16-Day Cruise Around the Canary Islands and the Mediterranean on the SUN PRINCESS

Sun Princess is a large ship with a different feeling from our experience of previous Princess ships sailing from the UK. . On this 14 day Barcelona to Athens cruise the main group of passengers were American followed by Canadian, Australian and ,4th only 300 British. The cruisecsold as 14 days is actually 2 7 day cruises and 3,000 passengers got off in Rome to be replaced by 3,000 new passengers Rome to Athens.

Popular venues were always crowded and careful planning taking in less crowded spaces is required to make the most of this cruise. It is totally informal with both formal nights largely ignored by the male passengers - female passengers made much more effort. Deck 17, pool deck was particularly noisy and robust with sadly the regular towel reservation of sun loungers ignored by Princess. Luckily there was plenty of space on other decks and we had the relative calm of the Cabana Deck to retreat to. We found the MDR menus limited in comparison tomprrvious years, although the food was good. The menu repeated in week two which was disappointing. .We felt that Princess was driving customers to Premier and the many speciality restaurants on board. Recommendation if you can afford it - go for Sanctuary Class.

Went with 4 other people in a signature suite and a sanctuary mini suite before I begin the suite is not worth the upgrade all it is is a private louge,

I'll do a bullet point for cons and pros in my eyes compared to the others

PROS

1.the size the ship is a bit bigger then the others and that makes it more stable

Cons.

1. Layout and opening times. The layout on this ship is an absolute nightmare to try and navigate it does not flow compared to the others and the opening times for some of them is so confusing

2. Attitude of the staff. I've noticed on this cruise as there is a less ratio compared to the other ships make things taking longer and the well try or we will due it has changed alot when we ordered stuff on the other ship they ended getting some off the cocktails from deck 16 down to the restaurant but not this time.

3.menu as someone that has ibs and also is lactose free the stuff we can have is very limited and also there is no longer much choice for u to have and also in the older ship yes u where in the main dinning room but u had a small section and also had an extra 1 or 2 items that made the experience better but as the benefits allow you to have a separate dinning room but it does not feel special and u can hear the guest from down stairs. Plus there is no extra stuff to make u feel like it's a perk

I chose a Sanctuary suite comped by casino, got it midship and close to elevators. The rooms looked tired,I was on the Star Princess last year which I loved.

-Casino - strong smoke smell; and also not enough machines' The payout (RTP) really bad in comparison to Star Princess..lots of hosts walking but not really helping. Just a few jackpots, I got several majors myself; less slots than Star Princess;

- Sanctuary suite slightly bigger washroom, hardly used the balcony, supplies same as regular room; the fridge was not filled with any kind of drinks as posted I the website, that it will be full( I guess they are taking things out slowly); asked for a comb, dental kit, none per room steward;

- Santuary restaurant almost thad the same menu except for the main course which was Prime rib every day; a variety of different main courses should be installed since you a paying a premium;

Sanctuary club at the tail end, hardly used; limited hours; very small menu which was available below; drink stewards made the mixed drinks better if asked, not automatically done; shows at night but single singers...sad this should be open all day;

-ate at Butcher's block, husband got sick next day from steak tartare and some other item; no menu they ask you how you want you steak done and that is how they bring it to you from, the cow picture on the table mat tells the parts and is presented as shown; conitunuosly server comes back with some side banter from the host; cake was olive oil cake with orange I think was good;

-Love by Brito a pseudo molecular but all they had was the foam; We have eaten at Noma and most molecular restos; presentation is all it is, main course steak entree too hard; pink champagne icy palate cleanser was the only I liked; partner got sick next day from this Love By Brito; and we are very careful when eating; we carry alcohol, wipes, antibacterial and all;

- Sanctuary also took out the free ice cream went to the gelato guy said 2.95 and upstairs on the deck guy said 17.- something, but that is not the issue it is still on the website that the ice cream, i.e., gelato and concoctions above were covered; maybe not now

- Pizza restaurant was good ordered thin crust; salad was the most pathetic salad we have seen ; dessert was ok;

- Catch, another dissappointment quality, portion was really pathetic, bread was not fresh;

During the trip we met several voyagers getting sick from one thing or another so we became concerned about the food and ate at one that had a high rate of turnover thereby hopefully ensuring everything was fresh.

We tried the special Butcher's block first night, presentation good unfortunately my husband got sick first night, could have been the steak tartare; ambiance nice and funny, but not ra