Sun Princess Showing Age, Wear and Tear

[swm54]

Having just returned from the 10/23/04 cruise on the Sun Princess, its very obvious that the ship is in need of an overhaul or refurbishment as it nears its 10th year in service. In a sense we have been spoiled by past cruises on the Coral Princess and other newer ships. 23 cruises and counting.

 

Cracked marble floors and chipped tiles, severe problems with air conditioning in most parts of the ship, rust spots visible from cabin balconys, cracked mirror's in staterooms, galley oders on the 7th and 8th deck some to the point of forcing guests from their staterooms. Along with the overall condition of the ship this cruise proved that the overall quality of the food has decreased substantially in the last year in the dining room and buffet lines. Not to mention two port calls of less than 5 hours (Nassau and St. Vincent), a detour to Barbados from St. Lucia due to pier damage in St. Lucia reducing berthing space for ships, the wrong immigration forms being issued to the entire ship (Princess thought everyone was a non US citizen). If it wasnt for the totally fantastic service provided by the staff on the ship this cruise would have been a total write-off!

[Toto2Kansas]

Amazing! We sailed on her not long ago (within the last 6 months) and never noticed all these little problems. Guess we just over look some of the things when we aren't sailing on a new ship.

We thoroughly enjoyed her!

[Luxana]

Oh my gosh; not more than an hour ago, I just booked a cabin on the Sun Princess for ten days to the Southern Caribbean on April 8th 2005! I've just left a message for our travel agent! I believe our cabin is on the 8th deck, same deck as the casino. We needed a handicapped cabin and there was one available forward of the elevators and lounge forward of the casino. It's a thousand more to go on the Celebrity Summit for same itinerary. Is it worth it? Sounds like it!

[spongerob]

Elaine, don't get too upset over one person's opinion. Yes, you can probably find signs of use on any ship, but I would be very surprised to discover that the general condition of any Princess ship is as shabby as comes across in the OP's comments. It is worth the effort to get a range of opinion and take ALL reviews with a grain of salt.

[seattlekckckc]

I was on the sun Princess this spring, and I had a great time! I feel that a direct comparison to a much newer ship is like apples and oranges. They both have positives and negatives, and like toto said, you more than likely would look over alot of them if your attention was not brought to it! I was on the Diamond when it was 2 weeks old and the sewage smell was unbearable in some areas, and it got fixed. Trust Princess to get some of the obvious problems fixed by then. You will have a great time!!! (It's all in the mindset too, I feel)

 

Casey

[ldoc31]

We are booked on the Sun Dec. 12. There were several postings regarding the condition of the Sun from the 10/23 cruise, but there were also others who said it was wonderful. I guess we will know soon--I hope our first experience with Princess is a good one.

[psupa]

Does anyone have information about the BA cabins on Riviera Deck. I booked the Sun Princess for April 8, 2005 a BC qty. Checked my personalizer and have a BA on Riviera deck. Any comments about these cabins which are below the Horizon Cafe.

[kruisey]

I travelled on Sun Princess for 19 days this spring.

Yes it is an older ship....Princess prices are lower than on their newer ones.

Your BA cabins are in good order you have no need to worry at all...

There is an uneven hallway floor to the fore on Baja under carpet.

The ship is in very good order for its age.

What I like about it its not glitzy like as though you are living in a Las Vegas

To me it is a comfy ship.....I would travel on her again in a heart beat.

Enjoy your cruises on The Sun Princess.........from a passenger who knows.

[Aquarian]

Are we not supposed to notice that it's swm54's first post?

[chrysalis]

We sailed this past March (/04) on the Sun and have deliberately booked her again for 10 days, March 19th, 2005.

 

......and plan to enjoy every moment, as we did last time.

 

Marc

[swm54]

You're right this is my first post and yes its only one person's opinion and should be taken as such. However having cruised 23 times on Princess in the past I felt that sharing our experience with others might be helpful. There are other people on the cruise with very similar opinions

[BJS]

You're right this is my first post and yes its only one person's opinion and should be taken as such. However having cruised 23 times on Princess in the past I felt that sharing our experience with others might be helpful. There are other people on the cruise with very similar opinions

Thanks for the "heads up" about the Sun's condition. With so many Princess ships to cruise on for the same itineraries in many cases it does help to have the type of post you made.

 

The response you got was not just because you were a first time poster. I got a similar response when I posted about the condition of the Royal Princess last year (it was not my first post and I had sailed multiple times with Princess). The response was like why would I post anything negative about their "perfect" ship. I also wanted others to know what we saw so they could have that information when deciding which ship to book.

[Ethel5]

We were on this same cruise and didn't have any of those problems. Our balcony was freshly painted. The food was good to very good. Coffee wasn't! I didn't notice any cracks in the tile or odors from the galley. As far as the ports go, yes we did divert and that couldn't be helped. Martinique was listed as a short stop from the beginning. Nassau took the place of Princess Cay and was shortened due to time constraints. No big deal. The A/C seemed to function well except that it was warm in the elevators.

[Vistadeck]

I was on the Sun in May, everything I saw looked great and had a fabulous time.

 

Tina Johnson

"Vistadeck"

See my trip pix : http://www.recordlady.com/Pages/CRUISES/cruises.htm

[marie24]

We cruised on Sun Princess 28 Sep to 13 Oct, yes we smelled "something." It was FRESH BAKED BREAD every afternoon in the aft part of the ship, the ovens must be in that area. It was wonderful!!!

[chrysalis]

I was not responding because you had said something about "my perfect" ship, nor would I even suggest that the Sun is a perfect ship.

 

What I would say though, is "what does one expect for a 10 day cruise vacation that can be had for slightly over $80/day, plus tips?"

 

 

marc

[margaritawoman]

We were on the Sun 10/13/04 the cruise before this one. We did not have any of these problems. We enjoyed this cruise very much. The Sun is one of our favorite ships, this was our second time on the Sun. The Sun was in dry dock for a week in Sept. all carpet in public areas replaced, the princess theater redone; chairs, sound system, all new. Many other areas on the ship spruced up also. I'm not saying these problems didn't exist we just didn't have them. I thought the food to be about the same as always. We have also been on many crusies (15) I think when you have been on alot of cruises sometimes you start to nick pick things apart. Thats not to say that problems don't happen they do. I can only say our cruise was very enjoyable.

[cruiserforlife]

We are sailing the Sun on 1/27 and at least this thread has me feeling slightly better than the last few....El Slamo on the 'ol Suno!

[gvre]

Luxana,

 

We will be on the April 8th Sun Princess Cruise. This will be our first time on the Sun, but we have been on the Dawn twice. We love the ship and look forward to a great vaction. Here's our thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=52274

Richard

[swm54]

$80 a day are you kidding me? I'm talking maybe $400 + per day for a mini-suite and expenses on Princess not the SS Minnow!

[richardj]

Just like to add my thoughts on the condition of the sun princess. I must agree with swm54 that she is showing signs of wear & tear in many public rooms these ships are in constant use with not enough time being spent on keeping thr interiors in good condition. My DW & I were on thw Sun in October 2003 and had an aft mini suite B755. The size of the cabin and the balcony was fantastic, but the condition was something else. In the sleeping area, the carpet was worn and had been patched, the lamp in the lift up lid of the dressing table was missing, the curtains were stained and dirty as was the leather chair. One of the brss lamps would not work and the glass celling shades ratled. When we complained, a new carpet was fitted throught the cabin and the whole room was given a deep clean. The hoel manager admitted that the ship was badly in need of a refit but that Princess management would not take her out of service. After 10 hard years, it is inevitable that the ship will show signs of wear & tear.

 

Richardj

 

Golden Princess Oct 2002, Sun Princess Oct 2004, Caribbean Princess Oct 2004, Coral Princess Feb 2005

[Luxana]

Richard, thanks, I'm off to your thread! Feeling a lot better here, Lux

[dls1277]

Regarding the Riviera Deck......We had this deck on our Sun Princess cruise and it was the best location we have ever had on a cruise with the exception of the a mini-suite on the Dawn. No need to worry about Horizon Court noise, never heard a thing and it was so nice and close to grab a snack. Only a couple of steps up the stairs. Also this location is only a couple of steps from the pool. Would book this deck on the sun class ships in a heartbeat (that is if I couldn't get a mini.)

[gvre]

The Mini Suites are great!!. We have them booked for all our 3 future cruise on the Dawn,Sun, and Sea Princess.

 

They have lots of room, 2 balconys, jaccuzzi tub, marble shower, walk in closet and more... worth every penny!

[rucruizin]

We sailed on the Jubilee, 10 day Panama Canal. I can't imagine the Sun being in any worse shape than the Jubilee was at that time. We still had a fantastic time and other that getting a little clostrophobic after a while, it was the best cruise we have been on. The ship doesn't make the trip, the people do.