Sun Princess Signature suite questions answered!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

And I will say…

 

BEST SERVICE ON ANY CRUISE ON ANY PRINCESS SHIP WE HAVE EVER HAD. 

[Nikkibird]

Glad to hear you are extremely happy!!

One question on Signature Restaurant.... can you reserve a specific table for each night and will it be possible to have a table for two at the window?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We eat at 8pm and it’s pretty empty. We (2 people) sat at a 4 top at the window one night. But it was dark out so didn’t matter. I bet you can talk the maitre d’ and get the same table every night if you come at the same time. But I’m not 100% sure. They don’t take reservations. 
 

I’ve notice that the Reserve Collection restaurant isn’t big enough for all there guests as there are people frequently at the Wheelhouse waiting for their table. But we have always walked into the Signature Restaurant and been sat right away. But again, we aren’t there until after 8. 

[Shaver John]

Were you able to get to the gym.  I have to go to the gym each day, or I am a bit of a mess without the treadmill, and I wondered if it is open all the time or just from 6am-9pm. I wonder if it was really busy and what times it is really busy. On the Majestic I had to get to the gym before 7am to get a treadmill without a wait. But by day 10 it was a lot better, but by them it was almost time to fly home. Thank you.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

7 hours ago, Shaver John said:

Were you able to get to the gym.  I have to go to the gym each day, or I am a bit of a mess without the treadmill, and I wondered if it is open all the time or just from 6am-9pm. I wonder if it was really busy and what times it is really busy. On the Majestic I had to get to the gym before 7am to get a treadmill without a wait. But by day 10 it was a lot better, but by them it was almost time to fly home. Thank you.

Sorry, didn’t even know cruise ships HAVE a gym.  🤪

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Teaser #3:

 

For Santorini yesterday, they had us all meet in the lounge at 7am. Yes 7am on vacation!  When the tender operation started, they escorted us all down and put us on the first tender. We were the first people up the cable cars with very little waiting.
 

Our private tour was at 10 so this gave us time to walk around the town as it was opening as well as stop and have some coffee and Baklava for breakfast!  Did I groin about having to get up so early.  Sure did!  But I was glad overall. 
 

They are really treating us like kings and queens on this ship. 

[dog]

3 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Teaser #3:

 

For Santorini yesterday, they had us all meet in the lounge at 7am. Yes 7am on vacation!  When the tender operation started, they escorted us all down and put us on the first tender. We were the first people up the cable cars with very little waiting.
 

Our private tour was at 10 so this gave us time to walk around the town as it was opening as well as stop and have some coffee and Baklava for breakfast!

 

—— Did I groin about having to get up so early.  Sure did!  But I was glad overall. ——-
 

Hope your groin is feeling much better this morning!   No need to groan.😩 
 

They are really treating us like kings and queens on this ship. 

 

[capriccio]

I have another Signature Restaurant question.  Are all suite passengers still entitled to a specialty restaurant dinner on embarkation night as on other ships in the fleet?  If so

 

• do you have any idea of how empty the Signature Restaurant is that evening?  I presume it is still open.
• did you experience or hear fellow passengers complain about difficulties getting a reservation in one of the specialty restaurants?

 

Thanks!

[dog]

On 3/9/2024 at 10:52 AM, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

This is what I have so far.  Keep 'em coming!!

 

(Doesn't copy as nice as it looks in Word but you get the idea)

 

Signature Collection Questions

·       Overall experience

·       Sanctuary/Sun Deck

o   Overall experience

o   Aft view

o   Cost? 

o   Reserve Loungers? 

o   Access to main area of Sanctuary? 

o   Sit in main area if Signature area is full? 

o   Food? 

o   Bar?

o   Price of cabanas?  Suites get first choice?  Reservation process.

o   Afternoon tea?

·       Signature Restaurant

o   Menu

o   Different from Reserve Restaurant

o   Different from Main Dining Room

o   Breakfast

o   Different each day

o   Fresh squeezed orange juice

o   Noise from the Piazza

·       Signature Lounge

o   Overall experience

o   Bar Service

o   Concierge

o   Crowded?

o   Happy hours?

o   Entertainment

·       Misc

o   Aft elevators

o   Special Restaurant first night – book onboard (SOXFAN: If I try to book it on the app it is charging my credit card so I don’t want to do that.  I like to go to the suite dining room the first night to “report in”. But I will ask)

What was the Signature Lounge like?

Did you have to pay for anything in there?   Hours open?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Just got home last night and need to catch up on work today. But I promise I will get to all the questions this weekend!  🤪

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Okay, so here we go....

 

Frist topic:  The Signature Lounge

 

So the Signature Lounge is WAY above any suite lounge that Princess has ever tried to do before.  The room is bright and airy and has fantastic views of the wake.  The back wall is two stories of glass that provides a wonderful area to lounge about.  There is always at least one concierge at the desk available to make reservations for the spa, the specialty restaurants or anything else you need.  As I already said in a previous post they arranged for us to get on the first tender over to the dreaded cable cars in Santorini so we didn't have to wait in lines.  And they personally walked us down for final disembarkation using their special keys to get a priority, personal elevator.  I even heard them arrange for car service for one passenger who didn't have it yet.  The train station is quite a walk from the ship (in Rome) and they were arranging a car to take them.  They would also arrange a car to take them all the way to Rome.  Seriously, THIS is the type of service that I expect in a suite lounge.  It's on the same level as Celebrity in terms of lounge itself and service the concierges provide.  WAY better than I expected.

 

As stated in our "personal" letter in our stateroom:  "The lounge is accessible 24 hours a day, with service provided from sunrise to sunset."  The drinks are free and do not count towards your maximum drink allowance if you have a package.  There are two waiters that provide complete service so you never have to go to the bar itself.  You can just sit down and they will come to you.  A concierge will always greet you by name and give you some helpful hints about what is going on that day or the next.  There is someone playing music there every day from

5-7 pm.  There is plenty of room and it never felt crowded at all.  There was always some "snacks" available although none of it seemed very appetizing.  (Currently on a weight loss drug that makes food unappealing so I will try and be fair in this area.)  Although I did "cheat" and have couple of chocolate truffles one day that were really good!  Go to the lounge for the cocktails and view, not the food.

 

They will make reservations for you the first evening for your "free" suite specialty dining perk which includes all the restaurants marked as such:  Crown Grill, Sabatini's, Umai Tappanyaki, Umai Hot Pot, Kai Sushi by Makoto, The Catch by Rudi and The Butchers Block by Dario.

 

My biggest complaint of this area is that there was NO communication with us in our stateroom about any suite benefits or special events.  The only way we new about anything was if we showed up.  There was a Captain and Crew night where they came and spoke to us suite passengers.  They had special tickets to the Cirque show for us.  They did the special tender ride in Santorini.  There was the special disembarkation process.  All of it we knew about because we stopped by to get a glass of champagne.  I have no idea what we missed on the days we didn't stop by.  There should have been a lot more outreach to us in case we didn't go to the lounge.  

 

But when we did stop by they were amazing.  They always knew our dinner reservations plans that evening, our excursions (if booked through the trip) and our final travel plans (or if we didn't have any.).  They were on top of EVERYTHING and really provided that extra special touch that they just haven't been able to do with any other concierge suite host on any other Princess ship. 

 

I was more that pleased with this new concept.  I went in with high hopes and low expectations and they blew me away.  A+ Princess.

More to come....

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Misc:

 

They do NOT have special suite seating for the shows.  That is reserved for those staying in the Sky Suite or have the Premium package (regardless of suite designation).

 

The suite concierge specifically stated that the Enclave was NOT part of the suite benefits but we never got charged for access so still not sure if it's a perk or an administrative error.  We didn't want to ask again!  😜

 

Funny story:  When talking with the suite concierge about suite seating for the shows, he did mention that the service for the Sky Suite passengers was "out of this world" and we all responded that us "lowly" suite guests were getting amazing service we can't even imagine what they are doing for the Sky Suite guests. Truly, they were amazing.

 

And the aft elevators currently are not reserved for suite guests only.   Although once past deck 14 you are only accessing suite cabins, the suite lounge or the suite sanctuary so it's technically serving suite guests anyway.  The port side elevator wasn't even working the entire duration of our cruise so we had to use the Starboard side one.  Luckily there was a little "cut through" corridor where the laundry room was.  

 

(Taking a break and will post more later this weekend.) 

 

Next Up:  Signature Restaurant

[dides]

37 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

(Taking a break and will post more later this weekend.) 

 

Thank you for taking the time to provide all these details! The upgraded service sounds fabulous. We look forward to experiencing it later this year - just booked a suite for September!

 

What other information did your personalised welcome letter include?

 

When we popped by for a sneak peek earlier this month we noticed access to the Lounge seemed to be controlled via medallion? There was also one wait staff person on duty - not a concierge - and no passengers (it was midday on a port day). 

 

Agree that the food did look a bit limited - not much variety on the savoury side (which I prefer!):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20 by dides

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Yes, your medallion was required for the door to the lounge to open. 
 

We didn’t go to the lounge very often so can’t comment on the staffing throughout the day. We spent most of our ship time up in the Signature Sun Deck but that’s a topic for another post!  🤪

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Welcome letter.  I hope it’s not too blurry. 

 

Edited April 20 by Sox Fan Cruiser

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Oh, and full disclosure…

 

In 9 days we NEVER made it to the suite breakfast in the Signature restaurant so I can provide information on that. Sorry. 

[dides]

10 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Oh, and full disclosure…

 

In 9 days we NEVER made it to the suite breakfast in the Signature restaurant so I can provide information on that. Sorry. 

Not to worry - lets throw in some menus from another site (credit Lynn GS) of the port-day Suite Breakfast menus - to show what you missed 🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 20 by dides

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Thanks!  With my medication I only eat one meal a day and it’s not breakfast so there was no reason to go and just watch my husband eat.  He hates that as well so he just grabbed a quick bite somewhere!  

[dides]

3 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Thanks!  With my medication I only eat one meal a day and it’s not breakfast so there was no reason to go and just watch my husband eat.  He hates that as well so he just grabbed a quick bite somewhere!  

Understandable - we tend to stick to two meals a day and sometimes miss the breakfast slot completely. Did suites have the breakfast door hanger card option? We tended to use this more on other Princess ships as there were additional hot items. 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Yes!  We did use the door hanger a couple of times. As always seems the case these days, the breakfast sandwich came cold and the muffin wasn’t even toasted. Better to go to the International Cafe if you want that option. 
 

 

[dides]

22 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Yes!  We did use the door hanger a couple of times. As always seems the case these days, the breakfast sandwich came cold and the muffin wasn’t even toasted. Better to go to the International Cafe if you want that option. 
 

 

Thank you! Comparing this with our door hanger from Discovery Princess from October 2022 - the Dairy Alternatives have been added and more From the Griddle like Pancakes and French Toast. Delivery timeslots end at 9am here whereas ours went up to 10:30am. Not sure if that's a Sun Princess difference or fleetwide however.

[Nikkibird]

3 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Okay, so here we go....

 

Frist topic:  The Signature Lounge

 

So the Signature Lounge is WAY.....

 

They will make reservations for you the first evening for your "free" suite specialty dining perk which includes all the restaurants marked as such:  Crown Grill, Sabatini's, Umai Tappanyaki, Umai Hot Pot, Kai Sushi by Makoto, The Catch by Rudi and The Butchers Block by Dario.

 

 

Just wondered if you tried to change the "free" specialty dining perk to another night or is it totally 1st night or lose it?? We really wanted to go to the Signature Restaurant the first night.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We had already paid for the tepanyaki restaurant before the cruise and didn’t eat at any other specialty places so we’re not sure. On the Sky they did let us use it another day. Not sure if that is common practice or not and forgot to ask. 
 

 

[Hobby3333]

4 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Thanks!  With my medication I only eat one meal a day and it’s not breakfast so there was no reason to go and just watch my husband eat.  He hates that as well so he just grabbed a quick bite somewhere!  

Not funny but kinda funny.  My wife is on the Shots and when we sailed HAL the servers kept asking if she didn’t enjoy her meal because she left most on her plate.   Not to worry, I made up the difference!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

55 minutes ago, Hobby3333 said:

Not funny but kinda funny.  My wife is on the Shots and when we sailed HAL the servers kept asking if she didn’t enjoy her meal because she left most on her plate.   Not to worry, I made up the difference!

I let them know the first day that I wouldn’t be finishing my plate and not to be concerned. I never had dessert either and they push those hard!!  (I actually lost weight on this cruise!!  Woo hoo!)