Sun Princess Cruise Review: My First Cruise Ship and I loved it
Written by
- Carlos Barraza
- Entrepreneurship, Remote Work
Table of Contents
Short Story: From an Idea to walk into my First Cruise Ship
On a trip to Germany in 2024, I met an american friend. In our conversation, he told me that during Christmas he took a transatlantic cruise to go from Europe to the United States. He told me that taking a cruise was a pleasant and comfortable experience. I told my friend that my sister worked for 6 years at Royal Caribbean, but at that time I had no motivation to take a cruise.
During that conversation I became interested in one day taking a cruise, either to Alaska or the Caribbean, and he recommended that I should start with the Caribbean, because of the weather, the trips to ports are shorter and there are fewer days at sea. That talk generated on me the idea of “one day”.
For 2025, I already had in my plans to visit a friend I met at the university in Heilbronn who lives in Miami, but we did not have a plan of what we would do and a concrete date. January passed, and only the idea of visiting him was there. At the beginning of February at a family reunion in Chihuahua, I was asked when I would visit them again, so I commented about my idea of traveling to Miami first. A cousin thought it was a good option and she asked me if I would take a cruise. As I did not have a concrete plan for Miami, my answer was, no.
Two days later when I was on my way back to my hometown, my friend from Miami wrote me asking if I would be free the first week of March, and if I would like to join him as a guest on a cruise, the new Sun Princess Cruise. He would take care of the reservation. I had to take care of getting to Miami, and in such spontaneous moment, one needs takes action if it is already as an idea and desire.
Aboard the Sun Princess: First Impressions
I arrived in Miami the 28th of February and my friend picked me up at the airport.
Our cruise left from Fort Lauderdale on March 1, 2025.
For me everything was a novel experience, from arriving at the Everglades Terminal 2 port and going through the boarding process.
The Sun Princess is one of the new cruises that Princess launched.
My only point of comparison was the airport terminals, and I can say that the process to board the ship was too easy.
The first thing we had to do was to pick up our Medallion, which is the device where your photo ID is registered, and which will also be used to register your food and beverage consumptions inside the ship.
The people in charge of the check-in were very friendly and attended us quite quickly.
Once the Medallion was collected, we proceeded to the security area.
Without any setbacks due to security procedures, we were entering the cruise ship.
At the entrance there were cruise staff welcoming us and as we arrived early we had to wait about 1 hour to get to our room.
In the meantime we took the opportunity to get to know the ship a little.
We toured the Piazza area, its surroundings and also stopped by to see the Casino area.
The design of the ship was very elegant with plenty of amenities around the Piazza.
Once the time came, we head to our room to leave our bags.
On our way, there was a chaos at the elevators.
It was congestion from the hundreds of people looking to use the elevators.
Since the elevators were practically all busy, it was a bit stressful for me to have to wait for an elevator.
We opted to take the stairs to deck 15 from deck 8.
Sun Princess Cabins: Comfort & Accommodation Options
The Sun Princess has different types of cabins. It has inner, ocean view and balcony cabins.
Ours was a room in the inner area.
We had two single beds in a somewhat reduced space.
The bathroom also had limited space, but with the necessary to take a good shower.
The bed was comfortable, and basically fulfilled its function to recharge for the next day.
And well, this was ideal for us, as we spent little time in the room and more time for the cruise amenities.
Dining Experience: Restaurants on Sun Princess
The Sun Princess dining restaurants inside the ship are what give you those different experiences every day.
Inside the Sun Princess there is the possibility to try different types of dishes, such as Italian, Japanese, Tex-Mex and international food.
There is also the possibility of ordering room service, but we always opt to eat out. Of course, the size of the room was not ideal, plus eating with the ocean view was amazing.
Breakfast
For breakfasts I could say that the places we tried offered practically the same flavors. From egg, hash brown, ham, bread, hot cakes, and waffles.
Americana
This was perhaps the restaurant where I enjoyed breakfast the most.
Being in the aft part of the cruise, there were fewer passengers compared to The Eatery, so ordering breakfast was also quicker.
The view of the sea from this location was also spectacular.
The Eatery
The Eatery could be said to be the regular buffet restaurant on the cruise.
The Eatery had showcases and display cases throughout its area, where you could approach and order what you wanted to add to your breakfast.
The crew would ask you how many items they would add to your dish.
Sanctuary
The Sanctuary was probably the most disappointing breakfast place on the ship.
We had breakfast inside the restaurant, and breakfast was based on the menu selections, which were pretty much the same options as in Americana and The Eatery.
An American breakfast, European breakfast, Asian style breakfast among other options such as a selection of coffee drinks and fruit and yogurt dishes, and waffles.
What disappointed me was that even though the amount of food was reduced compared to the previous ones, the way of assembling the plate could have been a little more creative, but it was not.
For that reason, we opted to continue having breakfast at Americana, since we could order the quantity to our liking and also have a view of the sea.
Lunch
For lunchtime, I chose to eat either at the Eatery or in the deck 17 section of The Lido.
The Eatery
The Eatery could be called the main dining room.
There is a wide variety of dishes to choose from that are already prepared.
I would consider it a good meal, not fancy like the specialty restaurants, but good for a midday snack.
The Lido
The Lido is the eating place next to the pool on Deck 17.
There one can choose among pizza, hambuguers, tex-mex, hotdogs and salads.
The food I tried the most here were the salads and the tex-mex bowl.
The tacos were not that really appealing for me, because the tortillas were the hard shell type.
I asked for the nacho bowl, which was ok-good.
In the salad section you could choose between the ingredients you want or some already established ones.
This was my favorite place to lunch on Sea days.
International Café
This café near the Piazza was ideal for those times between meals, as you could go and order a drink of some kind that you would normally find in any café.
There was also a sandwich and dessert section in case you were in the mood for something sweet.
Here there is the possibility to order some gluten free snacks such as cookies, panini or sandwiches.
Gelateria
If you want to have some ice cream, the places you can get some are as well at Deck 17 or at deck 7 behind the Piazza.
The Gelateria ice cream at deck 7 is considered as a specialty dessert, so check your package to know if it is included.
I tried 3 different flavours. I did not liked the chocolate one, the nougat one was better and the third one I don’t recall the flavour but it tasted like liquor. Basically, the taste of those ice creams did not caught my attention.
On the other hand, the ice cream place at the pool deck 17 offered different crafted ice cream treats, which can be more sweat.
Dinner
The dining options on board the cruise are the highlight in terms of food, as I was able to visit different specialty dining restaurants.
For most of the dinners, my friend’s friend was in charge of making reservations at the different restaurants.
It is worth mentioning for newbies like me, that usually on dinner nights, guests tend to dress up, so I recommend bringing a variety of formal-casual attire for each day.
Sanctuary
This was the place we tried for the first two nights.
Being an a la carte menu you have the option to choose from the different dishes which normally include the starter, main course and dessert.
The Santuary area was elegant and the chairs were comfortable and not too easy to move back.
For the first dinner I ordered what was a cut of beef with asparagus and for dessert a good tasting crème brûlée.
I put this dinner in my top 3.
For the next night, I had shrimp as a starter, a duck for the main course, which was not to my liking, as I like my duck Asian style, well browned, and for dessert a Black Forest cake, which did not come close to tasting like the Schwarzwald cake in Germany.
For the next night, I had shrimp as a starter, a duck for the main course, which was not to my liking, as I like my duck Asian style, well browned, and for dessert a Black Forest cake, which did not come close to tasting like the Schwarzwald cake in Germany.
Alfredo's
The third night we opted to try Alfredo’s Italian food.
The Sun Princess food restaurants around the Piazza are comfortable, but don’t have that special or unique touch of being somewhere else.
For starters we had a combination plate with ham, cheese and olives.
I ordered a seafood pizza which I can say tasted normal and nothing special.
Dessert was an Italian Cannoli, which also left me with a regular taste and was a simple delight to the palate.
Makoto Ocean
The fourth night we tried Makoto as our dining option, but the experience here was not the ideal.
From the moment we arrived, when we commented that we would order a la carte and not the full package, the host decided to place us at the bar where they are preparing the sushi, even though there were some other tables available. It was not really comfortable.
Also to note, the sushi that is prepared in my city is totally adapted to the Mexican taste and that is what I am used to, which are quite large and big sushi rolls, with Philadelphia cheese inside and some with spicy taste.
The sushi I saw being made by the sushi makers on the boat I guess it was more similar to the Japanese style, but the truth is that I didn’t feel like to eat it, and not knowing the menu and having the waitress asking if we were ready to order, the easiest thing to do was to order some avocado rolls and miso soup.
This was the restaurant I would put at the bottom of my list.
Spellbound by Magic Castle
More than a specialty restaurant, Spellbound by Magic Castle could fall into the category of a “magic experience”.
Here the focus is more on the magic event and the after dinner drinks.
We were given a drink that gave me a taste of tomato juice “Clamato”.
For starters, I had shrimps with lettuce and a tomato sauce, and a butternut squash and apple soup.
As main dish, I chose the meat with lobster, which was very tasty.
For dessert, there were several small desserts, which for the chocolate lovers would be a very good thing.
Once dinner was over, we were taken to a section dedicated to this “magical experience”.
At the entrance of the place, we were greeted by a Disney style host where he begins to give a little history of magic, and upon saying open Sesame, a secret door opens that leads to what is an area decorated with a certain magic times style.
Inside the area there is a piano that is being played by a “ghost” and if you ask him for a special song, he starts playing it.
Afterwards the host gave us a sparkling wine with a blue cotton candy, which when added changes the color of the drink to blue.
Once we were seated, they gave us the menu of cocktails they had available, and well, cheers!
Then a magician arrived to perform some card tricks to entertain the audience.
After his show was over and while we waited for the next presentation, we continued with another round of cocktails.
Then a magician arrived to perform some card tricks to entertain the audience.
After his show was over and while we waited for the next presentation, we continued with another round of cocktails.
Some tasted good and others had a special presentation.
We moved on to a magic show presentation by another magician in an assignated area and once the show was over we returned to the first magician for his last magic presentation.
Crown Grill
On the sixth night and Sea day. we went to dinner at Crown Grill Princess specialty restaurant.
And well, if you are one of those people who like meat, this would be a good place to enjoy one.
Here they add 3 different types of salt to give a variation to the flavor of the meat.
The dessert was like a chocolate mousse, which if you are a chocolate lover, you would love.
Umai Tepanyaki
In this Asian dining venue you have the option of tepanyaki or a hotpot for you to prepare your own food.
Also the specialty of this cruise experience would be the mini show that the cooks do when preparing the food.
The dinner itself, is something you would try in an Asian restaurant, rice and whatever you have decided to choose between chicken, seafood or meat.
The presentation of the dish was not very elaborate, since only the cook was preparing it and serving it on the plate in front of you.
The taste of the food was good, and the special thing about the place is that they prepare the food right in front of you.
Bars - Crooners Bar, Good Spirits At Sea, Bellini's Cocktail Bar, WakeView Terrace Bar, O'malley's Irish Pub
There are bars in almost every area around the ship.
In fact, you can get to try the different cocktails and alcoholic drinks they offer anywhere on the ship.
From enjoying a tequila sunrise, Kraken with cola, wine, Heineken or Guiness beer at the Irish Pub or margaritas.
In the menus of the bars you will be able to select the different cocktails they have.
Whether you are in the Piazza lounge, you can go to O’malley’s Irish Pub for your beer, or if you are in the Wakeview you can order a cocktail while enjoying the hot tub at the back of the ship.
Entertainment Aboard the Sun Princess Ship
To keep the entertainment inside the ship, on the Sun Princess cruise line there are a lot of events during each day.
Each day in the room they would leave the schedule for the next day with the activities that would take place and the times.
This brochure or even from the Princess App you could keep track of the events and thus plan your day.
Dr Sax at the Piazza
Listening to live music is a delight anywhere, and a saxophonist like Dr. Sax gave a good concert for half an hour.
Dr Sax performed several days in the evening and made the Piaza a real entertainment venue.
Princess Live
This space near the Piazza was mostly used for presentations or for games such as Bingo or some other raffles.
When there wasn’t some entertaining event on the ship, I went to Princess live to sit and have a beer and watch people entertain themselves with their games like Bingo.
Viva La Musica at Princess Arena
In the Princess Arena, different shows were performed.
The space was like a theater stage.
The Viva la Musica event was probably the most disappointing event.
Maybe because my expectations of listening live Spanish music were high.
The dance show was entertaining, but listening to the mixes of songs that are in Spanish and listening to them in English was not the best for me.
The song I liked the most was one from Spain.
Fiera at Princess Arena
This was a more entertaining presentation with different costumes and dances.
The show lasted about half an hour and kept the crowd attentive.
Princess Dome
The Sun Princess also offers a dome-like area, where there were also performances by singers or even used for DJ-driven music.
Activities Aboard the Sun Princess
In addition to the events organized by the crew, you could do activities on your own to enjoy the amenities around the cruise ship.
Gym
I took advantage of having the gym a few floors away and would get up around 6:00 am to go there.
The gym is not that big, and if you arrived after 7:30 am, the running machines were usually already mostly occupied.
It had the ideal stuff to get a good workout on the days of the cruise.
There was the machine and dumbbell area, as well as elliptical machines, bikes and treadmills, but there was little room for individual workouts.
In another area near the gym was a space where they held Yoga classes and some other exercise sessions.
ABBA night at the Piazza
The first night there was half an hour of ABBA music at the Piazza.
As well, there was some DJ music at the Piazza or at the Dome.
Zumba at the Piazza
An event to exercise, dance and have a fun time is Zumba in the Piazza.
This activity did have Latin music, so if you want a moment to enjoy and dance, Zumba is an entertaining event, specially during Sea Days.
Wakeview Terrace
The back of the ship had an infinity pool and two hot tubs, plus seating with a view of the sea to sit or lie down for a while and relax.
The view from this spot was breathtaking.
SeaView Terrace
In the front part of the hotel there were also two hot tubs, a small swimming pool and several lounge chairs.
In the SeaView Terrace area there was also a bar to order a drink.
Lido
Aboard the Sun Princess on deck 17 was the large pool.
Being one of the main meeting points, it was usually crowded.
In the evenings they used the big screen to show “Movies under the stars”.
There were also live music events to liven up the atmosphere on the ship.
Casino
The casino area was usually crowded at all hours.
There was the slot machines section and also for playing cards.
For those people who are professional casino players, this may be its attractive point.
Stores
This new ship has different stores.
From the sale of brand watches and the official Princess store.
Ports of Call & Shore Excursions
Our voyage reached the ports of Roatan, Belize City and Cozumel.
The guests have the option of booking any of the excursions scheduled by the cruise staff, but these have an extra cost.
Roatan, Honduras
For the second day we arrived at the island of Roatan, Honduras.
You can easily notice that the port area is built for tourism.
We chose to stay in the beach area.
The place was very nice.
There are a few restaurants for those who wish to eat around the port area.
There is also the option of kayaking, paddle boarding among others.
Belize City, Belize
On the third day the arrival was in Belize City.
The ship does not stop at the port itself, but stays far out at sea.
We passengers had to board a ferry to take us to the city.
Once at the port, we left what was the terminal to walk around the city.
Belize City is small, and yes it is a place that gives an atmosphere to Central America.
The best thing to do here would be to take a tour, as the city has few places for sightseeing.
Cozumel, Mexico
We were in Cozumel on the fourth day.
There are also scheduled excursions in the itinerary, but here we decided to rent a buggy to tour the island.
There are several beaches around the island.
Some of them can be accessed through the restaurants that are around, or through some areas where parking lots are available.
Back in downtown Cozumel, we went to the market to eat something local.
We usually opt to return at least two hours before the departure of the cruise ship to avoid long lines to board the cruise ship.
Sun Princess Review: Pros and Cons
Advantages
- Among the advantages of taking a cruise on the Sun Princess is the variety of specialty restaurants.
- They also have a lot of lounge chairs and sun beds around the ship, so you can enjoy the sea views from any point.
- I would recommend having a package like Princess Plus, to have access to better benefits that the whole cruise package offers, such as Wi-Fi.
- You can order through the app and the service will be delivered to wherever you are.
Disadvantages
- Probably one disadvantage of the Sun Princess cruise ship is how long it takes to get used to the deck plans and to know whether to go left or right when going to the room.
- Another downside of the cruise perhaps at first was the elevators, since most of the people naturally wanted to go to their rooms.
- There is not a lot of variety in terms of gluten-free food.
- The taste of the gelatto left me disappointed.
Final Thoughts: Is the Sun Princess Cruise Worth It?
To say that the Sun Princess is the best cruise ship, I guess for me is something I can’t say, as it has been so far the only cruise ship I have taken and I don’t have any other point of comparison to say if among the Princess fleet cruises like the Regal Princess, Enchanted Princess or Discovery Princess or this one is the best.
I am not an experienced cruise critic, but I think each cruise will offer different types of experiences.
For me, to cruise on Sun Princess was a totally worthwhile trip.
I was delighted and thrilled with the entire cruiser trip.
The Sun Princess offers a good variety of foods and drinks to enjoy and has plenty of events throughout the ship to keep yourself entertained at different times during the cruise
It was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed, both for what is offered throughout the cruise ship, as well as the complimentary experiences in the port days.
Being onboard the Sun Princess will be a beautiful memory that I will cherish for life.
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