8-Day Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico Cruise on the SUN PRINCESS

We were on the Sun Princess for two weeks and will not be sailing with Princess again.

The service is incredibly slow with long lines to order drinks alcoholic and non alcoholic. Once you do get through the line the bartenders take forever to mix a drink despite the obvious long lines. Even in the specialty restaurants you can expect to wait upwards of 20 minutes to receive your drink order. It seems like this is a tactic to limit drinks for those on the Drinks package.

Sea days had the ship completely overrun. No sunbeds available past 8am and forget trying to get a drink. We eventually learned that the only way to get anything to drink in a reasonable amount of time was to go back to out room and order it via room service.

The ship simply isn't built to handle the amount of people they put on it. Because of that you can expect other guests to be pushy and aggressive in securing their space. It ruined the overall experience daily.

In addition this, is not a Kid Friendly ship. They do have kids clubs but they lack in offerings and after trying them the Kids just didn't have fun and so were out and about with us. Many elderly guests seemed unhappy to see kids around (they are 15 and 17). Pushing in front of them in line and complaining to staff when they didn't have an adult with them. This sentiment was echoed by the staff who often ignored them when they tried to get a drink or something to eat.

For what they charge i just don't see the value in sailing with Princess again.

Just back from a short cruise around the Med, from Barcelona to Rome. My wife and I have been on 8 or 9 Princess cruises in the past (and have cruised with other companies too). We have always enjoyed them but were looking forward to sailing on a ‘flagship’ vessel. What a disappointment. Our fellow travellers were mostly Americans and Australians. Now I’m fond of our Aussie cousins but guys, not everything is a beach party. When the dress code is smart casual or formal, please don’t turn up in swimming trunks and flip-flops! No control exercised by the crew.

Despite its size, the public spaces actually seemed quite small, with fewer venues than the Royal class ships for ordinary folk. Plenty more options if you pay extra e.g. speciality dining or Sanctuary class cabins but we tend not to use those. The ship was difficult to navigate – you spend a lot of time walking up and down featureless cabin corridors to get from A to B, like a big ferry. The theatre seemed small compared with our previous cruises, with nowhere to put a drink. The theatre show that we saw was just plain weird, but shout out to Jessie Smith and his musical tribute to 1971, which he performed brilliantly despite technical issues that plagued him all evening. A trooper.

Our cabin was clean and bright, with a bathroom and walk-in shower that set a new benchmark. Really good. Such a pity the décor was so DULL. Good Lord, grey carpet, grey walls, grey curtains. Even the wood panelling was ..grey. The food was mainly good but the restaurant service was very slow. It should not take an hour and a half to serve three courses. Twice my wife and I left without our dessert. As for breakfast, avoid the “orange juice” which is just heavily diluted orange squash – disgusting.

The pool deck was like Benidorm. Almost impossible to get away from thumping loud music. The worst thing was ‘The Dome’ – a giant glass covered area occupying the entire front of the ship surrounding a teeny-tiny swimming pool. Everywhere are sun loungers – few places to sit at a table with a drink enjoying the view in quiet surroundings. Half the time there was no-one in it. When we visited there were often bar tenders cleaning glasses but the bar itself was nearly always shut. What a colossal waste of space. It is supposed to double as a venue but the problem with that is that is has the acoustics of a municipal swimming baths.

I much preferred our experiences on Princess’s Royal class of ship but I don’t think I’ll be travelling with Princess again. Their offering has moved decidedly down market.

I have done 30 plus Princess Cruises and this ship is the worse

The highlights are the elevators cabin Stewart the guys at the international cafe and staff in Sanctuary. The rest is a waste of money the buffet is so disjointed that once you get you toast, eggs and bacon everything is cold.

Complaining get you nowhere I reported the TV twice nothing happened. They ask you to fill in feedback cards and they don’t call or do anything

We book two tours via Princess both claimed wheelchair friendly but were not. When I complained the shore excursion person who rang accused me of lying then quoted something I never even spoke about. On Deck 17 where the main pools are you can’t get a coffee or cold drink until 10am but they are happy to sell there wears before 10am

I booked a Sanctuary Mini Suite and you get a small table in front of the couch that barely holds a cup of coffee and had to beg to get a second small one. The cost is not worth it