Sun Princess New Years Cruise

We started 2026 on a Sun Princess New Years Cruise. We sailed the Eastern Caribbean on a Holiday Cruise on the Sun Princess. What’s it like to cruise for New Years, we’ll share our experience on sailing on the Sun Princess New Years Cruise in the Eastern Caribbean.

Why Take a New Years Cruise

Why take a cruise during the busiest travel time of the year? Wasn’t the ship crowded? We were searching for a way to have a bit more fun at New Years rather than stay at home. We wanted something our whole family could enjoy. And when we came across an affordable New Years Cruise on an almost brand new ship, it seemed like it might be a great option.

It can be fun to dine out, enjoy entertainment, and count down to the new year without having to think about cleaning up or driving home. A cruise provided all the best things for celebrating New Years. The only tradeoff was not being home for the whole holiday time. The cruise we found left after Christmas, so it seemed like it could be a good fit.

Travel to the Sun Princess

The Sun Princess sailed out of Fort Lauderdale. We found a direct flight and flew in two days early. Given the winter storms that delayed some travel, we felt lucky that we made it to the cruise on time. There are plenty of hotels near the port, just know that air and hotel may be a bit more expensive than at other times of the year.

We arranged a Lyft which arrived right on time. The five miles to the port took about 30 minutes. You’ll want to put any tags on your bags at the hotel to make luggage drop-off easy.

Once we arrive at the port, it took about 30 minutes to make our way through security and on to the ship. Embarkation was easy. We checked in at our muster station, watched the safety video, and then got a tasty lunch at the Eatery.

As the holidays can be a busy travel time, it might be a good idea to arrive an extra day early and to ensure you have travel insurance in place.

Holiday Decorations

The Sun Princess was nicely decorated for Christmas, even though we departed a few days after Christmas. There was a large tree in the Piazza as well as trees and other decorations throughout the ship.

For New Years, a few additional decorations were added including some nice New Years watermelon carvings in the Eatery.

On the first night of the cruise, there was a tree lighting ceremony. Singers and dancers put on a great show leading up to the lighting of the tree for the last holiday cruise of 2025.

New Years Party

There were multiple parties throughout the ship for New Years. After enjoying a fantastic dinner and a comedy show, We opted to do the deck party. With a live band, a countdown on the big screen, and a few hundred other passengers, we had a great time.

At midnight, the ship’s horn played the Love Boat theme song. This was a really fun way to ring in the new year.

The cruise was definitely full with 4,725 passengers. It was a good mix of people of all ages and a great crowd for a cruise.

Sun Princess Inside Stateroom

While we enjoy a balcony stateroom, we opted for an inside room on this cruise. We booked two, one for us and one for our two adult children to share. For this cruise, an inside room worked great.

We found the room to be very nice with tons of storage. The bed was comfortable and we each had a nightstand. There was plenty of power available in standard, USB, and USB-C so we didn’t need to use our power block.

The bathroom had a good layout. The shower was deeper than we have had on our last two cruises which was definitely appreciated. Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were provided.

The nightstands and bathroom had motion detection nightlights. Inside staterooms tend to be pretty dark so this was a helpful feature.

Our room steward did a good job keeping things nice. We appreciate that Princess provides twice daily service.

Dining on Sun Princess

One of the reasons people like to cruise is for the dining experience. How was the food on the Sun Princess? Great. We ate in the main dining room, poolside, at the Eatery buffet and everything was tasty. In a few cases, the service experience could be improved. On this cruise, we didn’t opt to try any specialty dining.

Eclipse Main Dining Room

There are multiple main dining rooms on the Sun. We opted to have the flexibility to eat without having a fixed dining time which means we used the Eclipse dining room.

Food for every meal we had was great. Options varied each night but the halibut, salmon, chicken, pasta and other dishes were fantastic. The dining room was nicely designed. We were usually seated promptly, with the longest wait being about 20 minutes. One thing that could have been improved was the time between courses, which was sometimes a bit long.

Poolside Dining

Poolside dining options were tasty. Pizza, hamburgers, and tacos were available. Most items could also be ordered via the Princess app. We tried all of these and they were great.

Ordering on the app was convenient when it worked. However, it seems to be very sensitive to location and would sometimes indicate an order could not be placed even though it could be ordered when seated in the next chair.

Ice cream was also available by the pool. Each day a twist of two flavors was offered. Those with Princess Plus could opt for the included specialty desserts.

The Buffet

The buffet on Sun Princess is called The Eatery. Breakfast had a good variety of food including pancakes, cinnamon rolls, fruit, yogurt, and even omelets. The some items could be found in the Americana Diner located just aft of The Eatery. If you exit the doors behind the Americana Diner, there is some nice outside seating available.

We also opted to try the buffet for dinner one night. The selection was great and the food was tasty. This might be a convenient option when you aren’t feeling like having the full three-course meal.

Note that the food is served to you which is a bit different that a traditional buffet. We found this worked well and appreciated this approach.

O’Malley’s Irish Pub

While not quite specialty dining, the Irish Pub was included with Princess Plus. We were really looking forward to experiencing O’Malley’s. The food was great. However, the service and atmosphere wasn’t quite what we were expecting. The music wasn’t Irish and was so loud, we left before finishing dinner. Hopefully we’ll have a better experience next time.

Bars on the Sun Princess

There is a great selection of bars on the Sun Princess. Each has a selection of drinks specific to the location. We enjoyed the poolside bars during the day. At night, Bellini’s was the favorite for both the unique cocktails offered as well as for mocktails. The Red Ferrari cocktail was tasty.

Sun Princess Entertainment

There was plenty of entertainment on this Sun Princess New Years Cruise. Throughout the day, there were fun activities like games, trivia, dance lessons, and even Zumba. We really enjoyed Yes No and the Marriage Game. Cruise Director Cole and his crew did a great job of keeping everyone engaged.

At night, comedians, magicians, and large production shows were available. The theater on Sun Princess hosted some great shows including magician Nathan Phan. The musical shows Fiera and Viva La Musica were excellent.

While the show Same Same but Different was very fun, the Dome wasn’t the best venue for shows. The dome is a great place to relax during the day without being out in the sun. Shows are hosted in the dome at night. While the padded loungers work great during the day, seating could be better for shows.

Spellbound

A magic venue created in collaboration with the Magic Castle is a unique feature on the newest Princess cruise ships. We really enjoyed the close up magic experience and this special venue. Know that you’ll need to reserve a time and it is an extra charge.

Itinerary

This Sun Princess Holiday Eastern Caribbean cruise had three sea days and three port stops. We visited Princess Cays, San Juan, and Sint Maarten. Rather than booking excursions, we opted to just explore on our own.

Princess Cays makes for a relaxing beach day. Find a lounger, enjoy a swim, or rent some fun water sport gear. A lunch buffet is provided. Princess Plus works on the island to cover beverages.

San Juan was a lot of fun. We explored two historic forts as well as enjoying the old city of San Juan.

For St Maarten, we took a water taxi to the nearby Great Bay Beach. It was another fun day of just relaxing with a swim in the water. The water taxi was $7 per person and you should be able to find chairs and an umbrella for around $25. There are restaurants all along the beach if needed.

Was a Sun Princess New Years Cruise Worth It?

We really enjoyed our Sun Princess New Years Cruise. It was a fantastic way to ring in the new year. By opted for inside staterooms and exploring the ports on our own, this was a fairly affordable trip. Just keep in mind that air and hotels may be more expensive at this time of the year.

Would we book another New Years Eve cruise – Yes! It was a fun and relaxing trip. We look forward to doing something similar in the future.

Sun Princess New Years Cruise YouTube Video

Check out our Sun Princess New Years Cruise YouTube video where we show the highlights this fun adventure.

Leave a Comment

Have you taken a Holiday or a New Years cruise? Have you sailed on the Sun Princess? What was your experience like? Do you have tips to share? We’d love to hear all about it. Please leave us a comment.

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