Poor Design-great crew-great ports-won't sail this class ship again

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 28

Review summary

Multiple bad design flaws Theaters on most ships with 2-3 thousand passengers have nice 2 story venues with ample seating - on Sun Princess with 4,000 plus passengers it is mostly a much smaller 1 level Arena with possibly 1000 max - we found out quickly one has to arrive 30-45 minutes early to get a seat-comfortable seats and great acoustics- but not acceptable The Dome on deck 17 venue is glass and 95% enclosed and seats maybe 250- geared to acrobatic acts and closed more than open for rehearsals and other events with poor acoustics - visually a wow but impractical to a 4000 plus passenger ship No bar / sports bar/ gastropub with tvs for watching sporting events- most ships at minimum have a casino bar with 2-3 tvs, or a Gastropub such as on Celebrity ships with many tvs and comfortable seating - NO casino bar- Carnival owner owns an NBA team with his cruise guests nowhere to watch with fellow fans ; in room TV does not move out from wall on a swivel stand to any angle in deluxe balcony class room; instead of 24 hr ESPN or Sky Sports very weak Sport24 with usually 1 sport event a day and Sport24 Extra which usually has nothing on; satellite tv reception was very spotty even in calm conditions and not far from coasts; internet speed stable- had passable download speed but very slow upload speed- hardly high speed; the motion sensor lights on both sides of bed and under counter in bathroom are nice additions for nighttime; additional electric outlets also nice; closets and shelving well organized The ship has a notable lack of public rooms / entertainment or quiet areas prevalent on older smaller seats- noise is constant- everything is focused on the 3 story Piazza so guests have to put up with game shows and contests that are held in other venues on most ships, no library or quiet areas, future cruise and internet Cafe areas all not private and open to noisy Piazza noise, no smaller theater such as on Enchanted or Discovery, no protected from wind and quiet adult pool area and bar such as on Enchanted or Discovery- instead at front of ship forward of Dome ( Sea View Terrace) a mostly under glass area ( where the glass are not solid but have small gaps allowing guests and seating to get wet wherever it rains- not a good idea for tropical environments like rhe Caribbean where ship will spend the winter- again looks good but not functional) and creating a wind tunnel environment with a bar that closes at 6- so unlike other ships that have a high deck fully enclosed entertainment area for evening and relaxing quiet area with a bar this ship lacks this so it likely won't go to Alaska, Nordic areas or Antarctica as guests will freeze- bottom line more shops, more specialty restaurants and suites and less space for passenger areas; no separate function room/ bar for Captain’s Circle members; they use a Landing area on Deck 4 used for embarkation and disembarkation for Spanish language classes and also crew meetings outside main passenger elevators The word "bars" is overused on Sun Princess- there are several service bars with walk up only service and no bar stools; the Good Spirits bar which is great full service bar on Enchanted and Discovery off of Piazza-on Sun Princess it is tucked in a side enclosed room near bathrooms with no bar stools and glass door and closed most of day; the Wheelhouse which is a fun lively bar on other ships has a Covid type limited seating number of stools again limiting fun interaction with other like minded guests- the Wake View bar on Deck 8 outside is about the only are this is possible and thus very popular; Bellini's bar on Deck 7, and Crooners bar on 8, are the closest real bars but both, particularly Bellinis, suffer from the constant din from the Piazza; the Cascades Bar on Deck 17 is nice but is a fulcrum for wind tunnels from a combination of automatic exterior doors on Deck, into corridor with non automatic glass doors where one is usually propped open, and resulting wind tunnel from open entry in to Dome one way and back to elevators the opposite way The new O’Malley’s Irish Pub is fun and music was great, aided by the foresight to enclose the room by closed doors shutting out the noise of Princess Live, the busy hallway, and Piazza- the small surcharge for a light menu well worth it as kitchen is adjacent The Cabana Deck section on 9 looks very nice from above with large semi private extended patio and a hot tub for that area only - but there is not a covered area for shade Ship sailing very smooth with great stabilizers; the LNG fuel eliminates the oily smell from funnel to back of ship that exists on old ships Food in the buffet (The Eatery ) was very good and consistent; the breads though many times were stale or hard and pastries/ desserts with very little taste- something Celebrityexcels at with their bread stations; throughout the ship Princess upgraded the French fries to excellent quality; Americana Diner dining room on Deck 8 has nice comfort food- the lighting, particularly in center, is way too bright and if on dimmers they are never used; Alfredo’s Pizza, an upcharge for specialty pizzas of $12.95 even with Premier or Plus package, is a total waste of money- the free pizza on decks 9 and 17 is as good or better; where Princess really hit the mark are the burger-hot dog- Tacos- pizza- venues outside the Eatery on Deck 9 and by pool on Deck 17- orders are taken individually and cooked to order- far superior to Celebrity’s one size fits all where burgers are cooked often a half hour ago in similar venues Staff as always are excellent Guest services, a large hotel reception type area on most ships and hotels is now a small area on Deck 6 where on this ship a small area with 4 tablet manned stations, we went there 3 times for Medallion replacement as they stopped working A few areas of corridors had a garbage or sewer smell - deck 8 by expensive shops, deck 9 near angled corridor outside future cruises , bathroom very small but good shower It appears they set unrealistic ship construction completion date - numerous things did not work- door in Dome, one of controls in hot tub aft deck 8, repairs to stairs around main pool on 17, mass reorganizing of restaurant locations after Atlantic crossing, removal in Southampton on Deck 19 of climbing walls, etc, but bottom line is poor design by naval architect, almost without exception the frequent cruisers we spoke to voiced that they won't sail again on this class of ship

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Barcelona, Spain

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

Cartagena, Spain

Cadiz (Seville), Spain

Southampton (London), England

Portland (Weymouth), England, UK

Vigo, Spain

Funchal, Madeira

Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Canary Islands

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida Did not visit port

Disembarkation

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