There are few things that can match the excitement of carrying your luggage up the gangway of a glittering ocean-going ship, unpacking your luggage in a room that never needs to be cleaned, or waking up in a different and stunning port every day. Except for ocean cruises on brand new ships.
Sun Princess was launched in Rome on February 14th. A very fitting date considering the original 1977 Sun Princess was the Love Boat from the show of the same name. And I was the first to open the balcony door and, along with her 4,299 other passengers, spend several days with the new Sun Princess on her first voyage around the Mediterranean.
Being brand new, the ship is state of the art. I didn't even have to unlock the cabin door. As I approached the room, the door was unlocked with the medallion I was carrying. It was such a joy to sneak up to the door and try to find it locked (we didn't). The same medallion was used to charge for beverages and entertainment on board, smoothing the check-in and check-out process for shore excursions.
The first innovations of the Sun Princess were visible from the pier where we boarded the ship in Barcelona. On the side of the ship, he designed a 10-layer glass bulb that floods the center of the ship with light, allowing passengers to view the ocean rather than the interior walls.
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Since the ship was brand new, it also needed to be given a new name in the traditional way. On our first night on board, we got to attend a naming ceremony that included a number of circulating trays of food and cocktails, as well as some celebrities. Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham successfully slams Nebuchadnezzar into her hull, and she is honored with a bottle of champagne. You know it's a big deal if New Zealanders are invited too. Singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield, a former Linfield College student, performed her hit songs, including “Pocketful of Sunshine.'' Later, taking the opportunity to rest our feet with a drink at the Good Spirits Whiskey Bar in the evening, we run into Bernie Kopel (Adam “Doc” Bricker) from The Love Boat Show, Participated in small talk and gossip.
Lunch on board the Sun Princess cruise ship. April 23, 2024. Photography / Helen van Berkel (travel)
Over the next few days, we were introduced to everything exciting and new on board: cocktails, entertainment, cocktails, restaurants, cocktails, and more. We sampled some of the best of her 29 restaurants on board. While in port in Barcelona, ​​the flashing of blades and showmanship of the Japanese culinary experience continued, starting in his three-story Horizons dining room at the stern of the ship. Delicious Teppanyaki on 8 decks. And of course we had to sample as many cocktails as possible. More than 100 new cocktails were created for this cruise.
I did as much work as I could in the ship's gym, which was conveniently located overlooking the bow. Watching some of the world's greatest and most beautiful cities emerge from dawn made my early morning treadmill sessions a breeze.
The Saint Princess cruises to Marseille. April 23, 2024. Photography / Helen van Berkel (for travel).
Resisting the lure of the ship's shopping malls with Prada, Pandora, and other luxury goods, we landed in Marseille, France's second-largest city, and visited the winding little streets of the port. There was the smell of money on the ancient waterfront, lined with grand, sophisticated yachts and overlooked by locals and tourists sitting at outdoor tables enjoying afternoon croissants. Our bus took us along the coast, which has been loved by Greeks since 600 B.C., and up narrow roads to the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de la Garde, which overlooks the city.
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We were exposed to Marseille's famous northwest winds. These winds are known to reach speeds of up to 90 km/h, and it certainly felt like they were reaching those speeds. And I was relieved when I arrived at the shelter of the ship sailing to Genoa.
The Sun Princess offers a champagne breakfast. April 24, 2024. Photography / Helen van Berkel (for NZH Travel)
Start your day in the northern Italian city with a champagne breakfast on your balcony and salmon on a bagel as the sun bends into the shadows and reveals the multicolored hues of the houses that cover the hills behind the city. It was a spread out breakfast. Another city with a deep history, Genoa is dotted with beautiful cathedrals and a mix of charming and picturesque architecture. It is famous for its public squares, including Piazza de Ferrari, which was the inspiration for the ship's central plaza. Surrounded by the Coffee Current and Bellini cocktail bars, Deck 8 Piazza is a great place to meet up with new onboard friends over coffee or relax and exchange stories after your day visiting Europe's must-see cities. A central gathering place for socializing. My companion and I had lunch with celebrity chef Makoto Okuwa at Kai Sushi, where we sampled his Edomae sushi menu along with sake. World famous butcher Dario Cecchini served us a dinner of perfectly grilled, melt-in-your-mouth cuts of meat (definitely not catering to vegetarians). I didn't have time to sample the seafood served at The Catch by Rudy. Rudy Sodamine.
The bridge on the Sun Princess is state-of-the-art. April 24, 2024. Photography / Helen van Berkel (travel)
We did not go ashore that day, but instead explored the bridge and other parts of the ship. Don't expect to see oversized wheels and white-suited sailors screaming Ahoy here. Instead, three large seats face the bow, with a board of buttons and knobs between them. With a touch of a finger, captains and officers can slot the 345.3-metre-tall Sun Princess into a berth and line it up with the correct bollard within centimeters. We were standing on a thick window installed in the floor where the crew could see. How close we are to the pier line nearly 60 meters below.
Here in the midst of silent technology on the bridge, I was surprised to see a neatly organized cabinet full of flags. Yes, the first mate explained to us. Sailors on the Sun Princess can still communicate with other ships using the old flag. This lesson is still taught today because, as was well known on the maiden voyage, when things go wrong, sailors need backup.
We also toured the cooking room. There, staff were already busy making thousands of pastries, salads and desserts. These will be delivered to the ship's 29 restaurants that night. This is a game of precision and skill, knowing that the 4,300 passengers will expect the best local ingredients in the variety of cuisines on offer. And of course, built in an era of increasing climate awareness and environmental demands, this Princess of the Sea is doing her best to leave a small footprint on the oceans she traverses. Packaging materials used onboard are carefully separated for recycling, and a giant biodegrader processes the remaining feed into a near-liquid before being dumped and fed to fish deep within the Princess's hull. .
Another innovation in the Princess fleet is that our ships are primarily powered by liquid natural gas. This is a much cleaner fuel than traditional diesel, and means the Sun Princess also doesn't have the hot top-deck chimneys and streams of black smoke that are common on most cruise ships.
We ended the day with an intimate Spellbound dinner and magical cocktails. Behind a nondescript door leading off the square, the hidden Magic Castle is home to a Victorian library whose walls are lined with books and haunted by a piano-playing ghost. A world-renowned academy for aspiring magicians, Los Angeles Magic's intimate dinner and show experience in a scaled-down version of his Castle is reserved for up to 30 people at a time. I still don't know how the magician was able to pull off a number trick that gave out not only the date of the day, but the exact time of the moment.
Genoa, a city in northern Italy, is a port of call for the San Princess. April 24, 2024.Photography / Helen Van Berkel
When we arrived in Florence, it was cold and rainy and our guide couldn't believe the snow he could see on the mountains in the distance. However, we stayed snugly on the bus for the 3 hour journey to Florence to sample the historical treasures. La Croce Church is the largest Franciscan basilica in the world and the burial place of famous Italians Michelangelo and Galileo. It's easy to see why this temple is also known as the Temple of Italian Glory. Giotti's frescoes enrich the interior walls with colorful masterpieces that tell the story of the life of St. Francis. Outside the impressive Gothic interior is topped by a Star of David and a grand dome, undecorated according to Franciscan aesthetics.
The hours-long line snaked through the Accademia Gallery to see Michelangelo's David at the nearby Uffizi Gallery, so we could only content ourselves with a look at the replica in the piazza outside. It was hard to leave the crowded streets around San Croce, even though we had barely seen the surface of the beauty of this most beautiful city.
The Basilica of Santa Croce is a magnificent Franciscan church in Florence. April 23, 2024. Photography / Helen van Berkel (for travel).
And it was a wrench to leave our sea princess. The next day we docked in Civitavecchia, the gateway to Rome. Throughout our journey, life on board was arranged to be largely crowd-free, but all the passengers seemed to have departed for Rome, and we boarded a noisy rush of suitcases and taxis. I shouted goodbye. And now the love boat is sailing again, setting a course for adventure and romance.
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