0208 248 2355
Questions about your booking? Contact Us
Login
Sun Princess® leads our next generation of ships
What Were We Thinking of When We Designed the New Sun Princess? You.
We pondered everything, so you can feel the love on the cruise vacation of your dreams.
Because here, the sun revolves around you.
My wife and I have over 40 cruises under our belt, mostly Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Holland America, but this was our very first Princess. We selected the Sun Princess simply because it is new and the itinerary was out of the ordinary, with stops in Roatan and Belize City, two destinations we've never been before. Starting at the beginning, embarkation was a breeze. The time from walking into Terminal 2 at Port Everglades to opening the door of the cabin was about 12 minutes. I could not believe just how quickly things moved along. I commented to my wife about the "old days", circa 2001, when lines were out the door and we had to wait for an open spot at the counter to be checked in. When I opened the 16th deck door, I immediately noticed the warm colors, but the cabin size itself was very typical. What was different on this ship is where the closet was placed, on the left side as we walked in. I didn't give this much thought until I started unpacking, as this location affords guests a tremendous amount of closet space because it's longer than any other closet I've seen on any other ship. I counted 43 hangers, which is a tremendous amount, and there are three drawers inside the closet, not some folding piece of metal that I've experienced on other ships (not quite sure what the metal thingie is actually for). This aspect of the cabin was well done by the designers. The bathroom felt smaller than most, similar to that on Virgin Voyages, but the shower was great. Although the shower door was difficult to open because of its location directly next to the bathroom door with little clearance, there was plenty of hot water with a lot of pressure through the adjustable head. And best of all, it had normal, American controls, not the typical European controls that are difficult to figure out for the first few days where you have to press a button and then turn the value up or down. The bathroom didn't have any cabinets to store items such as those found on Celebrity, just glass shelves. The bed was kinda hard for my taste. I know that you aren't supposed to stay in your cabin to watch TV, but I like to catch up on news twice a day and this ship didn't make it easy because even on clear days, the reception was cutting in and out and pixelating 24/7. There were three news stations (BBC, Fox and MSNBC), along with four ESPN channels which oddly came in crystal clear for the entire voyage (different satellite antennas?). Our balcony didn't have loungers, just two chairs and a small table. There were plenty of USB ports, more than any other ship that I've been on and each nightstand has one. The ships internet service was excellent, fast, no delays and every corner of the vessel has a strong signal. Working from the ship would be very easy for those needing to. The layout of the ship was typical and easy to navigate. The elevators are of the new fangled type where you enter the floor number that you want and wait for the elevator that the display sends you to. Wait times varied from a few seconds to as much as 5 minutes. We found The Dome to be a good place to relax with a drink and do some reading, although we were kicked out on some days so that crew could setup the venue for private parties. I found the pool area to be extremely loud with music that constantly throbs through ones head, and it was very difficult to escape. During peak times, from 11:30am through around 2:30pm, it was constant and we needed to find a lounger either at the front or very rear of the ship to get away from it. An hour break would have been nice. The Piazza was a nice touch, but I found it to be lacking in seating. As far as food is concerned, I felt it to be a mixed bag. We ate in the dining room five nights and specialty the remaining two. The food in the dining room was good, but on some nights the menu selections were not great and I had to settle for a dish that was less than scrumptious. The service was good, not great, but good, but as opposed to other ships that I've been on where three staff members service the table (server, busboy and sommelier), there was just the waiter, who bussed, took the drink and food orders and served. Our guy worked his butt off and was good. The two specialty restaurants that we visited, Crown Grill and Sabatini's, were both excellent. The meats at Crown were very good and of a good portion. Sabatini's serves a four course Italian dinner and was outstanding. My only criticism here was that everything came out in succession, with very little time between dishes. I would have preferred time to digest each course. We felt that Love Britto was way too weird for us and so we saved the money. We had lunch one day at Alfredo's, which was also excellent, with the exception of the 45 minute wait for a table. O'Malley's was fun for those who like a pub atmosphere. I need to go into detail about the buffet, which is called The Eatery. This place is one hot mess folks. First of all, it's not a buffet where you serve yourself because you can't. You walk down, cafeteria style, a line of counters having to ask for whatever you want to be served. The lines were unbelievable during breakfast, and lunch was no better. The inefficiency of it all just stuck in my craw. For example, on other ships that I have been on, the omelette station has a cook who will take four orders at once and will prepare the orders on four burners. At The Eatery, there is one person with one burner and one pan. The line was so long that I didn't even bother. The same went for the pasta station at lunch time, the preparer had one burner and one pasta cooker to work with and could only prepare one order at a time. This time I waited on the line, which took 15 minutes. Want a salad? You need to point and tell the preparer exactly what you want. Also, there is no drink bar in The Eatery to get soft or alcoholic drinks, as they must be ordered from waitstaff. On one day I ordered a can of Coke and it arrived at the table 11 minutes later. The tables don't even have sweetener containers, so if you want a Splenda or Sweet 'N Low, you need to ask a server, who will fetch a packet for you. It was pure insanity. And add to the mix that there weren't any coffee stations, again, you need to ask a server for coffee. If there was any aspect of the ship that needs to be completely rethought out, it's The Eatery. Yes it cuts down on waste, but it also wastes the time of the passengers. Breakfast was such an ordeal that we opted to go to the dining room for the last four days of the cruise, which I must say was excellent, if not civilized. Now on to the bars. There's no shortage of places to get a drink, and our favorite was Good Spirits, which is a cozy spot that serves unique drinks not found anywhere else on the ship. Every few hours the Chief Mixmaster, Fillip, puts on a demonstration of mixing some of the drinks found on the menu, and we found him to be very entertaining. We also liked Bellini's, which is very similar to the Martini Bar on Celebrity ships, as well as Crooners. The pool bars were nothing to write home about and for the most part served lousy drinks. I ordered a Mojito and was served a glass of chopped up mint and rum. The bartender didn't know that there was supposed to be soda water, simple syrup and lime juice, and boy was it bad. Now here is something that we did not appreciate at all, there are no music venues outside of O'Malley's and the shows going on in the Piazza. On most ships, especially Celebrity, Holland America and Royal, there are places that you can slip into to listen to a piano player and singer. Not on Sun Princess. A few times a week there were performers at Crooners in the late afternoon, but that was about it. I think there aren't any music venues because the sound would spill out into the Piazza, which is the area of the ship were most of the bars are located. Note to Princess: the ship is in dire need of music after dinner and late night. My wife and I opted for a weeks pass at the spa, and it was the best money we spent on the cruise. We purchased a pass for $149/pp a month before departure and it was so well worth it. The spa had the best thermal pool I've ever seen on a ship (Celebrity Beyond doesn't even have one), in addition to four different saunas and heat beds. Getting off the ship was just as quick as getting on. Once we made our way to the gangway, we were outside of the terminal on the way to the parking garage within 15 minutes.
We absolutely loved the Sun Princess, the layout of the ship was easy to navigate when you get your bearings. There is so much to see and we did find new bars, grills and restaurants each day. There is an abundance of eateries and bars to enjoy. The speciality restaurants were all fantastic and the staff worked so hard and provided a fabulous service. All the staff on the ship provided an amazing service. The only service we found did not always work is the ocean now service at your location however it was noy difficult to get our own drinks or food from the bars. We will definitely book another cruise for this ship. Only negative is due to late booking the excursions were mainly sold out and we did find it difficult to book speciality restaurants for the times we wanted however we were able to make or change a few bookings to suit us once onboard the ship. We also ate in the main dining room which was very nice and liked the staff serving in the eatery/buffet. Although it may take slightly longer to get everything you want it felt like a much cleaner and healthier environment and we did not see tables with lots of food piled high or wasted. There was ample seating space and different areas to enjoy both indoors and outdoors and it was nice to have the option to eat outside looking over the water.
From the moment you step aboard, we want you to feel welcomed and right at home. And with attentive service from a friendly staff that knows what hospitality means, you’ll find your Princess® ship truly is your home away from home.
Photos, floor plan diagrams, amenities, and furnishings represent typical arrangements and may vary by ship and stateroom.
Whether new favourites or fan favourites, when it comes to dining, the flavours shine through.
A wealth of diversions for nearly every interest – and mood
Soak Up The Relaxation
We know you crave relaxation, so we created even more places to come feel the "ahhh!"
Psst...kids, want your own space? Firefly Park, Neon Grove and The Underground are ALL YOURS.
With games, themed events and activities all reserved for you. So let the adults have their fun; you’ll have yours too.
