Sun Princess Restaurant changes - New Article Announcement

[FLAlaska]

Looks like the rumors are true and they are changing the names of the dining rooms.

 

https://cruisebusiness.com/index.php/news-section/more-news-category/10869-princess-announces-several-restaurant-changes-for-sun-princess?fbclid=IwY2xjawFPzLlleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRoIm2hDkyJZjhZXqGMjhxOxgZr75jf4Ns0u4sOsz3w5GR9Fubk99Hh9Rw_aem_UAgZ4KIR3xG2_2_gX9dckg

 

New Locations
– The new Sanctuary Restaurant, exclusive for all Sanctuary Collection guests, will be found on Deck 8 aft (prior location of the Americana Diner). With a custom chef’s menu, dedicated waitstaff and stunning ocean views, this exclusive space takes luxury to a new level.
– The Catch by Rudi is moving to deck 7, adjacent to the Piazza (former location of the Signature Restaurant). This venue offers a fresh take on seafood with Chef Rudi Sodamin’s contemporary interpretations of classic dishes, international fusion influences, highly creative presentations and an engaging dining experience.
– The Butcher’s Block by Dario is moving to deck 7 forward (in former location of Crown Grill). In partnership with the world’s most famous butcher, Dario Cecchini, this specialty experience features a shared, family-style table serving up a carnivore’s paradise.
– Crown Grill will be found on deck 7 aft (former location of the Reserve Collection Restaurant). This iconic specialty restaurant offers an intimate dining experience in a classically-elegant setting, with top-quality cuts of beef, chops and seafood.
– The Americana Diner will be located on deck 9 aft. Serving up breakfast, lunch and dinner favorites all day long, this eatery is an excellent option for those looking to sit down for a casual meal at any time of day.

New Names
– Horizons Dining Room (deck 6 aft) has been renamed the Soleil Dining Room
– Horizons Dining Room (deck 7 aft) has been renamed the Eclipse Dining Room
– Park19 has been renamed the SkyDeck Sports Court & Track

[dog]

Beat me to it! Thanks!

[Fredric22]

Wow.. this is truly awful! I paid a lot of money for a Signature Suite because there was to be a dedicated Signature Class suite restaurant.  And now, everyone is lumped into "Sanctuary collection" and we are now in a main dining room?  Wow... I have no words. 

[peder]

I wouldn't consider the Sanctuary Restaurant to be a main dining room. It's still an exclusive space and will have elevated menus. The same concept works well with the MSC Yacht Club.

[dog]

14 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

Wow.. this is truly awful! I paid a lot of money for a Signature Suite because there was to be a dedicated Signature Class suite restaurant.  And now, everyone is lumped into "Sanctuary collection" and we are now in a main dining room?  Wow... I have no words. 

Well, it is not “ everyone.”

 

Can you cancel?

 

With all the Premier package people with unlimited Specialty dining I don’t see any problem, for us.

 

Yes, I am booked in the D0- aft balcony , a Vista suite and a Signature Suite.  And I cannot believe the mess Princess have made with this ship.

[Fredric22]

14 minutes ago, peder said:

I wouldn't consider the Sanctuary Restaurant to be a main dining room. It's still an exclusive space and will have elevated menus. The same concept works well with the MSC Yacht Club.

The Yacht Club restaurant is a small restaurant for about 200 guests.  Do you want to look at how many guests are now all lumped into the "Sanctuary collection" category?

[PacnGoNow]

I agree with you @dog. You can clearly see there was very little pre planning.  
I sure hope they do a better job on the Star.⭐️ 

 

Did they recently change the President

of F & B?  I hope so.

 

 

[Wishing on a star]

Sorry,  but it is still 'exclusive' dining.

Some people have issues when they think anyone else get's what they think should be just solely for them.

 

That dining room, the entry, tables, carpet, etc... is actually very very nice.

 

My ONLY issue would be the fact that they mentioned the 'expansive ocean views'.

Ummm. really???   I sure hope that they are smart enough to put full light and view filtering shades or blinds on those Aft windows.    Methinks Uncle Joe with his bucket of beer from the Wakeview Bar, and exposed beer belly, etc,  (or running kids.. etc)  just outside the window on that Aft pool deck would NOT be acceptable.

[Wishing on a star]

7 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

The Yacht Club restaurant is a small restaurant for about 200 guests.  Do you want to look at how many guests are now all lumped into the "Sanctuary collection" category?

 So, what?????

It is the tables and space per guest, and the waitstaff expertise and number of staff per guests, and of course the menu that matter.

 

You want a small private yacht, charter one, or book Yacht Club.

Princess is in no way trying to re-create something from MSC.

[Fredric22]

4 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

 So, what?????

It is the tables and space per guest, and the waitstaff expertise and number of staff per guests, and of course the menu that matter.

 

You want a small private yacht, charter one, or book Yacht Club.

Princess is in no way trying to re-create something from MSC.

LOL you sound so nice!

 

Sorry, but the experience that was advertised originally is not what we are now getting.  You can justify it any way you want, but originally Signature Suite guests had their own restaurant with a different and highly upgraded menu.  It was not the same as the "Reserve Collection" restaurant and menu.  You literally have no idea what Princess was trying to create, unless you work for them. 

[dog]

I get it.

The attraction for me was a smaller, quieter dining room with a little bit better menu.

I liked the set up described when I booked.

I foresee more growing pains as the Sun arrives in Fort Lauderdale with all the confusion over these premier packages that appear to be freebies.

And Premier unlimited dining with overcrowding & understaffed crew.

[Geoffa30]

14 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Sorry,  but it is still 'exclusive' dining.

Some people have issues when they think anyone else get's what they think should be just solely for them.

 

That dining room, the entry, tables, carpet, etc... is actually very very nice.

 

My ONLY issue would be the fact that they mentioned the 'expansive ocean views'.

Ummm. really???   I sure hope that they are smart enough to put full light and view filtering shades or blinds on those Aft windows.    Methinks Uncle Joe with his bucket of beer from the Wakeview Bar, and exposed beer belly, etc,  (or running kids.. etc)  just outside the window on that Aft pool deck would NOT be acceptable.

 

Don't forget people who originally booked a Signature Suite were to have their own dedicated Signature restaurant. That is now changing, whilst it's still a dedicated restaurant, it's no longer the promised intimate one but a larger area to be shared amongst many more cabins. Please also bear in mind, the prices for the new Sanctuary Collection seem to have received a significant price increase following the changes so I imagine expectations are going to be even higher.

[Wishing on a star]

There have been a LOT of disappointments and growing pains!!!!

I get that, too!

We booked with the supposed understanding that we could pay for daily access to the Sanctuary.

NOPE.....    (that really is taking away something very specific that was assumed to be available)

 

I just don't see a change in dining venue as that kind of thing.

The post I was referring to might not havet sounded so 'nice'.  A lot of anger and disappointment and incorrect assumptions.  

 

Only time will tell if it this works out well or not.

Assuming that they have the space and the staff and a nice venue,  then I would not assume right away that this is a problem and something has been taken away.

Not sure the direct comparison to another line is valid, either.

Edited September 12 by Wishing on a star

[FLAlaska]

23 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

 So, what?????

It is the tables and space per guest, and the waitstaff expertise and number of staff per guests, and of course the menu that matter.

 

You want a small private yacht, charter one, or book Yacht Club.

Princess is in no way trying to re-create something from MSC.

I see you point, but one of the things I liked about reserve was it was small and cozy. I don't like the larger dining rooms, especially as a solo cruiser. When I booked a Suite, I was paying for a smaller room, cozier and quieter.It really never was about the menu for me.

 

It may not matter to many, but to me it is kind of a bummer that now all suites and reserve are lumped together in a bigger room. Seems like a first world problem but it was one thing I was looking forward to .  BUt it is what it is.

Edited September 12 by FLAlaska

[FLAlaska]

12 minutes ago, dog said:

I get it.

The attraction for me was a smaller, quieter dining room with a little bit better menu.

I liked the set up described when I booked.

 

My feeling exactly when I booked the suite.

[Fredric22]

And I am guessing the separate signature suite area of the Sanctuary is now gone too?

[beg3yrs]

All this is pretty cool! We were on board in June and if we sail on the Sun Princess again it will be like learning a whole new-to-us ship. Woo-hoo!

 

Very happy to see the demise of Park 19 and the addition of a Sports Court. Of course we don't know just what the court will look like. Can't assume it will be the tried-and-true basketball-pickle ball court and so on (although that's what I'd personally want). If it's the same design team that created Park 19, I wouldn't bet on it.

 

Personally I couldn't care less about the relocation of the restaurants as long as it makes things work better.

[dog]

2 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

And I am guessing the separate signature suite area of the Sanctuary is now gone too?

Yes, only Sanctuary Collection cabins will have access. As of October 14/24.

[PensFan1028]

26 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

There have been a LOT of disappointments and growing pains!!!!

I get that, too!

We booked with the supposed understanding that we could pay for daily access to the Sanctuary.

NOPE.....    (that really is taking away something very specific that was assumed to be available)

 

I just don't see a change in dining venue as that kind of thing.

 

Time will tell if it this works out well or not.

Assuming that they have the space and the staff and a nice venue,  then I would not assume right away that this is a problem and something has been taken away.

Not sure the direct comparison to another line is valid, either.

 

Really seems like yet again another rug pull by Princess.

 

We were on the Sun back in May and paid to use the Sanctuary 5 times over the two weeks. We booked another sailing on the Sun for December 2024 with hopes to do the same - enjoy an "adults only" pool area. Then the changes started.

 

1. Princess made Sanctuary off-limits, no cash buy in, only available to Sanctuary Class guests - essentially making no "adults only" pool area... big deal for us

 

2. We get upgrade offer to Sanctuary Class mini-suite with upgraded perks and "new" Premier package. A no brainer for us because we were already planning on spending the money to use the Sanctuary 4 days of our cruise anyhow - it was already budgeted in. This covered the paid upgrade. The new Premier package (unlimited specialty dining, drinks, etc.) was icing on top.

 

3. Now we move all of the dining venues around. I feel for those who booked Signature with the expectation to have a private and much better decorated dining venue. When they made that the Sanctuary dining room it was again just icing on top for us.

 

4. Offer emails out now upgrading various category rooms for FREE to sanctuary after some have paid based on a "one time exclusive deal"

 

This is making it really difficult to book early as you are not getting the best deal... they just move the goal posts up until your time of sailing.

 

We were hit with the Premium package change mid booking two years ago. Got on the ship expecting we had access to what was the premium package only to find out we had to pay another $70pp to have all that was included.

Edited September 12 by PensFan1028

[FLAlaska]

41 minutes ago, Fredric22 said:

And I am guessing the separate signature suite area of the Sanctuary is now gone too?

Its still separate from the main dining rooms, but it is together with all the reserve minisuites and balconys that were converted to Sanctuary.  In all fairness, previously , the reserve (on other ships) includes them as well but I was looking forward to even more intimate with the separate suite and separate reserve that was originally sold

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Will the new Signature Restaurant still have "elevated cooking" as it does before the change or will it now just have the same exact food as the MDR.  Not sure if there is a separate kitchen.  

[Esprit]

I like the proposed venue changes. Good to see Princess recognising the failings in the original concept and trying to remedy them. 

[Wishing on a star]

Princess has def. been flyin' by the seat of their pants.

STILL are!!!  And it is just so frustrating!

 

I don't see the change in restaurant as being a major thing, UNLESS we hear that it is not working.  That people are not getting the experience that they should.

I would be wiling to give it a chance.

 

There is no reason that they would be limited to MDR offerings.

There seems to be a kitchen there (white area) on Deck 8, as well as on both Decks 6 and 7 of the MDR.

 

Did Princess actually use the word 'intimate' when describing the Signature Dining.

That is a very interesting use of word for dining.

 

I do know that this is not the MDR.  It has its own very nice entry area.  It is not 'packed in' with a not too much of the dreaded bench seating.   The decor could be very nice.  It does have windows, but sadly they look out over the wake-view deck area.   Definitely needs some nice, light filtering, blinds, or shades.  I doubt they would do any drapery.  But, could also use some cosmetic drapes on the side of the windows.  (of course, that is personal opinion...  I prefer drapes in these kinds of areas, which adds character and takes away from an 'Ikea' look.)

[FamilyGuy1010]

Hi Everyone:

 

We are booked on the Sun for next June in a Cabana Deck Mini, so no special dining.  We think the Premier Package is way more than we need, so we go Plus.  Anyway, we were on the Sky this summer and the food in the MDR was just fine.  We ate at the Crown Grill once and were very happy with that.  I believe that Princess is consistent in its dining rooms across ships, so I would expect a similar level of quality and service on the Sun.  Is that wrong?

 

What is obviously happening, and not just on Princess, is that cruise lines are going to a multi-class system like years ago.  At some point, steerage might be an option.  Of course, they'll need a more catchy name for it!

 

I am more concerned with the size of the ships.  When booking the Sun, I told the person that helped me book (on the Sky, used FCC) that if this turns out to be like a trip to a theme park where I have to wait in long lines, I will be taking my future cruise dollars elsewhere.  I have no problem paying to be on a smaller ship.  Do people that have been on the Sun find it to be over crowded?

[dog]

Something I read on fb article said it was an upgraded menu. It also listed how many cabins were now able to dine in the combined Sanctuary restaurant.

 

If you did not pay $400-$2000 more for a cabin like some did months ago, you will not be affected by these changes.

 

I really don’t care and will try several of the venues, as walk in, since I could not get reservations for my whole week.

We seem to agree that Princess has changed the product they advertised and boy, I can see a lot of irritated cruisers in October.  I am just staying away from the complainers.