Sun Princess/Alaska cruise

[raffles]

I think I am going to do a cruise to alaska on the sun princess. Has anyone sailed on the sun? What did you think?

[f-mattox]

Have not been on the Sun but I have been on her twin, Sea Princess. It's a wonderful size ship; not so small that you are doing without some of the amenities and not so large that you feel lost in the crowd. It's a very comfortable ship--easy to get around. Of course even "sisters" can have different personalities but I've found Princess' level of service and quality of food and entertainment, as well as the cheerfulness of the staff and the cleanliness of the ships to be pretty uniform throughout the fleet and very consistent over the years.
And Princess pioneered Alaska cruising so they really have it down.
I'm sure you will be very pleased with Sun Princess.

[Tinas Coma Cruiser]

I was on the Sun this past fall, 17 days from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale thru the Canal. I loved the Sun. I really was willing to stay on and continue to cruise. She was clean, very comfortable and I found it very easy to know where everything was. Depending on the time you might have a crowd in the buffet but we always found a seat. I was worried about cabin space because they are a little smaller but our balcony cabin was comfortable and we had enough storage for all of our 17 days worth of clothes and accumulated purchases. I do recommend bringing extra hangers, there are never enough.
The food was good. I appreciated the portions - not too big, not to small. My suggestion would be to try the freestyle dining. We had the late seating, and found that to get to the late shows we sometimes needed to leave before dessert. Others at the late seating did not have the same problem though, we just had the bad luck of getting a very busy waiter with inadequate help. Freestyle dining gives you the option of eating when you want and maybe taking in an early show rather than always the late one, besides there were some fun. Whatever you decide on I think you will like the size and comfortability of the Sun.

[joyceh]

raffles

We have sailed on the Sun. We are also doing an Alaska cruise in 2007. The Sun is a wonderful, old style, cruise ship. It has the advantage of open viewing deck space in front of the Horizon court and a full walk around promenade deck. I believe these are key for Alaska viewing opportunities. However, we have chosen to go on the Diamond Princess as it's a newer ship which offers more dining, bar and entertainment venues. It all depends on whether you enjoy the older ships or the newer ones. Happy sailing!

[choochella]

We have enjoyed the Sun so much we sailed her twice. Both 10 day fall Caribbean itineraries. We also sailed the Dawn the year before which is in the same class. We really enjoy the small ship feel. Too bad that Princess is not using the Sun anymore for the 10 day Caribbean itineraries in the fall. The new Emerald will replace it. So, we will probably sail her in the fall. She is a grand class ship, similar to the Crown, Grand, and Caribbean Princess. We have also sailed the Grand and found it exciting as well. We liked the sun class ships as the public areas were not as crowded. We never had a problem with dining or any entertainment venues. Although, being a smaller ship, it can only offer so much. I totally agree with joyceh, the walk around promenade deck is great. It would be great for viewing opportunites in Alaska. But, it's all in what you want. We have always had a great time. Hey, we're on vacation. What can be so bad about that, right? Either way, I know you'll enjoy your cruise.