Sun Princess - Original

[nasa1974]

I was able to get midship for the B2B 5/7 day, 10/14 & 10/19 cruise. Traveling solo I get stiffed, but what can I do?

[nasa1974]

Anyone going to start a roll call? I've already started four between now and February 2025. Don't want to start two more.

[kywildcatfanone]

Princess deck plans seem incomplete.  Is there an adults only retreat area with a pool on this ship?  I did find on one website, a forward pool on Deck 17, but it wasn't labeled as an adults only retreat area?

 

One thing they got right on Royal and Regal and messed up on newer ships was the retreat area.

[dides]

4 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Princess deck plans seem incomplete.  Is there an adults only retreat area with a pool on this ship?  I did find on one website, a forward pool on Deck 17, but it wasn't labeled as an adults only retreat area?

 

The Sea View Terrace, the forward pool on Deck 17,  is open to all guests (as per the Princess Sales presentation link on post #119) as is the Wake View Terrace.  It looks like the only adults-only pool could be the one on the Signature Sun Deck which is shared by Sanctuary and suite guests. So only free to suite guests. You would need to pay for it otherwise by booking a spot in the Sanctuary.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by dides

[kywildcatfanone]

9 minutes ago, dides said:

The Sea View Terrace, the forward pool on Deck 17,  is open to all guests (as per the Princess Sales presentation link on post #119) as is the Wake View Terrace.  It looks like the only adults-only pool could be the one on the Signature Sun Deck which is shared by Sanctuary and suite guests. So only free to suite guests. You would need to pay for it otherwise by booking a spot in the Sanctuary.

Wow, so no retreat area for adults anymore?  You have to pay for the sanctuary to have an adults only pool.  That will keep me off that ship then.

[dides]

10 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Wow, so no retreat area for adults anymore?  You have to pay for the sanctuary to have an adults only pool.  That will keep me off that ship then.

Based on what's been announced so far....

[kywildcatfanone]

Majestic and Enchanted are like the Sky, right?  They at least have the retreat pool, even if it's in a hole, and was a terrible change from Royal/Regal.  I haven't been on either of them, just the Sky.

[nasa1974]

We liked the retreat pool on the Sky even if it was surrounded by cabins. It was relaxing, you didn't have to walk far for a drink and it was quiet. 

[Buckeye10640]

54 minutes ago, nasa1974 said:

We liked the retreat pool on the Sky even if it was surrounded by cabins. It was relaxing, you didn't have to walk far for a drink and it was quiet. 

I like the Retreat area on the Enchanted because we BOOK those cabins on Deck 17. But after sailing on Regal with the open deck around the Retreat Pool I can see the benefit of that as well as it provides more space.

[vjmatty]

11 hours ago, Buckeye10640 said:

I like the Retreat area on the Enchanted because we BOOK those cabins on Deck 17. But after sailing on Regal with the open deck around the Retreat Pool I can see the benefit of that as well as it provides more space.

Do you find that the music from the bandstand is loud enough to be heard in the cabin or balcony?

[mlmbar]

On 4/21/2023 at 12:52 AM, nasa1974 said:

I was able to get midship for the B2B 5/7 day, 10/14 & 10/19 cruise. Traveling solo I get stiffed, but what can I do?

On Wednesday I was able to get a mini suite cabana midship for Oct 19, 2024 after contacting my PCP. I had not seen anything except forward guarantee when looking myself but she found otherwise.  It was also the same price as a regular mini suite. Very happy! Same as I am paying for mini suite on Sky March 2024   

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by mlmbar

[Buckeye10640]

1 hour ago, vjmatty said:

Do you find that the music from the bandstand is loud enough to be heard in the cabin or balcony?

Not at all. We do not hear anything in the room and only on the balcony if there is something like a sail-away party, or occasionally slight noise on the balcony from a very loud MUTS movie or band. Nothing that has troubled us, and we have been on Sun Deck or Lido Deck cabins several times. 

 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Buckeye10640

[J13C85]

We sailed in Suites on our last 2 Princess trips (Grand and Sky).  We just booked a "Signarure Suite" on Sun for Nov of 2024 (7D).  This room, w/ insurance and Premier was appx $6.3K (out the door). This price was in line with what we paid for our other two suites (both Penthouses). We looked at the Penthouse on Sun and the price jumped to over $10K.

 

When I looked at the deck plans and our room, our "Signature Suite" seems to have the same footprint as a "Reserve (formerly Club Class) Mini Suite" that justifies the higher fare due to being a "suite" and carrying the suite perks. This "Signature Suite" has a much smaller footprint than our two previous "Penthouses".

 

My perception is that with Sun, Princess introduced an entry level suite that is actually a glorified mini.  This isn't a complaint or an issue of a "First World" problem but just an observation.

 

I am looking forward to seeing the room once sailings start in Europe.  I am sure there will be plenty of YouTube videos.

[HBCcruiser]

16 minutes ago, J13C85 said:

We sailed in Suites on our last 2 Princess trips (Grand and Sky).  We just booked a "Signarure Suite" on Sun for Nov of 2024 (7D).  This room, w/ insurance and Premier was appx $6.3K (out the door). This price was in line with what we paid for our other two suites (both Penthouses). We looked at the Penthouse on Sun and the price jumped to over $10K.

 

When I looked at the deck plans and our room, our "Signature Suite" seems to have the same footprint as a "Reserve (formerly Club Class) Mini Suite" that justifies the higher fare due to being a "suite" and carrying the suite perks. This "Signature Suite" has a much smaller footprint than our two previous "Penthouses".

 

My perception is that with Sun, Princess introduced an entry level suite that is actually a glorified mini.  This isn't a complaint or an issue of a "First World" problem but just an observation.

 

I am looking forward to seeing the room once sailings start in Europe.  I am sure there will be plenty of YouTube videos.

We did the same thing as you. Booked Nov. 16, 2024 in the basic Signature “mini” Suite. I did not see value in booking the Penthouse Suite for double the price. 

[voljeep]

at what category do 'full suite benefits' start - confused about all these new names for cabins - and if 'any' cabin with 'suite' in it's description does not - shame on Princess for not correcting this

[HBCcruiser]

29 minutes ago, voljeep said:

at what category do 'full suite benefits' start - confused about all these new names for cabins - and if 'any' cabin with 'suite' in it's description does not - shame on Princess for not correcting this

Anything with the name “Signature.” The cheapest are the basic Signature Suites. Category S9. You can see them in comparison to the Owners Suites and Sky Suites on deck 16 below.

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Basic Signature Suite layout.

 

 

Penthouse Suite Layout - double the price and the next category of suite. 
 

 

[voljeep]

20 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

Anything with the name “Signature.” The cheapest are the basic Signature Suites. Category S9. You can see them in comparison to the Owners Suites and Sky Suites on deck 16 below.

 

 

It would cost us about $150 per person per day to upgrade from our DB to the S9 - not including the 'extra per day grats (minimal) or the 8% insurance $12 pp pd

 

we'll pass and see what the bid process is like in 2024

 

but we 'may' upgrade from PLUS to Premier on our short cruise - the 2 specialty dinners each would eat up a big chunk  of the increase

[Mary Ann 2]

8 hours ago, mlmbar said:

On Wednesday I was able to get a mini suite cabana midship for Oct 19, 2024 after contacting my PCP. I had not seen anything except forward guarantee when looking myself but she found otherwise.  It was also the same price as a regular mini suite. Very happy! Same as I am paying for mini suite on Sky March 2024   

 

Did you get a Reserve Cabana Mini Suite or just a cabana mini suite? We booked onboard in March and he booked us in a cabana mini suite.  It wasn't until I got home that I discovered that he had ignored that we wanted access to the Reserve restaurant and deck.  So we had to rebook and lost $300 in shipboard credit as that promotion had expired.  It's all very confusing and even the Princess guy didn't know the difference!  Just asking in case you didn't get what you really wanted....

[mlmbar]

We are category CA. Reserve cabana. We get access to the Reserve restaurant. I am as confused as anyone else lol. 

[Mary Ann 2]

On 4/21/2023 at 2:39 PM, kywildcatfanone said:

Majestic and Enchanted are like the Sky, right?  They at least have the retreat pool, even if it's in a hole, and was a terrible change from Royal/Regal.  I haven't been on either of them, just the Sky.

Since I don't see an answer to your question, I thought that I would let you know that the Majestic does not have a Retreat pool as they have an indoor pool there.  It is really nice if you are on an Alaska cruise, for instance, to have an indoor pool.

[nasa1974]

1 hour ago, Mary Ann 2 said:

Since I don't see an answer to your question, I thought that I would let you know that the Majestic does not have a Retreat pool as they have an indoor pool there.  It is really nice if you are on an Alaska cruise, for instance, to have an indoor pool.

Good to know. 

[azbirdmom]

This new publication out on the Princess website has several pages devoted to the Sun Princess https://www.princess.com/html/global/brochures/pc/princes-cruise-experience.pdf .  At the end there are deck plans like the old cruise atlas that many of us enjoyed getting for many years.  The layout of the deck plans is much nicer in this format as you can view multiple decks at the same time.

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

This new publication out on the Princess website has several pages devoted to the Sun Princess https://www.princess.com/html/global/brochures/pc/princes-cruise-experience.pdf .  At the end there are deck plans like the old cruise atlas that many of us enjoyed getting for many years.  The layout of the deck plans is much nicer in this format as you can view multiple decks at the same time.

Thanks so much for that. It reminds me of the mailer they used to send out, minus the itineraries and plus all the advertising hype.

 

I noticed that at least on the Caribbean Princess, not all the cabins (aft Caribe deck for instance) are labeled. Here's to the Princess proof-readers!

[azbirdmom]

30 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Thanks so much for that. It reminds me of the mailer they used to send out, minus the itineraries and plus all the advertising hype.

 

I noticed that at least on the Caribbean Princess, not all the cabins (aft Caribe deck for instance) are labeled. Here's to the Princess proof-readers!

 

They didn't include the deck plans for every ship and it would have been nice to have the itineraries like the old cruise atlas had.  But I still think that there are a couple of useful pages in this document, at least for the Sun.  And yeah, it's clear that some of the jobs eliminated were those responsible for proofreading!