Good And Bad News: My Verdict on The New Sun Princess Mega-Ship

(Are The Critics Right?) I Test If Princess Has Gone Too Far With Their New Sun Princess

Princess Cruises have entered mega-ship cruising with the launch of their 4,300-passenger Sphere Class ships, Sun and Star Princess. Hearing it was totally different to their other ships, reading very divided reviews, and seeing many asking if Princess were abandoning loyal guests to attract a different type of passenger, I had to test it out for myself. And this is the good and bad news I found. And I will reveal, as past frequent Princess cruiser, if I will I cruise on these ships again….or not.

As always, to ensure an unbiased and balanced review, I booked and paid for the 7-night Sun Princess Mediterranean cruise to test this all out at the usual fare through my travel agent.

Before I get into the negatives, let’s start with the positives. The first positive is overall ship design and decor.

Positive: Design and Decor

This ship looks pretty good, especially for a mega ship, and has pleasant decor throughout. Although it did feel it uses the rather generic cruise decor I am seeing across many lines these days.

Inside it looks and feels like the recent Norwegian Prima class ships, elements of Cunard Queen Anne and touches of Celebrity Edge class ships.

They have discarded the traditional glitzy gold richness used on the rest of the fleet for a lighter, more neutral look and palette.

From the outside, this massive ship but has a few design features that makes it look less like a big clunky floating mall at sea.

First, the glass spheres midship either side of the ship that give the class its name. These multi-deck spheres mean that, unlike other Princess ships, the design connects passengers more with the sea. Within the Spheres is the multi-deck atrium, called the Piazza as on all Princess Ships. Unlike on other Princess ships, from here you can see the sea outside on either side and is filled with natural light.

Other features continue this better connection with the sea, like the massive multi-deck glass dome at the front of the ship with a tiered entertainment space and adult-only covered deck and pool.

Unlike other Princess ships, they have tried to connect passengers much more with the sea in other ways making this clearly a ship designed for warm weather itineraries.

For example, there is the Deck 9 outdoor promenade area with casual dining venues and seating overflow from the buffet. There are many deck areas with bars all over the ship, including some tucked away like the Infinity Pool and bar at the rear on deck 8.

I also thought the cabins were an improvement. They’re more modern and spacious than other Princess ships and range from inside cabins to glitzy suites. But still no solo cabins.

However, despite the overall look and feel of the ship being good, there is no getting over this is a massive ship, and there are a couple of big design issues I’ll cover in the negatives section, including what loyal Princess cruisers will find challenging about this ship.

Positive: More Choice

The second positive about these bigger Sun and Star Princess ships, is having more choice than on other Princess ships.

If you like specialty dining, there are significantly more of those. While most Princess ships have three specialty restaurants (Crown Grill, the Catch by Rudi, and Sabatinis), on these there are seven, with the addition of the Butcher’s Block by Dario, Makoto Ocean, Umai Hotpot, and Umai Teppanyaki.

They also added in some experiential dining options, with Spellbound dining with a magic experience, and Love by Britt combining the artistry of Romero Britto with Rudi Sodamin culinary offerings.

There are also more options of dining included in the fare. Like other Princess ships, there’s the Soleil Dining Room, offering fixed dining, and Eclipse Dining Room for Anytime dining.

They also have the American Diner, which in the evenings is a sit-down served menu, but during the day buffet, and then the main buffet, called The Eatery.

On the main Pool Deck they have introduced more options too, with individual pizza, burger, taco, and salad stations. And, as mentioned, the promenade dining offers pizzas, burgers, tacos and ice cream.

There are then two casual dining venues, which have charges unless you have the Princess Plus or Premier packages: Alfredo’s, the signature pizzeria, and the new to Princess O’Malley’s Irish pub with pub grub.

With many more dining options, I found more chance to use my Princess Premier package inclusions. Princess Premier includes unlimited specialty and casual dining. And with so many more options to dine at, I found I could get more from that with easier ability to get bookings.

There are lots of bars and lounges including that one I mentioned, O’Malley’s, which is new, but they still have some of the old favourites, like Crooners and so on.

There is a busy daily program with a wide choice of activities. I counted 64 events on the sea days including big production shows, although there is a big issue with those that I will talk about in the cons, live music, trivia and quizzes, bingo, dance classes, port and enrichment talks, and so on.

They have activities running late into the night too, more on that later too.

Positive: Adult-Only Spaces

The next area that I think was a positive is they do have some adult-only facilities.

This ship is attracting families, even on my sailing not in school vacation time we were sailing over capacity with several hundred kids and teens. This meant the main pools on deck 17 and the one on deck 8 were usually busy with kids.

But, in front of the ship under that Dome I mentioned, is a free-to-use adult-only 18+ area with loungers, indoor pool and bar. Unfortunately, being under the Dome, it was not in the open air as such. But it was an alternative to the more rowdy, busy and kid-filled other pools.

The thermal area in the Spa is adult only but has a charge. And if you are in a premium Sanctuary Collection cabin there is an adult only deck there too. Let me explain more about this as, if you have the budget, this is another positive.

Positive: Sanctuary Collection

The Sanctuary Collection is Princess Cruises attempt to compete with the premium ship-within-ship offer on lines like Celebrity’s Retreat, Norwegian’s Haven, Cunard’s Grills, and MSC’s Yacht Club.

If you book one of the Sanctuary Collection Suites, Mini-suites, or Premium Balcony Cabins, you get access to the exclusive Sanctuary restaurant, the Sanctuary Club Pool Deck (only for 16+), Premier Package, and if in a suite, access to the 2-level Signature Suite lounge.

All these Sanctuary Collection venues are well done, feel upmarket, and offer a calmer escape from the busyness, bustle and noise of the ship.

I dive into the pros and cons of the Sanctuary Collection in more detail in a dedicated video.

The next positive will depend on your point of view! But I do think with these ships Princess is making the line more appealing and suitable to families and younger cruisers than they usually do.

Positive: Family-Friendly and Younger

The décor, wider choices, more casual dining options, more family-friendly program including film choice shown on the pool video screen, large Kids Clubs and program, the number of cabins enabling up to 4 guests to share, later night events, higher energy and boisterous events run in the Piazza, many fitness classes, the ship talks better to younger cruisers than other ships in the fleet.

I did find the younger cruisers I spoke to, and those with families were very positive about the ship, venues and progam.

I’ll come to what regular Princess cruisers thought shortly, but first one more positive linked to this point.

Positive: Dress Code

Again, a pro or con based on your point of view, but one appealing to younger and families is I saw a more relaxed dress code, or at least practice, than on other Princess ships.

It was relaxed, with shorts worn in the main dining rooms with no issue – even on formal nights.

As I’ve started on positives that for some are negatives, let me talk about what I do see are cons of these new ships, especially as a past frequent Princess cruiser.

Negative: Not Princess Enough?

The biggest con for loyal Princess cruisers is this Sun Princess ship does not feel like Princess!

In some ways it was almost like being on ship that had been chartered by Princess. Why? Neither the look nor layout follow the usual predicable and set way on other Princess ships.

In fact, even the Captain at his welcome reception spoke about how regular Princess cruisers would find it unfamiliar, confusing, and unlike anything they were used to.

Let me explain.

Princess ships usually follow a set layout which has the Piazza / atrium as the hub with the main venues clustered around it, usually in the same place, and others always on certain decks or places. Not on here!

While most of the expected and classic Princess venues, with the main exceptions being the Vista Lounge and Vines Wine Bar, are on here – they are not in their usual places.

Here are some much commented on examples.

The 24-hour International Café is usually in the atrium on the lowest deck. Not on Sun and Star Princess it is up on Deck 9. The top deck of the Piazza.

The Sun Princess buffet, called The Eatery instead of the usual World Marketplace, is not on the pool deck as usual but also on deck 9 behind the International Café.

I can see what they have done as they have made Deck 9 a hub for casual dining. The American Diner is behind The Eatery, the Promenade outdoor dining venue is here, as is Alfredo’s Pizzeria.

The fitness centre is right up on deck 18, along with the hairdressers and the salon. But the Spa is over 10 decks down on Decks 5 and 6.

Guest Services is hidden away on Deck 6, and not easy to find, and not just off the Piazza as usual.

Many venues are spread out over the ship, meaning they are not where people used to other Princess ships expect them to be.

Also, I (and many others) found the layout a bit confusing at times with dead ends and having to sometimes go up or down a deck to then get to a venue.

I do have to comment on the Piazza, as this does not work nor is as popular with regular Princess cruisers I spoke to.

It has become more of an entertainment venue, and something is going on there most of the day and evening including music, dance, fitness classes, variety acts, DJs, game shows like “Deal Or No Deal” and so on. It has seating around it on most decks.

It is as a result noisy and busy. It is not as calm a space to sit as usual.

There are some restaurants open to this noise, like Alfredo’s and Makoto Ocean which I found like eating in a busy Mall with music banging away.

Linked to that is the next, and surprising negative, of the ship design which is many venues are too small for numbers on the ship, or the layout has not been designed to cater for how many passengers want to use them.

Negative: Venues Too Small

I mentioned The Eatery, the buffet, earlier. It is too small and can be hard to find a table and gets cramped and overly busy due to the layout. As the crew serve almost all the items this leads to lines at all the stations. They’ve introduced a grab-and-go section where they have pre-packaged sandwiches or salads and desserts which is a nice touch.

But behind The Eatery, the American Diner takes up a lot of space but is always rather empty and underused.

The Princess Arena, which is the theatre, is way too small. It holds between 900 and 1,000 people, but with at least 4,300 people on the ship at double occupancy, and often way more due to families sharing cabins at peak times like on my cruise, as they only do two shows a night, it is challenging to get a seat for the shows.

I have friends who’ve been on Sun Princess who never got to see a show, while others only saw them by going an hour before it started.

The Dome was designed to host events and acrobatic shows and is, again, too small, as it only holds around about 250 people. It is already being sidelined and hardly used. On my cruise just for some yoga classes and the Loyalty Club reception.

The Fitness Centre is ridiculously small, especially for the younger and more active crowd they seem to be trying to attract. On sea days I had to go a couple of times before I could get on equipment to use.

Princess Live is also too small. This is where they host the trivia, comedy shows, bingo, karaoke and so on, and often it would be jam-packed, standing room only.

And as I mentioned, it is a noisy ship with all the activities going on. Not only in the Piazza, but on the main pool showing movies and concerts, DJs and so on at times.

Step Too Far? Or Just Right?

Based on my experience, I feel this new Sun Princess and Star Princess class are designed for the next generation of Princess traveller. It’s designed to cater for a younger crowd, and for families who want more choice, buzz, activity, less traditional Princess vibe and less need to dress up.

They’re less bothered about enrichment, but don’t expect or need rock climbing walls, roller coasters or wave riders, but want a resort experience with swimming pools, dining, lots going on, and family-friendly entertainment. These ships designed for warm weather routes will fill their needs.

I was struck that when I spoke to younger travellers, 30s to late 40s, and people with kids, they loved the ship and program, but more traditional Princess travellers were less keen, finding it too big, noisy and alien to what they were used to and expected from Princess.

I feel Princess is following what Celebrity did when launching the Edge class ships, which talk to a different traveller while still offering their more classic and familiar Solstice and Millenium ships experience for existing cruisers.

Personally, it’s not a ship that I would hurry back to. It’s too big and the pull for families and Multi-generational travel is not for me. But I can absolutely see who this is for.

So, if you are interested in these new Princess ships and going in the Sanctuary Collection interests you, watch my video “I Tried the Fancy Sanctuary Collection on Sun Princess. Here’s What I Found!” where I dive into the good and the bad about that.