Sun Princess...Questions

Yes, I have. She was the very first ship we cruised on, around 20 months ago. We loved her and we'll be back onboard her in 5.5 weeks.

 

Obviously she's smaller than Diamond so no covered pool, and the Lotus Spa adults only pool is aft. Not as many speciality restaurants.

 

Hopefully she will have the same Executive Chef as on our last cruise - best Princess food to date in the MDR.

 

You might notice some odours when walking around the Promenade Deck. I don't recall any on Sun but I did notice them on Dawn.

 

I would imagine any post-drydock issues have been sorted out. From what I've read occasionally things go haywire as systems are shut down while the ship is in dry dock and restarting can cause issue. Remember you will always hear complaints but those who had perfect cruises don't always comment.

 

When is your cruise?

We are off on 5th December this year 13 nights Southern Explorer. Looking forward to this.

The Diamond was a bigger ship, but she also moved around a lot in the heavy seas we encountered in the Bass Straight.

Yes I agree, you can't please everyone, we heard a complaint whilst coming out of Dubai. A couple were complaining to the excursions desk that the sunset desert trip they had been on was not acceptable because the sunset was "Wishy washy" Thought we had heard them all!!

Let us know how your cruise goes.

Wow great pictures thank you.

Tony

Hi Miss Emily,

As this includes all your speciality coffees, water, soft drinks wine and spirits for the day, It's worth it . Cocktails and Martinis come in under the US10/AU14 per day. If you can handle drinking for over 8 days in a row, go for it. (BTW , it's not available for cruises under 8 days)

 

Enjoy your cruise :)

Yes, alcoholic drinks are just the one that comes to mind for some when considering AIBP. Nice of you to mention the non-alcoholic ones.

We are off on 5th December this year 13 nights Southern Explorer. Looking forward to this.

The Diamond was a bigger ship, but she also moved around a lot in the heavy seas we encountered in the Bass Straight.

Yes I agree, you can't please everyone, we heard a complaint whilst coming out of Dubai. A couple were complaining to the excursions desk that the sunset desert trip they had been on was not acceptable because the sunset was "Wishy washy" Thought we had heard them all!!

Let us know how your cruise goes.

Will do!

Hi

We were on the Sun Princess in April, after dry dock, and while there were a few issues it is a lovely ship and the staff are beyond great. Yes it is a smaller ship than the Diamond, and Ruby, which we have done too, it has new carpet and furnishing in a lot of the venue spots, which have given it a fresh new look. The new restaurants, Share and the seafood, were empty most of the time, they were giving you reduced prices to try them, but why would you when the MDR is fantastic. There were not a lot of tables for 2 in the MDR, we don't mind sharing to meet others, but the lack of tables for 2 was quite a concern for a lot of people.

Our bed was lovely and new linen great.

A lot of excuses for the issues post dry dock were that they were having trouble restarting after the 2 week dry dock, which I find hard to believe, this ship seems to have the same issues on each cruise. It didn't stop us having a great time.

Toilets and aircon are often consistent issues with most cruises, we have been lucky not to have had them.

The Sun, Sea and Dawn are the same layout, I believe.

Those that had taken the beverage package, found that initially they got good value, but as the days went on they struggled to drink enough to meet the cost. It is quite costly when you work out the overall trip drinks cost. I believe both people in the cabin have to take it out, not just one person.

Hope that helps.

Pat

Thanks for your comments, p0240. Good to hear she's looking good.

There have never been a large number of tables for 2 at dinner sittings. They do split some bigger tables with removable dividers for breakfast and lunch but can't do that for dinner.

It isn't uncommon for problems to occur with machinery, that is usually constantly running, and that has been restarted after a period of being shutdown.

You are incorrect on one thing though. Both people in a cabin do NOT have to have the drinks package, however the package can't be shared. If one person gets it then that person could buy wine by the bottle at 40% discount and share that bottle but that is all.

You need to cost out the drinks package ahead of time based on consumption on port days. If you like cocktails it will often be cost effective once you take all the other drinks into consideration - fresh orange juice with breakfast, speciality coffees, bottled water to take ashore. However for those that only drink wine or beer it may not be cost effective.

Thanks for your post and impressions of the Sun. One thing we found on a short cruise in June though was a sewerage odour in many areas which was quite off-putting. I hope they manage to address this. I was not impressed with Kai or Share but Sterling was very good.

Hi

We were on the Sun Princess in April, after dry dock, and while there were a few issues it is a lovely ship and the staff are beyond great. Yes it is a smaller ship than the Diamond, and Ruby, which we have done too, it has new carpet and furnishing in a lot of the venue spots, which have given it a fresh new look. The new restaurants, Share and the seafood, were empty most of the time, they were giving you reduced prices to try them, but why would you when the MDR is fantastic. There were not a lot of tables for 2 in the MDR, we don't mind sharing to meet others, but the lack of tables for 2 was quite a concern for a lot of people.

Our bed was lovely and new linen great.

A lot of excuses for the issues post dry dock were that they were having trouble restarting after the 2 week dry dock, which I find hard to believe, this ship seems to have the same issues on each cruise. It didn't stop us having a great time.

Toilets and aircon are often consistent issues with most cruises, we have been lucky not to have had them.

The Sun, Sea and Dawn are the same layout, I believe.

Those that had taken the beverage package, found that initially they got good value, but as the days went on they struggled to drink enough to meet the cost. It is quite costly when you work out the overall trip drinks cost. I believe both people in the cabin have to take it out, not just one person.

Hope that helps.

Pat

I see you are going on the PNG cruise in a few weeks. We are looking at going on the one departing Jan 22nd. We have been on the Sea Princess and wonder what the differences are on the Sun? I know it now has the International Cafe - what did this replace and do you have to pay or is it included? Does it have the Explorer Bar and Wheelhouse? Is there still happy hour BOGOF? Also if I remember OJ and V8 were free on SP, sorry for all the questions but you seem to know answers :) Thanks

Hi 2 Canucks.

We are also 2 Canucks from Edmonton. We are booked on this cruise. I can't wait to see Austrailia! We hope to see you on board.

I see you are going on the PNG cruise in a few weeks. We are looking at going on the one departing Jan 22nd. We have been on the Sea Princess and wonder what the differences are on the Sun? I know it now has the International Cafe - what did this replace and do you have to pay or is it included? Does it have the Explorer Bar and Wheelhouse? Is there still happy hour BOGOF? Also if I remember OJ and V8 were free on SP, sorry for all the questions but you seem to know answers :) Thanks

The International Cafe on the Sun replaced a bar. The addition of the IC was a great improvement. Food there is free, but specialty coffees have a charge - the same as at the other bars.

The Sun Class ships have a Wheelhouse bar behind the Princess Theatre, but they do not have the Explorer Bar.

The nightclub on these ships has been re-designed and re-named and is now the Legends Bar. This is a great improvement. It is a sports bar and attracts people during the day rather than sitting empty. This is where they have the 'By one drink get one for $1' late in the afternoon.

Another difference on the Sun is the Kai Sushi restaurant. This replaced the little bar/quiet seating area outside the nightclub. It failed as a sushi restaurant, so it is now also a seafood restaurant - extra charge applies.

OJ and V8. At breakfast there is a wide variety of juices available for free, both in the Horizon Court and in the dining room on deck 6 where breakfast is served.

Thank you for the replies, very helpful.

Is it possible to buy one drink package and share with your partner? The drink package we are looking at is $700 each for a 12 day cruise which is steep for us at the moment. I would like to avoid being reprimanded for trying to save a buck though! Anyone tried this in the past?

Thank you,

Ingi

Is it possible to buy one drink package and share with your partner? The drink package we are looking at is $700 each for a 12 day cruise which is steep for us at the moment. I would like to avoid being reprimanded for trying to save a buck though! Anyone tried this in the past?

 

Thank you,

Ingi

No it's not allowed and I'm sure someone will post the penalties sorry.

Tony

No it's not allowed and I'm sure someone will post the penalties sorry.

Tony

Okay, thank you for the reply. I doubt we will purchase a drink card then.