Sun Princess

[voljeep]

SUN P arrives in FTL on 10/9 ...

SUN P departs FTL on 10/14 for a 5 day "inaugural"?

 

what happens between 10/9 and departure on 10/14?

 

has a VIP / TAgents / already being offered to TA's?   or are my dates not right?  I may have remembered that a cruise for TA's is in the works, but not open to regular cruisers at this time?  

 

I do remember on SKY P a 3 day pre-inaugural was suddenly opened prior to our cruise when it came over

Edited May 21 by voljeep

[Wishing on a star]

Yes,  we had info that there was a VIP/TA only cruise before the 10/14...

Not sure of the dates...  I am not remembering that it was fully 10/9 - 1014.

I think it is planned to be a short cruise, maybe for busy VIPs and TAs???

 

[dides]

29 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Yes,  we had info that there was a VIP/TA only cruise before the 10/14...

Not sure of the dates...  I am not remembering that it was fully 10/9 - 1014.

I think it is planned to be a short cruise, maybe for busy VIPs and TAs???

 

Yes, spotted a (I think) Mexican promotion to win a place on a 3 day Travel Agents cruise departing 11th October. 

[Retired-N-Happy]

6 hours ago, InFullertonCA said:

The Princess Premier package says it has "reserve" seating for shows.  Has anyone seen how many seats are "reserved" and how long before the show they "release" any open?

The shows though that have the reserved Premier seating are the large production shows in the main showroom, not the smaller venue dome shows.

[Retired-N-Happy]

5 hours ago, tinkerbelluk said:

Also for those worried about not getting the dining reservations they wanted in the specialty restaurants we managed to swap one of ours with no problems to any time we wanted once we were on board. That was for 2 of us mind you, but it appears they are keeping tables back for people to book once on board, so if you've not secured what you wanted, I would go to the restaurant in question once you're on board and I'm sure you'll find they're more than willing to help.

They would have to do this for those that decide to upgrade on board to the Premier package utilizing OBC.  It's 280 to upgrade from Plus over 7 days for two people.  We'll have 150 in OBC, so it'll only cost us 130.

[555]

12 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

They would have to do this for those that decide to upgrade on board to the Premier package utilizing OBC.  It's 280 to upgrade from Plus over 7 days for two people.  We'll have 150 in OBC, so it'll only cost us 130.

You speak of that OBC as if it wasn't real dollars. 😄

[Retired-N-Happy]

8 minutes ago, 555 said:

You speak of that OBC as if it wasn't real dollars. 😄

True, but it's non refundable OBC.  So unless I cashed 95% out through the casino, it needs to be spent.  We usually book inside cabins, don't do excursions and save 8% with gift cards, so splurging on the Premier is cheaper than doing many excursions or staying in a balcony cabin.

[edub]

Hi everyone - second time Princess cruiser, departing on June 29 on Sun Princess.

First, upthread someone asked if all Santorini stops are canceled. Ours was, a few weeks ago. So I don't know if that means all, but they didn't really give us much explanation. They replaced it with Crete, which sounds wonderful, but I'd rather they had replaced Mykonos w Crete and kept Santorini.

 

A few questions - I read that Princess Plus gets two free "casual" meals, while Premier gets unlimited. What does that mean? I'm thinking of the fact that the buffet seems to be too small and overcrowded, since that's typically where we do many meals on a cruise, and that we might want to rely on more restaurants. $20 extra a day (over $60 princess plus) for unlimited specialty dining seems to be a pretty good deal, since we already plan on getting princess plus.

 

Can anyone report on the disembarkment experiences for the Medit. cruise? Specifically, at which specific ports did you dock in Naples, Crete, Istanbul and Mykonos; any tenders; and how long did it take to get off. This was one of the few things I remember being an issue on Princess in Alaska last year (at a non-tender port where those without Princess excursions had to wait an hour and a half to disembark).

 

I'm traveling with two teens, one with autism. I'd love to hear any reports about the tween/teen clubs. And any autism trips for Princess; unfortunately, they seem really behind the times on this. We sailed RCL last winter and they did an absolutely excellent job. At Princess, I can't even get anyone to answer my questions.

 

Thanks so much in advance!

[edub]

Ok, so I'm partially answering my own question - found this page on Princess. Sounds like there are only two casual restaurants: O'Malley's and Alfredo's. Which makes the Premium package an even better deal over Plus, IMO, since you get unlimited at those two and two meals at specialty restaurants.

 

New Sun Princess - Dining (cruceros-princess.com)

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Your cruise itinerary will tell you which ports dock and which use tenders.  Mykonos could be either but the information on the website will tell you which.

 

They do do a numbering system for tendering and usually let the early excursions go first.  I'm never one to rush off a ship anyway so it's never bothered me.  I usually don't leave until they stop with the numbering.

[reedprincess]

52 minutes ago, edub said:

Hi.

 

A few questions - I read that Princess Plus gets two free "casual" meals, while Premier gets unlimited. What does that mean? I'm thinking of the fact that the buffet seems to be too small and overcrowded, since that's typically where we do many meals on a cruise, and that we might want to rely on more restaurants. $20 extra a day (over $60 princess plus) for unlimited specialty dining seems to be a pretty good deal, since we already plan on getting princess plus.

 

 

Thanks so much in advance!

Casual dining is unrelated to the buffet. And most reports I've read of the buffet are actually fine, especially when people figure out they can go further aft to The Catch and Butcher's Block areas for more options and seating, plus outdoor seating, etc 

 

Casual dining is class of dining on all Princess ships - sandwiches between included and specialty 

It's table service, three course prix fixe, ie fixed 3 course meal, albeit with choices within three choices. Appetizer, main, dessert.

 

Sun has 2 casual dining venues. Alfredo's and O'Malley's.

O'Malley's is only open for dinner, ie around 5pm, til 9pm (food service, bar service hours are longer). Live music within this venue also 

Afredo's is open 11am-11pm.  Casual Italian style pizzeria.  

 

I wouldn't upgrade to Premier Cruise Package just for the casual dining - but the other items, I would strongly consider. The unlimited photos, the reserved production show seating, 4 device WiFi, higher drink cap (drinks are more expensive on Sun than other Princess ships), and the 2 specialty meals would make the decision for me. 

 

YMMV 

 

Edited May 22 by reedprincess

[edub]

Thanks SoxFanCruiser. Would that info be in the app, or elsewhere? I was looking there and didn't see specific port/tender info. I'm aware this can change at the last minute, but we try to prepare as much as possible for the most likely docking location.

[edub]

Thanks Reedprincess. I agree I wouldn't upgrade for casual dining, but for the two specialty meals, unlimited fitness classes, etc. I would definitely do it on a winter/Caribbean cruise - not sure about this one b/c we'll also be eating off the ship frequently. Have you been on Sun Princess yet? I'm really curious about the all day breakfast/diner spot.

[reedprincess]

Just now, edub said:

Thanks Reedprincess. I agree I wouldn't upgrade for casual dining, but for the two specialty meals, unlimited fitness classes, etc. I would definitely do it on a winter/Caribbean cruise - not sure about this one b/c we'll also be eating off the ship frequently. Have you been on Sun Princess yet? I'm really curious about the all day breakfast/diner spot.

Not yet, but the Sun forum I'm on has been incredibly helpful.

The "all day" Diner spot is deck 8 of Horizons.  It's not actually open all day, from what I understand, but set hours for each meal  - it's the menu that is an "all day"  menu with breakfast and brunch items, burgers and sandwiches , mains like ribs and such, available at all three meals. The main diner menu doesn't change, but each evening does include 2 or 3 items from the other MDR menus (the standard MDR where menus change nightly, etc). So, you have the casual walk-in option to try something from that MDR also while others in the party may prefer the Diner menu.

I could have my understanding incorrect, I'm happy to be set straight . 

Enjoy!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

7 minutes ago, edub said:

Thanks SoxFanCruiser. Would that info be in the app, or elsewhere? I was looking there and didn't see specific port/tender info. I'm aware this can change at the last minute, but we try to prepare as much as possible for the most likely docking location.

If you log into the Princess Website and pull up your cruise under My Account, you can click on Itinerary, it will show you the trip.  Any tender ports will be marked as Water Shuttle Required. 

 

[Retired-N-Happy]

Another positive to upgrading from Plus to Premier on the Sun (& Star) is the 20.00 ceiling instead of 15.00 ceiling on alcoholic drinks.  There are many different wines and craft cocktails that are only available on the Sun that are priced between 16-20 that are covered by Premier but not by Plus.  Of course the shorter length of your cruise the better since you also get two specialty dinners per sailing.  There has been a debate about this since you get 4 on a seven day B2B versus only 2 on a 14 day.

[keldaria]

1 hour ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

Another positive to upgrading from Plus to Premier on the Sun (& Star) is the 20.00 ceiling instead of 15.00 ceiling on alcoholic drinks.  There are many different wines and craft cocktails that are only available on the Sun that are priced between 16-20 that are covered by Premier but not by Plus.  Of course the shorter length of your cruise the better since you also get two specialty dinners per sailing.  There has been a debate about this since you get 4 on a seven day B2B versus only 2 on a 14 day.

I think this particular fact is undersold, especially for wine drinkers. Don’t get me wrong there is plenty of choices on the menu for plus options and this is typically where most cruisers land. However if you like wine and want to sample some higher end bottles, then Premier is a great way to do it.

[Retired-N-Happy]

59 minutes ago, keldaria said:

I think this particular fact is undersold, especially for wine drinkers. Don’t get me wrong there is plenty of choices on the menu for plus options and this is typically where most cruisers land. However if you like wine and want to sample some higher end bottles, then Premier is a great way to do it.

We're the exact opposite.  We don't drink wine, we prefer craft cocktails.  Mainly consume the special evening menu at Good Spirits, but I had seen online there were different menus and drinks on the Sun versus the other ships and there were many drinks that were like 17, 18, 20 that the Premier would cover.  The unlimited casual meals would be the other aspect that makes it worthwhile to upgrade besides of course the obvious reason of the two specialty dinners.

[keldaria]

2 hours ago, Retired-N-Happy said:

We're the exact opposite.  We don't drink wine, we prefer craft cocktails.  Mainly consume the special evening menu at Good Spirits, but I had seen online there were different menus and drinks on the Sun versus the other ships and there were many drinks that were like 17, 18, 20 that the Premier would cover.  The unlimited casual meals would be the other aspect that makes it worthwhile to upgrade besides of course the obvious reason of the two specialty dinners.

I agree with that interpretation as well, I like a good cocktail, it was just the ability to sample wine that stuck out.

 

the unlimited casual dining is somewhat a mixed bag for me. I don’t really hit them for dinners since I typically try to hit specialty restaurants since 2 of those are comped anyways then stack in an experiential dining and the free comped specialty for embarkation day if you booked a suite and you’ve barely hit the normal dining by the end of most cruises. It has its benefits on long cruises but i primarily enjoy hitting them for lunch to get more bang for my buck, however the real limitation is just how few casual dining spots their are compared to specialty dining. There is only 2 on the sun which is fairly limited considering. I wish there was more variety so you could really take advantage of them. Typically 2-3 casual dining (lunches) is my limit anyways since there is so few so unlimited isn’t really a huge bonus for me but I can see how mileage would vary for others.

[Wishing on a star]

At $20. per day, the length of the cruise is a big factor, since, to me, the benefits do not match up with cost for the number of days onboard....

We would def. consider Premium for a short cruise, as we would like to do the Casual Dining...

That and the more expensive special coctails and liquors..

We could do Alfredo's twice, easily...  and then two visits would be used up.

On a short cruise, two specialty restaurants on a short cruise is about the break-even point.

So the other perks then become well worth it.

On a longer cruise, you pay more to upgrade...  you would have to know you want to take advantage of all the other benefits.  A longer a more port intensive cruise, it becomes harder to come out ahead.

 

They need to have more Casual Dining options on the Sun...  maybe sushi?  They don't have a Casual option for that, right....

 

 

Edited May 22 by Wishing on a star

[colsky]

13 hours ago, Wishing on a star said:

They need to have more Casual Dining options on the Sun...  maybe sushi?  They don't have a Casual option for that, right....

 

 

I've read some people that have been on the Sun say that the sushi restaurant does have a lunchtime casual dining menu, and I've also read some people saying that O'Malleys will be opening for lunch as well as dinner. I've also read some people saying that isn't the case!

 

Could someone who has been on the Sun recently please confirm either way.

[Mississippian]

On 5/21/2024 at 2:36 PM, voljeep said:

SUN P arrives in FTL on 10/9 ...

SUN P departs FTL on 10/14 for a 5 day "inaugural"?

 

what happens between 10/9 and departure on 10/14?

 

has a VIP / TAgents / already being offered to TA's?   or are my dates not right?  I may have remembered that a cruise for TA's is in the works, but not open to regular cruisers at this time?  

 

I do remember on SKY P a 3 day pre-inaugural was suddenly opened prior to our cruise when it came over

If you pull up the Sun Princess deck plan, it will ask you if you want the plan for before or after October 14. I haven't compared the two deck plans to see what changes they are planning, but it may be that those five days are going to be spent making those changes.

[reedprincess]

1 hour ago, Mississippian said:

If you pull up the Sun Princess deck plan, it will ask you if you want the plan for before or after October 14. I haven't compared the two deck plans to see what changes they are planning, but it may be that those five days are going to be spent making those changes.

The changes happening from Oct 14 are the recoding cabins to Sanctuary Club.  No physical changes are happening.

[Mississippian]

14 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

The changes happening from Oct 14 are the recoding cabins to Sanctuary Club.  No physical changes are happening.

I kind of wondered what big changes they could make in five days.

[reedprincess]

1 minute ago, Mississippian said:

I kind of wondered what big changes they could make in five days.

Yup, just recoding different category staterooms.  

It happens on all the ships at different times, not a big deal.  

That's when Sanctuary Club officially begins and the deck plans will reflect those cabin categories....

Edited May 24 by reedprincess