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A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern Caribbean (long)



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 20th, 2006, 04:55 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern Caribbean (long)

Instead of depositing yet another "food's good, cabins are tiny" cruise
review into cyberspace, I feel compelled to embellish this one with a soft
sales pitch. Why? The "wow" factor alone sells Voyager-class ships, and
exotic itineraries and celebrity chefs fill others. Someone's gotta gush
about the hidden delights of the Grand Dames plying the Caribbean seas and
Alaskan coast under the radar of cruise shoppers bombarded with touts of
rock climbing walls, cirque-like entertainment and fluffy pillow top
mattresses.



So I'm sharing this "insider's secret:" The Sun Princess' 10-night voyage to
the Southern Caribbean is a winner. This cruise offers the enviable
combination of a 4-star cruise experience at a great price plus the bonus of
three extra days, which not only extend the itinerary to ports new to many
cruisers, but also make a noticeable difference in one's attainment of
"vacation relaxation"-you know, that state you've reached just when they
kick you off a 7-night cruise.



Here's a little review and a little hype.



Our family of five aged from 12 to 75 cruised 10 nights on the Sun Princess
to the Southern Caribbean for Christmas 2005. This was our 14th cruise, 6th
holiday cruise and 3rd Princess cruise. We've cruised on all mass market
lines except Disney.



Review in a nutshell: This cruise exceeded expectations! We were most
impressed with Princess' thoughtful and well-executed celebration of
Christmas in every way, the consistently good dining room food, the
top-notch production shows and all-around exemplary customer service. We had
the best ever waiter.or tied for best with another Princess waiter. The port
line-up was terrific. We were least impressed with the buffet menu and food
quality and the feature entertainment.



Why the Sun's 10-nighter to the Southern Caribbean is a great value: At ten
years old and lacking the bells and whistles of the latest, greatest cruise
ships, the Sun can't command the prices her younger, whiz-bang competitors
extract. Thus, if all you're looking for is some pampering at sea and fun in
the sun, the Sun's a bargain, especially when you compare her rate for 10
nights visiting some new ports vs. the price tags on the multitudes of
7-night options going the same old places.



To the point, the Sun Princess is aging gracefully. Aside from expected
signs of wear and tear, she has been well-maintained and remains very
attractive in Princess' signature Tuscan-inspired style. The Sun really
shows her age in ways known only to cruisers who've sailed the newer
megaships, e.g., the Sun's cabins, shower stalls, and balconies are tiny;
the specialty restaurant is awkwardly carved out the Horizon Court buffet;
to make room for an Internet cafe, the library and card/game room have been
combined; and there's a small gym and spa with limited equipment and
amenities (the silver lining of which is that the dry sauna and wet steam
rooms located in gender-separated dressing rooms are available at no
additional charge instead of being fee-based features of the expansive spas
most late model ships offer).



From a big picture perspective of her aging, the Sun currently sails without
bow thrusters, which means tugs assist in port, but passengers are not
impacted in any way. However, although it didn't occur during our voyage,
the Sun has also suffered more worrisome intermittent generator problems
causing missed/abbreviated ports on affected voyages (the last time being in
October 2005 as best as I can deduce from cruise reports-you can get
up-to-the-minute news on the "Live from the Sun" thread that's been going
for more than a year on the Princess boards at Cruise Critic). Some
speculate the Sun will be pulled for a dry dock to address these mechanical
problems and perhaps get some interior touch-ups; others think she'll limp
along 'til a rumored 2007 transfer from the fleet.



Bottom line: If you're a traveler who can roll with the punches of a
possible itinerary change and aren't bothered by the Sun's "old ship"
limitations, you're sure to get maximum "bang for the buck" from a cruise on
the Sun Princess.



The topical review: Here's our summary "grades" of Princess' performance on
the Sun, YMMV:



Treatment of Christmas A+

Embarkation A (Port Everglades F)

Cabins B/Stateroom Service B

Food B/Dining Service A+

Entertainment B

Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences A

Disembarkation A (Port Everglades F)



For those who are already booked on a Sun Princess cruise or who might be
interested in giving her a try, a few more details follow. Note, because the
things Princess did to commemorate Christmas are unique to one cruise a
year, I am submitting a separate post for archives researchers entitled,
"Christmas and Hanukkah 2005 on Princess." If you just want to know what we
did during our port stops in Princess Cays, St. Thomas, Dominica, Barbados,
Isla Margarita and Curacao, I've also separately submitted, "Port Day
Reviews of 6 Southern Caribbean Ports."

Embarkation: The Port of Everglades cruise terminal leaves a lot to be
desired. First, be warned, delays in embarkation and disembarkation are
apparently common here, some due to ship fault, others due to port fault. In
our case, it was the port's fault. Second, there is no seating area inside
the terminal, which means the lines of embarking passengers build and build
outside the building when there are delays.

We had stayed at the near-port Marina Marriott (nice enough property), which
features a free port shuttle (but no airport shuttle-no biggie, the taxi
ride is short and cheap). We took the 12:30p shuttle to the port, checked
out the lines and agreed "no way," entrusted our luggage to the care of the
port luggage handlers and returned to hang out in the hotel lobby and walk
to the nearby drug store for last minute impulse purchases. We tried again
at 2:30p (our Princess docs had suggested boarding after 2p to avoid lines)
and encountered the same snarl as before, but we knew there was no turning
back this time. The problem was, we had a wheelchair passenger with
respiratory problems who simply could not handle hours of heat and humidity
waiting in the line that snaked a looooong way (4 city blocks' worth)
outside the terminal. Fortunately, on polite request for indoor
accommodation, we were afforded "front of the line" treatment. I am sure
those folks who had been waiting on their feet forever were not happy, but
on being whisked inside straight to the shortest check-in line, we were
processed within 5 minutes (thanks to pre-cruise online registration and a
very efficient and cheerful check-in agent).

Cabins: We had two balconies and one inside on the Caribe deck. We had a
similar configuration on a prior cruise on the Sun's sister ship, the Dawn
Princess. These are some of the tiniest cabins at sea! Yet, we so marvel at
the ingenious cabin configuration for placement of furniture, cabin
amenities and storage spaces, after the initial shock, we find size doesn't
really matter. Although I will say, the balcony is just too compact for
optimal enjoyment-there's no room for loungers, just two chairs and a small
table.

About those balconies, I am no engineer, so it is hard for me to explain,
except that most new ships feature balconies that "hang off" the side of the
ship; in contrast, the Sun-class balconies are created by an opening in the
metal side of the ship such that your balcony area is actually taking up
square footage of the ship's interior. The inset variety is sheltered from
the elements-a boon when you're taking an Alaskan cruise, which is where we
first experienced them on the Dawn. In the Caribbean, you feel like a
half-baked sardine squinting out of the rolled-back lid of a can that's been
left out in the sun. We enjoyed our morning coffee and evening cocktail out
there, but for lolly-gagging in the sun, we moved to the pool decks. I might
seriously consider a mini-suite for a tropical cruise on a ship with the
inset style of balcony.

Stateroom Service: Our steward performed his job adequately but with an
attitude. He started the cruise off on the wrong foot with us by openly
grousing about having to re-do some of the beds (changing "pushed together"
to twins and vice versa--apparently, our requests as to each of the three
cabins had been jumbled). It was aggravating that he parked the service cart
between our stateroom doors every day/night while he was working his stretch
of cabins, particularly when he could see that we had difficulty maneuvering
the wheelchair in/out around it. Not that we particularly missed them, but
we didn't get one towel animal out of the guy. We've never had such a "miss"
experience with a cabin attendant-maybe he was suffering the holiday blues?
Needless to say, he got the recommended auto tip and no more.his loss, the
casino's gain.

Food, Glorious Food: Princess' strength in the food department is, of
course, her Italian cuisine. For lunch, there's a pasta del giorno in the
dining room and a "made to order" pasta bar in the buffet. At dinner, there
is always something with Italian flair on the menu, and if you want to
pre-order a pasta or other Italian dish, your waiter and maitre d' will be
happy to arrange it. The rest of the dining room food is mostly very good-I
can't say we had any dish so outstanding I remember it to this day, but I
also don't recall any major disappointments. There's not enough ethnic
diversity or creative use of herbs and spices to suit our more adventuresome
palates, but all in all, the food was consistently above average, the
entrée/sides pairings were nice and the presentation was attractive. The
variety of delicious chilled soups deserves special mention, as does the
quality of the desserts, which had improved since our last Princess sailing.
We were also impressed with the quality of the beef on this sailing-Princess
did not attempt to cut costs at the butcher shop. The daily menus were so
nicely constructed, we were quite happy to remain in the dining room each
evening. Normally, we try the specialty restaurant at least once; however,
we enjoyed our nightly food and service so much, we didn't feel moved to
try "Sterling's Steakhouse," especially considering it's inelegantly
fashioned out of a section of the buffet. Verdi's, the onboard pizza parlor,
serves terrific pizza, but the ambiance is only so-so because people use it
as a cut-through-it's like sitting at a sidewalk café alongside a commuter
highway. We wondered why the lunch menu didn't feature the salads and pastas
Verdi's serves at dinner and also why they don't deliver? The joy of a
longer cruise is feeling relaxed enough to enjoy a lazy afternoon of movies
in the cabin.a pizza would've made the experience complete.

Dining Service: Princess has always shined on us in this category, and on
the Sun, we met our very best-or at least tied for best-waiter in 14
cruises: Hristo from Bulgaria, who was ably assisted by Ramona from Romania.
Breakfast and lunch service in the dining room was above average.

Entertainment: We will always think RCI has the best entertainment, but
Princess did a surprisingly good job for our tastes this cruise. In
particular, the orchestra, singers and dancers were among the most talented
performers we've seen at sea, and the lead male and female soloists were
outstanding. We give high marks to each of the four production shows: Piano
Man (featuring selections made famous by Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka, Elton
John, etc.); C'est Magnifique (a French musical revue); Tribute (Beach Boys,
Beatles); and Curtain Up (Broadway). In the "just okay" category were the
house dance band, the CD (John Cleford) and the highlight guest performers.
We like hanging out in the piano bar on cruisers, and while the Sun's
"Kemble" is a great entertainer, he demands to be the center of attention
rather than a facilitator. We played a lot of trivia and came home with a
lot of Princess plastic! We'd never before attended the guest talent show.
It was painful to sit through...talented people must be too busy
participating in Christmas entertainment back home to cruise.

Miscellaneous Onboard Experiences: Princess offers coffee cards! The coffee
card was $22 or $24 plus 15% gratuity (I can't recall the exact price) and
good for 18 specialty coffees (usually priced at $1.50 or $2.00 if bought
alone). You can use the card in the dining room, in bars/lounges and in the
coffee bar in the atrium. I loved getting my doppio espressos, but we did
feel the quality of the regular coffee all over the ship had improved over
the days when we thought only the dining room coffee was worth drinking.
Princess has a soda card, of course, but no wine package as some other lines
offer. . Ceramics at Sea was a fun activity well-suited to a longer cruise
(for kiln time). . Princess offers "fill a bag" $15 laundry service-handy on
a longer cruise. . The toilet paper and facial tissue are cheap, cheap,
cheap.thin, rough and gray. Boo on Princess for cost-cutting on something
that is so noticeable. . The Patter is so cluttered and illogically
organized-I remember thinking the last time we cruised Princess that I'd
love to get my hands on it and do a complete makeover! Dining room times are
not listed anywhere-you have to consult some other resource to find out if
you are on time or too late for breakfast or lunch. The "back on board" time
is not printed on the port brochures-we didn't realize this until
mid-afternoon in port and our party couldn't agree on the announced
deadline. In fact, there were some pax who missed the boat in at least two
ports this trip. I know it saves a lot of money to produce a stock port
brochure; however, I think it would be easy to customize it for each cruise
by applying a brightly colored sticker with the "back on board" time, or
even have the stickers and/or magic markers at the exit when you get off. .
Speaking of communications, there's no NYTimes digest-you have to rely on
CNN or newspapers in port. . Like most lines, Princess has gone on the
offense against Norovirus outbreaks. Among the prophylactic measures used
this cruise were hand sanitizer stops at the buffet and entrance to the
dining room; employee-served buffet food for the first 3-4 days of the
cruise (presumably, the health situation seemed stable enough to let us do
it ourselves at that point); and signs in all public restrooms encouraging
hand washing. . The gym was small and only equipped with the basics. We had
to wait for preferred machines and free weights at busy workout times. There
are a nice variety of free and paid exercise classes daily. We loved the
fact that the wet steam and dry sauna rooms were free. . We are non-smokers
who would be bothered by excessive smoke, and we didn't have any problems
with smoke anywhere. . Although you could always order a cocktail if you
wanted one, liquor sales weren't pushed--not around the pool, not during
dinner, not before shows. . Princess went on the aggressive with "kid
control" on this holiday cruise, which naturally attracted many families.
Special staffers hired just for the Christmas and New Year's cruises wore
bright yellow polos labeled "Youth Security" and roamed the ship at all
hours keeping the young people in line. . The pax demographics for this
Christmas cruise were as expected--a nice mix of the older crowd a
10-nighter from Florida usually draws and extended families from
great-grandparents down to their great-grandbabies. Most folks were in good
spirits, and it was one of the best-dressed crowds we've ever seen at sea,
with a very high percentage of tuxes in sight on the three formal nights. I
am sure the fact that it was Christmas had a lot to do with the positive
degree of compliance with the formal wear guidelines.

Bridge tour lagniappe! We were invited to join the captain on the bridge for
sailaway from Curacao on Christmas afternoon. It was our first visit to a
ship's bridge, and it was a pretty exciting experience for a bunch of hicks
from Texas, LOL. It was fascinating to see all of the sophisticated, mostly
computer-operated equipment-and yet, there was a young man standing watch
with binoculars, as well.

Disembarkation:

The ship arrived on time, and disembarkation seemed to run smoothly. We
enjoyed breakfast in the dining room and then transferred to the theatre to
await our color-coded call to get off the ship. Back inside the Port
Everglades cruise terminal where we'd had a bumpy start, we discovered the
luggage was not organized by our assigned color tag, but simply out there..
We walked row upon row looking for our bags. Next time, I'd strongly
consider carrying my own bags off-that situation was ripe for luggage mix-up
or theft. Then, there was insufficient signage and staff to guide the crowd
trying to navigate the bottleneck to the various queues for private car
pick-up, bus transfer and taxi. While we shuffled along with the herd trying
to spy a taxi stand, numerous free-lancing "shuttle" operators pounced. They
were almost as annoyingly aggressive as some of the vendors we encountered
on the islands. It was tempting to take an immediate ride with them, but
they wanted $40+ for what was a $15 cab ride to the airport. Finally, we
found what we thought was "the" taxi stand way down the sidewalk. We got in
line. After standing and watching for a while, we realized there was a taxi
stand farther down the sidewalk-nearer to the driveway entrance-where the
cabs were stopping. Only the occasional cab bypassed that stand and came to
the stand nearer to the terminal doors. So, we moved our party and luggage
again to wait in that line and finally bid a happy adieu to Port Everglades.

Diana Ball
near Houston, TX


  #2  
Old February 20th, 2006, 05:19 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern Caribbean (long)

I love the Sun Class Princess ships. My second favorite class of ship,
after Millie Class.

It's a shame that they don't have the bow thrusters working though... the
ship has them. Must be the corporate bean counters not allocating enough
money to get them operational.

I loved the design of the interiors on the Sun Class... and it has the BEST
pizzerias on any ship I've been on. I have no desire to ever go on Grand
Princess or one of her sisters again... but would go on a Sun class ship in
a heartbeat.

--Tom

"D Ball" wrote in message
...
Instead of depositing yet another "food's good, cabins are tiny" cruise
review into cyberspace, I feel compelled to embellish this one with a soft
sales pitch. Why? The "wow" factor alone sells Voyager-class ships, and
exotic itineraries and celebrity chefs fill others. Someone's gotta gush
about the hidden delights of the Grand Dames plying the Caribbean seas and
Alaskan coast under the radar of cruise shoppers bombarded with touts of
rock climbing walls, cirque-like entertainment and fluffy pillow top
mattresses.



So I'm sharing this "insider's secret:" The Sun Princess' 10-night voyage
to the Southern Caribbean is a winner. This cruise offers the enviable
combination of a 4-star cruise experience at a great price plus the bonus
of three extra days, which not only extend the itinerary to ports new to
many cruisers, but also make a noticeable difference in one's attainment
of "vacation relaxation"-you know, that state you've reached just when
they kick you off a 7-night cruise.


  #3  
Old February 20th, 2006, 05:31 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Posts: n/a
Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night SouthernCaribbean (long)

Good job Diana! I love this line:

In the Caribbean, you feel like a half-baked sardine squinting out of the rolled-back lid of a can that's been

left out in the sun.

Jeff

  #4  
Old February 20th, 2006, 05:34 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern Caribbean (long)

In article , Tom K
wrote:

I loved the design of the interiors on the Sun Class... and it has the BEST
pizzerias on any ship I've been on. I have no desire to ever go on Grand
Princess or one of her sisters again... but would go on a Sun class ship in
a heartbeat.


Uh. You have two cruises booked on a Grand Princess sister.

--
Charles
  #5  
Old February 20th, 2006, 05:43 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern Caribbean (long)


"Charles" wrote in message
d...
In article , Tom K
wrote:

I loved the design of the interiors on the Sun Class... and it has the
BEST
pizzerias on any ship I've been on. I have no desire to ever go on Grand
Princess or one of her sisters again... but would go on a Sun class ship
in
a heartbeat.


Uh. You have two cruises booked on a Grand Princess sister.


Yeah... I know... but I didn't pick the ship for either... and I ain't
exactly happy about it... or about going to Turks & Caicos from Bermuda
during peak hurricane season. You know there's gotta be at least a 50%
chance that the itinerary of the SGC will get changed some way...

--Tom


  #6  
Old February 20th, 2006, 08:52 PM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night SouthernCaribbean (long)

Tom K wrote:
I love the Sun Class Princess ships. My second favorite class of ship,
after Millie Class.

(snip)

I have no desire to ever go on Grand
Princess or one of her sisters again... but would go on a Sun class ship in
a heartbeat.


I'm with you, Tom. Have cruised Princess twice: Sea Princess and Grand
Princess. LOVED the Sea, not crazy about the Grand.

Diana, thanks for the excellent review. I very much agree with your
take on the relative value of an older ship. After our recent
experience on the Rhapsody, I am even more inclined to search out such
ships and itineraries. I'm happy to leave the newest thrill rides to
other cruisers, and only hope that means more availability -- and lower
prices -- for the rest of us.

~ Peri
  #7  
Old February 21st, 2006, 01:41 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Posts: n/a
Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern Caribbean (long)


"Lee Lindquist" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 23:34:22 -0500, Charles
wrote:

In article , Tom K
wrote:

I loved the design of the interiors on the Sun Class... and it has the
BEST
pizzerias on any ship I've been on. I have no desire to ever go on
Grand
Princess or one of her sisters again... but would go on a Sun class ship
in
a heartbeat.


Uh. You have two cruises booked on a Grand Princess sister.


Now that's funny.

--
- Lee


Go ahead... rub it in....

--Tom


  #8  
Old February 21st, 2006, 03:39 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Posts: n/a
Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern...

DIANA BALL:
Agree with you about the "SUN PRINCESS" we also did the 10 day southern
caribbean,and the only fault we found with the ship was there were not
enough lounges on the promenade deck,almost all of them were broken. We
do love PRINCESS

(.a cruise lover.)

  #9  
Old February 26th, 2006, 06:24 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Posts: n/a
Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night Southern Caribbean (long)


"D Ball" wrote in message
...

So I'm sharing this "insider's secret:" The Sun Princess' 10-night voyage
to the Southern Caribbean is a winner. This cruise offers the enviable
combination of a 4-star cruise experience at a great price plus the bonus
of three extra days, which not only extend the itinerary to ports new to
many cruisers, but also make a noticeable difference in one's attainment
of "vacation relaxation"-you know, that state you've reached just when
they kick you off a 7-night cruise.



Diana, what an interesting review!
Thank you for going into such detail about your Christmas voyage on the Sun
Princess. We sailed on her in 1996 to the Western Caribbean..I have a dear
friend who is a widow and she and a friend of hers plan to take her this
April on the very same itinerary as the one that you took...I'll forward her
a copy of your review.

I have often wondered what it would be like taking a cruise at Christmas
time; you clearly made it sound as a magical experience with your
descriptions of the decorations, festivities and religious services. Very
tempting if I were not so *set* in keeping our family Christmas traditions
dating back for over 50 years! Perhaps, if I could get our entire family to
go, I might be very tempted!

I really enjoyed reading your review and felt as if I were seeing everything
through your eyes as I read it...Took me long enough....I've been busy doing
my two on the MSC Opera and the Celebrity Infinity and I finally am catching
up on my private e-mails and RTC postings while gone.
So what adventure is next for you? Any cruises planned?

--Jean



  #10  
Old March 15th, 2006, 05:22 AM posted to rec.travel.cruises
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Posts: n/a
Default A cruise worth considering: the Sun Princess 10-night SouthernCaribbean (long)



D Ball wrote:

So I'm sharing this "insider's secret:" The Sun Princess' 10-night voyage to
the Southern Caribbean is a winner. This cruise offers the enviable
combination of a 4-star cruise experience at a great price plus the bonus of
three extra days, which not only extend the itinerary to ports new to many
cruisers, but also make a noticeable difference in one's attainment of
"vacation relaxation"-you know, that state you've reached just when they
kick you off a 7-night cruise.


Diana,

I finally found the time to read your review and it is well done as
always.

It has bee awhile since we have done a Princess cruise, I think the
last one was the original Pacific Princess. We are currently booked on
the new Crown Princess and I hope that at some point we will find the
time to do a Sun Class ship, they have always intrigued us.

thanks,
sue
 




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