Live (ish) from Sun Princess - May 25, 2024 - Athens to Barcelona

[mofurd]

Hey everyone! Second time cruiser, first time “live” thread poster. Figured it would be great to document this especially on a newer ship. 
 

On New Years Eve, one of my best friends and I were chatting about summer, cruising, and travel; and long story short, we decided to go on a cruise together! I had already been looking on ***** (great tool to use as a cruise search engine, btw) for a few itineraries that would coincide with Memorial Day (one less vacation day for me to use since it’s a paid holiday!) and saw the one for this week on the Sun. 
 

Both of us had cruised Princess before, my friend more extensively because her family and especially grandparents are avid Princess cruisers. However, neither of us had ever been to Europe. So as a result, this itinerary checked all of the boxes for us. 

I booked through a TA on New Years Day after getting a few emails from TAs through *****, and later we also booked flights through EZAir. Being an avid Google Flights searcher, I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable the airfare was through EZAir as opposed to DIYing it. 
 

We left home on Thursday afternoon (May 23), had a layover in Rome, then made it to Athens Friday evening (May 24). The view from our Airbnb was incredible!

 

After not sleeping much due to jet lag, but still feeling quite rested nonetheless, we were up at 5am and went to the rooftop terrace of the Airbnb. You seriously can’t beat this view of Acropolis Hill and the Parthenon! Hadrian’s library in the foreground: 

 

We ended up leaving around 6:30am to get coffee and explore a bit before using our Acropolis tickets. here are some obligatory food photos along with the Parthenon!

 

more to come!

[mofurd]

Boarding now, snapped this on the walk into the terminal from the bus stop. Isn’t she a beaut?!

[dickinson]

Following along.  Have a wonderful cruise!

[mofurd]

We’re officially on board!

 

We had originally booked a cove balcony guarantee, and hadn’t gotten a cabin assignment until a couple days before we left. Surprise, we got an upgrade! By a couple of categories, up to a standard deluxe balcony. Or whatever it’s called. lol. 
couch by the door configuration 

 

nice nightstands for each bed!

 

and a good mix of plentiful outlet types

[h20skibum]

Have a great cruise.  The Sun rises for us in January.  Would be interested in hearing if everything is up and running on the ship yet.

[phabric]

Following along.  Enjoy your cruise.

[mofurd]

49 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Have a great cruise.  The Sun rises for us in January.  Would be interested in hearing if everything is up and running on the ship yet.

 I will check and see. Haven’t gotten to walk around everywhere yet but I’ll check on Park 19 especially. Is there any other specific thing you were wondering about?

[mofurd]

Welcome Aboard letter and today’s patter

[Justpackingmybags]

Following along - I’ll be boarding next week in Barcelona 😎

[mofurd]

This is awesome…can check on the MDR menus on the stateroom TV, even with several hours to go before dinner! 😎

[mofurd]

31 minutes ago, Justpackingmybags said:

Following along - I’ll be boarding next week in Barcelona 😎

Aw man too bad we will be passing instead of partying on the same cruise! Hope yours is amazing!

[Wishing on a star]

Following!!!  Thanks for the post!

 

We will not be boarding until Sun gets here to the U.S.

The one thing that I am hoping to get some early info on is whether, with the new Sanctuary Club Class, that the Cabanas in the sanctuary might ever be available to rent to lowly non-sanctuary guests?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

The Sanctuary Club Class doesn’t take effect yet. Whatever she experiences will be different. 
 

The Sanctuary was pretty empty in April and only a few cabanas occupied the entire cruise. Even for me, $500 is a lot to pay for one day. 

[treesah]

Following, too.  Your photos are great.  Keep them coming.  TIA.

[h20skibum]

Just curious, do they have the Patters available in electronic format that you can view on your phone or iPad?

[Esprit]

Thanks for taking the time out to post on CC.

if you remember, please can you found out where you can get fresh squeezed orange juice.

Have a great cruise.

[Flo71]

Thank you, I'm not on her until 2026 but I am loving soaking up everyone else's experiences. Looks like there is so much going on onboard which is why I love Princess!! Hope you're having a wonderful cruise!

[Justpackingmybags]

19 hours ago, h20skibum said:

Just curious, do they have the Patters available in electronic format that you can view on your phone or iPad?

You can see everything on the Princess app

[Crown Cruiser]

So glad to see that the name "Patter" is back.  I hope they eventually change all the ships back to that name and layout. (Unless this is just for the inaugural year).

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, Justpackingmybags said:

You can see everything on the Princess app

I realize that.  The last couple cruises we did on Royal Caribbean, they had a QR code that would give you a pdf version.  My question is, does Princess have this.  

[Justpackingmybags]

4 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

I realize that.  The last couple cruises we did on Royal Caribbean, they had a QR code that would give you a pdf version.  My question is, does Princess have this.  

No, just paper, app or the screens round the ship. I never saw a QR code when I was on Sky last November.

[mofurd]

Good morning all! Sorry for not responding, yesterday was a sea day and I went the cheapskate route of not wanting to pay $25+ a day for WiFi. $20 for an eSIM for the whole trip is more my style 😂

 

just docked in Bar. I’ll post more and respond to some posts soon!

[mofurd]

14 hours ago, Justpackingmybags said:

No, just paper, app or the screens round the ship. I never saw a QR code when I was on Sky last November.

@h20skibum the above response is correct. However, I have definitely noticed not everything is on the printed Patter; there are far more events listed in the app (seems to especially be meet ups, Bible study, knitters meet up, etc that are only shown digitally, not printed)

[mofurd]

18 hours ago, Esprit said:

Thanks for taking the time out to post on CC.

if you remember, please can you found out where you can get fresh squeezed orange juice.

Have a great cruise.

I will ask the staff! However I was talking to someone yesterday who said the orange juice was incredibly delicious, has the pulp etc. and also said he thought it was fresh squeezed because of how good it was. 
 

but despite his glowing review I will still try to ask!

[mofurd]

18 hours ago, Esprit said:

Thanks for taking the time out to post on CC.

if you remember, please can you found out where you can get fresh squeezed orange juice.

Have a great cruise.

Ok, official response from one of the eatery staff. The buffet (The Eatery, Deck 9) is not fresh squeezed, but you can find fresh-squeezed OJ on Deck 17 (Lido). 😊