14 Nights Mediterranean with Greek Isles, Italy & Turkey Cruise

Lovely ship and a a great move for Princess

Have sailed many times with Princess on 10-20 year old ships which all have a similar vibe and character. The Sun is taking a big stepp forward, feeling more 'Celebrity smart'. Stateroom are lovely (and all we spoke.to agreed) , food has been a little.variable at times but feedback was welcomed and would give it a solid 4 stars overall. Whilst full, The Sun has never felt overcrowded, with always somewhere a little quieter to escape to. Dome seems underused currently (unsure why) for what is cool venue but Piazza and on deck entertainment good and fun. Didn't see any shows in the arena (which seems a tad small for a ship this size) but made good returns in the Casino! Yes, she's a change from the older ships but adds welcome variety to the fleet. Always could find a sun lounger (as opposed to losing will to live on Sky Princess last summer), hot.tubs are now plentiful and pools seem.somewhat heated compared to older ships (about time). I wouldn't listen to too many of the negative reviews as I suspect some just find change painful. Come, explore and enjoy the new despite her still going through some growing pains, and finding her soul.

Sun Transatlantic

We traveled on the Sun Princess transatlantic cruise on March 22 full of questions on what the new ship would be like. For the weeks leading up we had read the reviews and watched videos about the ship and were wondering if the issues that others had experienced were valid or just being overly harsh with criticism. I would have to say that some of the criticisms are valid- others not so much. As the Sun is a new design there are some changes they did well and others they did very badly. We have traveled on Princess for 12 other cruises so we have been on a variety of the Princess ships. Most of the people on the March 22 cruise had traveled on Princess before as there were an enormous number of elite and platinum captains circle members. For those that know the other ships - the Sun takes some getting used to. Let me say that the ship really misses the Vista lounge found on other Princess ships, Has no library or games area ( they pulled out carts of games and books during the day into the crown grill), also has no internet cafe, and is missing the lounges found on other ships Vines Et all. Also missing is the art gallery (no more auctions). Also no more free afternoon tea, The ship also lost the dedicated platinum/Elite lounge and Chapel. The layout is much different t; however, the general functions and activities were all held often just in different spots Boarding. -- we got in a little early and waited at the terminal for the boarding to start (around 10am). They do have the system down. We dropped our bags and got in queue. We had pre-ordered our medallions (recommend) the whole check in took 5 minutes after they opened up the terminal. We boarded on deck 7 which was part of the atrium so right into the main part of the ship. The various activities and restaurants were opened while we waited for the rooms to get completed. Bags were delivered quickly to the rooms that were available soon after getting on board. Guest Services- As soon as we got on the ship we headed to guest services as we had two rooms one balcony and one interior ( there were three of us me, my wife and our 18 year old daughter) and we wanted to link our rooms so all our medallions would work on both cabins. As mentioned in other reviews--- guest services is in a bad spot period. It is on deck 6 not near any of the other ship functions. Doesn't have area to line up. Once you get through the line the staff is friendly and helpful but be aware if it is a busy time it is not a very good area to wait. Also (we are platinum princess) if you are elite you will be helped quickly - they take all elite passengers first - instead of a separate agent to help them specifically. All others wait - so if you have 10 people in the non elite line waiting and 5 elite they will take all 5 plus any others that come up before they take any others. On this cruise there were tons of elite passengers so long waits. Reservations - If you are not a planner this ship may pose challenges. I made our dining times as soon as we could on the princess app. I also made specialty dining reservations way in advance before boarding the ship. With the new premier package (we had plus) you would get unlimited dining at most specialty restaurants so all the reservations fill up before the ship even sets sail. For those that didn't make advanced dining chances are you would not get what you wanted. As I was aware of this I got the times and reservations requested Cabins- we are fortunate to have experience with two cabin types. I would stress that location of your cabin is ultra important. The ship is big and confusing the first couple of days. There are also rooms you do not want - under busy areas etc .. We spoke with our travel agent and were extremely happy with the rooms he picked out for us. The rooms were super convenient getting around (mid ship forward). The balcony was huge and both cabins were well laid out and new. The bathrooms have glass shower doors now but are small. The layout of the closet is the big change. Although the space is similar the layout is right across from the bathroom and that little corridor is crowded. If you have the closet door open and your spouse is coming into the room they come right Into the door. If you are in the bathroom and the closet open you will run right into the door again. Lots of storage but the layout could have been better. The bed is super comfortable. Lots of plugs and charging outlets both interior and balcony are practical. Also the video options movies and tv are top notch and of course the room stewards are fantastic. With the in medallions they know when you are in the cabin and work around you. Rooms are an upgrade from older ships Dining – Booked Three specialty dining reservations – Crown, Umai Teppanyaki and Makoto Sushi. All three were fantastic! Booked 7pm dining reservations in the main dining room and could not have been happier with the Food, service and décor of the room. Great experience with the evening dining. The new buffet is called the eatery. It is on the 9th floor and wraps around, The American diner is behind the Eatery and acts as a second buffet for breakfast and lunch. As this was a long cruise we ate here a lot for breakfast and lunch and as many have mentioned the food gets very repetitive. It seemed like it was almost the same every day… The quality was good and the service great but I was darn tired of the choices by day 10…. Also it is the only area on the ship where they have the drip coffee stations or tea and lemonade. I really wished they had these up on 17 by the lido grill. I dislike that you to have to pony up at the bar if you want anything other than water by the pool. The age group on this cruise tended to be much older, and as such many ate early and the Buffet had a chance to have diners spread out – also most of the days were sea days so people had different times they went to eat. If this was a Caribbean or cruise where everyone was trying to eat at the same time before heading out on an excursion the seating would have been a challenge at the eatery. We were very lucky in that regard. Shows and Entertainment: Now for the biggest issue with the Sun – There is no Vista lounge so many of the things that would be held there ( captains circle, various shows etc..) were held in the dining room. Not a really good space for this. If they got rid of the love by Britto restaurant and put a lounge in that space --it would greatly improve this ship. The Entertainment staff was amazing. They did so much to improve the cruise experience. I cannot say how great a staff they have on the ship I just wish the venues fit the crowds and events. Without a doubt the arena theater is a flop. It is simply too small and adds nothing over a normal theater layout. I asked this countless times to others at shows and that was the general agreement- if they had sacrificed the circle stage for more seats the experience would have been better. We generally went about 30 minutes before the show started to get seats. As this was an older crowd many went to the early show. We went to the 9:30 all production shows were completely full and left people unable to get seats. The Dome: Eh. Used as a disco (great!! Space for that) and had a couple of events and movies but overall not utilized on this cruise – WAY too small for an event that more than a couple of hundred anyway so functionally useless on a ship with this many people. Overall: We go on cruises to have fun. This cruise was great fun and very relaxing. Could the layout have been a little better sure but did it distract from the fact that this is a great ship. No. that is why I give the Sun 5 starts for the experience even with the bumps

Love this ship!

Great ship. I love how there are so many food options spread out in so many different parts of the ship. If you're on the top deck pool, grab excellent options on the Lido Deck. If you're at the pool in the back of the boat, grab something from the promenade deck. The dome offers a quiet place to read and relax. The front of the ship has an adult area that offers amazing views. And I loved the energy and views offed at the Piazza. I know there's some people who have bashed this boat but we had a great time and loved all of the unique areas of this ship. The food on this boat was so good. We updated a few meals at the specialty restaurants and weren't disappointed. Such a great trip. Oh and the medallions make it so easy to open door and get around the ship.