I’m at present crusing on Princess Cruises’ latest and largest ship, Solar Princess. I’m onboard for 5 days as a visitor of Princess so I can carry you every little thing that this new cruise ship has to supply.
I launched into the ship in Athens, Greece and can disembark in Rome, Italy. After spending somewhat over 48 hours on the ship, listed here are my first impressions of Solar Princess. That is solely the second crusing for the ship so the kinks are nonetheless being labored out.
That is my ninth cruise with Princess and the cruise ship is totally not like some other ship of their fleet. Over the previous yr, I took two shipyard excursions of the ship whereas it was beneath building in Monfalcone, Italy. It’s such a fantastic feeling to lastly see the finished ship and the entire distinctive areas that it gives.
As a result of it’s a brand new class of ship and in contrast to some other in Princess’ fleet, it did take somewhat longer than regular to get my bearings and be taught the place every little thing was.
The ship is beautiful, inside and outside. From the principle eating room to the Piazza, it simply has a cushty feeling. I’m at present within the Wheelhouse Bar writing this text and I simply love this area.
One of many greatest adjustments on the ship was shifting the buffet (The Eatery) from the normal location on the high of the ship and transfer it off of the Piazza (atrium) on deck 9. Sister cruise line Costa additionally did this with their current new ships and I actually prefer it. It simply makes extra sense.
Nonetheless, there may be nonetheless meals on the Lido Deck with completely different stations for pizza, tacos, and burgers and so on.
There are a whole lot of specialty eating choices on board that I will probably be attempting all through my cruise. I’ll have extra on that after I get again.
The crew on board have been unimaginable thus far, you’ll by no means know that it’s solely the second cruise on the ship. And it’s not simply me, I’ve overheard many different passengers speaking how pleasant they’re and what a fantastic job they’re doing. In case you have a cruise booked on the ship, make certain to go to Wirat at Crooners and the Lido Bar. She’s simply superior!
I’m staying in a balcony cabin on deck 17, you’ll be able to watch a two minute walkthrough video of my cabin beneath.
A number of issues that Princess actually did proper was to ensure there are a ton of energy retailers throughout the cabin. On both sides of the mattress, there’s a 110, USB, and USB-C outlet. There are additionally a number of retailers on the desk.
The loos are by far the very best within the Princess fleet and it has a fantastic bathe.
One other good function are movement detected lights on the ground if you want to rise up in the course of the night time.
There are some things that also want work earlier than they’re 100%. The brand new Princess app is lacking helpful data that passengers want like eating occasions and the open hours for bars and lounges. They need to have waited till the brand new app was 100% earlier than rolling it out.
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Additionally, as a result of Princess just lately took supply of the ship, a whole lot of the leisure just isn’t prepared. This consists of the Princess Area and Spellbound.
The Dome has additionally been closed most days as they work on exhibits. I’m hoping it will likely be open tomorrow for our sea day as a result of it seems to be like the proper spot for when you find yourself at sea.
I used to be capable of stroll via it and take a couple of images on embarkation day. I feel it’s going to be actually fashionable with visitors.
My Ocean Medallion has labored flawlessly thus far, I prefer it so significantly better than having a cruise card.
Park19 is one other space of the ship that continues to be closed and hasn’t opened but. As soon as the ship will get security approvals, Sea Breeze will lastly open. It seems to be to be a very enjoyable journey across the high of the ship.
The WiFi has been first rate so long as you aren’t importing giant movies. I used to be capable of video chat with my son at the moment and the ten minute name by no means dropped as soon as.
One large factor that’s lacking is that there’s no the place to get one thing to drink on the Lido Deck with out going to a bar. There’s stations to get meals however no the place to get something to drink like water or lemonade. I actually hope Princess provides beverage stations on this space.
Surprisingly, there isn’t a basketball court docket on Solar Princess.
I’ll have extra on Solar Princess after the cruise is over. Tonight I will probably be experiencing a sneak peek at Spellbound, the cruise line’s second Extraordinary Expertise that brings the magic of Magic Citadel to sea for the primary time.
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You’ll be able to comply with alongside on my cruise on all of Cruise Fever’s social media channels. We’re @CruiseFever on Fb, X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
