera!  I had a floating wristband attached to it and he saw it bobbing along the shore near where we had stopped to take a rest break.  That was over a decade ago and I still remember it like it was yesterday because nearly losing my camera with all of my vacation photos was so traumatic!  So I definitely feel your pain and know exactly how you felt on that boat waiting for your guide to return!!  Whew!!

I am making a mental note about this scuba tour... it will be a few years before we can take Ian on a DSD tour, but I am sure we will take many more Mexican Riviera cruises in the years to come with living in Arizona, so I definitely want to visit that site one day!

3 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

 

 

Well, it's really hard to answer that question about the price. It is definitely expensive for an activity in Mexico I feel like. It's definitely more expensive than even going to our local zoo, which is HUGE and well known because of Jack Hanna. But, I guess it was worth it for us because it gave us something to do for the day other than just walk around and explore or ride around on a tour. Sakari is an animal lover and it suited her well and she was excited to go so that made it worth it. I looked at it this way, we would have spent that on an excursion had we done it, so this was our excursion for the day. 🙂 

Yea, that is pretty much my rationale as well.  Plus, Ian will still qualify as an infant on this trip so we may as well go while he is still free!  

I'm so glad you guys went to the aquarium!  We will be back in Mazatlan in January as we are sailing on the Discovery Princess for New Years (switching it up instead of doing the same Panorama cruise 2 years in a row!).  We will be in Mazatlan on New Years Eve day and wanted a half-day activity to make sure to be back on the ship around lunch time so Ian can take his nap and hopefully not have a meltdown again like he did last year!  I had looked into going to the aquarium last year in case our day pass to Hotel Playa fell through, so now we are planning to finally get to the aquarium next year.  There really wasn't much info about it when I was doing my research last fall, so I am bookmarking this page of your review. 

Did you think it was worth the $30 per person for admission?  That seems a little steep for an aquarium in Mexico (especially considering we only paid $12 per person to go to the zoo in Puerto Vallarta).  Did you think it was a good value?

8 hours ago, mitsugirly said:

I don't understand...why did La Paz give you PTSD? I'm confused. 

 

 

Why? I'm confused?

 

Kim, JerseyGirl and I were on the same New Years Eve cruise.  She posted in my review about her insane day in La Paz when she went out on the boat to see whale sharks and it was horrible seas and very dangerous and they were so late coming back that they nearly missed the ship.  You definitely read about it when she posted in my review in January!  Just thinking about her day raises my heartbeat!  

5 hours ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

 

Your pics of La Paz gave me PTSD.  

🤣🤣🤣 IYKYK

I just got caught up. I’m so sorry your La Paz tour was cancelled. I was looking forward to living vicariously through you swimming with sea lions and whale sharks!  It’s weird that it was so chilly for you in early April. I think we had warmer weather in early January!

Looking forward to reading your review!  I loved my ABC cruise on Celebrity back in 2018!

Great start to your review! I look forward to following along as I just did this itinerary for the New Years Eve cruise!

Yay!! I have been waiting for you to post your review! I can’t wait to see how you liked the Mexican Riviera!

I cruised out of Long Beach on the Panorama for the New Years Eve cruise, so the ship was filled to capacity with nearly 5000 passengers.  We took my toddler on his first cruise and opted not to get him a passport, so we traveled with his birth certificate and my husband and I both took our passports.  At debarkation, the line for passports was crazy long, wrapping all the way up to the top of the ramp when exiting the ship.  We flew passed them all the way to the front and had no line at all for the birth certificate line (they were able to look at our passports there too since obviously we couldn't send our toddler on his own to the BC line).  I assume that not every port operates the same way, but we were happy with our decision to use his BC as it saved us a lot of time in the long and slow-moving passport line in Long Beach.

14 minutes ago, luvs said:

I am sailing the Panorama on a 7 night cruise out of Long Beach. Do you know what the total cost of parking will be if I check in at 930am on Saturday 3/2 and return to retrieve my car by 830am on Saturday 3/9? Some places charge for 8 days and not 7/24 hour periods.

I don't know the exact daily pricing to park in the garage because we used Uber.  Maybe someone else can chime in about that?

I don't think it will be possible for you to retrieve your car by 8:30am.  Unlike most other cruises from other ports who arrive back to their homeports at like 5 or 6am, the Panorama doesn't arrive back in Long Beach until 7am.  According to our paperwork, the earliest time to debark was 9:15am, and then you still need to get off the ship, through the terminal, through passport control, over to the garage, and up to your car.

On 2/8/2024 at 4:16 PM, Kingsmom said:

Thank you so much for the great review.  It got me all pumped and ready to board!

Thanks for following along!  I hope you have a great cruise!

On 2/7/2024 at 8:57 PM, sab666711 said:

Nice strike brewing shirt. I believe you guys used to live in SJ

Thanks!  Yes, we lived in San Jose for about 8 years and Strike was one of our favorite breweries.  I told Jason you liked his shirt, and he was excited someone recognized it!

On 2/7/2024 at 6:02 AM, EllieinNJ said:

What a great review.  Even though I have grandchildren older than Ian I still enjoyed your blog.

 

We also are going in April and leaving from LAX and was worried that I have a 2:45pm flight that puts us in NJ at 11pm.  We could have taken an 11am flight or a 1pm flight but now I think we will stay with the original if it takes so long to get an Uber/Lyft,

Ugh, yea it's so hard to fly cross country with the big time zone changes.  When we visited my parents in New York in August, the only direct fight back to Phoenix left around 6pm, and we landed at 9:30pm local time, which felt like 12:30am NY time, and by the time we got home, it was close to 2am NY time.  That was brutal!  

Even still, I think you are making the right call with keeping the later flight.  It's not worth the risk of missing the flight since based on peoples' replies, that traffic nightmare leaving the port of Long Beach is very common.

On 2/6/2024 at 9:34 PM, travelinjess85 said:

Thanks for a great review! We had a great time on the Panorama in August and it was fun to relive it all! Makes me need to book another one haha 

Thanks for following along!  Now that I'm done with this review, I kind of want to book another cruise too, but it will have to wait for now (I think Ian would get back on a ship tomorrow if I let him, but Jason is still in recovery mode 🤣)

On 2/6/2024 at 9:29 PM, LaRue1975 said:

I enjoyed your review so much, thank you! Especially because I was on board with you, first time to read a review for a cruise I was also on. Now there is another one as I was on the Panorama in October with Wildra too, who knew? We were a group of 10 retired friends celebrating my hubby’s 70th birthday on NYE, to say we had a completely different cruise experience would be an understatement, lol! I loved reading about Ian and how well he did and all the family fun you had together. The Panorama is my favorite ship so far, will board her again on the 18th with my best gal pal, Girls Cruise! Or more accurately Mature Ladies Cruise! 🤣🤣🤣 I look forward to your next review! 

Isn't it so funny how two people can experience the same thing in totally different ways?  Especially on a large ship with nearly 5000 passengers, and so many different things to do both on the ship and in port, everyone has a chance to enjoy what works best for them and their families.  I love that about cruising!  I hope you have a wonderful cruise next week!!  

On 2/6/2024 at 8:43 PM, MEUB1112 said:

Outstanding review!!

Thank you!  It was great having you follow along!

On 2/6/2024 at 7:18 PM, AKR2011 said:

Thank you for the lovely review! I'm looking forward to watching Ian grow up as you continue your family travels ❤️⚓️

Thank you!  

On 2/6/2024 at 12:37 PM, ASR1996 said:

I really enjoyed your review!  Thank you so much for taking the time to write it. 

 

 

Thank you!

On 2/6/2024 at 11:52 AM, pcvtmom said:

I've followed your reviews many times, but with your "little guy" this one was special! We cruised with our teenagers years ago, and now we take our grandkids (along with their parents 😁).  As you found out, it's an entirely different ballgame with littles!! I came on here to say "well done", and I'm glad Ian has caught the cruise bug, too! I will look forward to your future adventures.

Thank you!  I'm so glad you enjoyed my review!!

On 2/6/2024 at 11:10 AM, mitsugirly said:

AWESOME REVIEW!!! I loved every minute of it. I can't wait to read/see your next...whenever that may be and see how much your mini has grown up. My turn to watch you. 😉 

 

👏

Thank you!!  So glad you enjoyed my review as much as I always enjoy yours!  I made a mental note to check back in April to see how your cruise goes!