Sun Princess Scraps Featured Attractions, What Happened?

July 21, 2024 Randy Young

Last Updated on August 20, 2024

Princess Cruises’ newest ship, the Sun Princess, had a rough start. Its initial debut was delayed by 20 days, having to cancel two cruises. Then, when it did finally debut on February 29, 2024, much of the ship was not ready; shows weren’t complete, finishing touches were still being added, and several key areas, like The Dome, were off-limits for much of the first sailing. One key area, Park19, the new family-oriented activity area, still hasn’t opened five months after the ship launched. Now it’s been confirmed that several features in this area will never open.

What was the Park19 Area on Sun Princess?

The Sun Princess is the first in a brand new class of ship for Princess, the Sphere-class. The ship is the largest Princess ever built, and was supposed to have new attractions not seen anywhere else in the fleet. One such attraction was Park19, a family-friendly area aimed to make Princess ships more attractive for multi-generational cruisers.

One year ago, Princess Cruises made a big splash by introducing some of these new attractions that showed how family-friendly Sun Princess would be.

The area was supposed to feature Sea Breeze, a rollglider that circled around the deck. This powered ride vehicle would let guests glide around the top of the ship at up to 11 mph as if they were hand gliding over the sea.

ropes course on a cruise ship — Coastal Climb was Sun Princess’ version of a ropes course. (Photo courtesy of Princess Cruises)

The area was also supposed to feature a 3-story climbing attraction, with a ropes course called Coastal Climb and an area called “The Net” to let guests climb up to a perch to see amazing views from the top of the ship.

These New Attractions Will No Long Be Coming to Sun Princess

Cruise Fever first broke the news, and later, Princess Cruises released a statement confirming that these attractions will no longer be coming to the ship.

“We regret to announce that Princess is unable to accept delivery of the RollGlider, Coastal Climb, and Ropes Course features within Park19 aboard Sun Princess and those experiences will not be opening,” the cruise line confirmed in a statement. All mentions of these attractions have been scrubbed from the Princess Cruises website, and the deck plans no longer list them.

It’s a surprising move, as most of the equipment for these three attractions was already installed on the ship, although it was not operational.

What happened with these three attractions?

Princess Cruises did not elaborate on what was causing these features to be removed. The wording of the press releases says that they were “unable to accept delivery,” basically meaning that they’re blaming the vendor in charge of implementing these attractions.

Later in the statement, they said, “We are actively evaluating these areas for future recreational opportunities to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all our guests.” The wording implies that safety may have been an issue in launching these attractions.

The failure of these attractions is confusing, though. Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises sister company, has implemented ropes courses across many ships in their fleet for years, and the RollGlider seems similar, in concept, to Carnival’s SkyRide attraction. Considering it was Princess Cruises’ first venture in these kind of attractions, it’d be odd they didn’t turn to their sister company to see what kind of learning and advice could be shared.

Park19 Area Will Still Have Family Attractions

While the three biggest attractions on the ship will no longer be coming to the Park19 area, the area still has some other features, including.

Kid’s Splash Zone
Recreational Court – games including shuffleboard, ping pong, and cornhole.
Jogging Track
Hammock Area
Infinite Horizon – area of tilted glass where guests can lean over and look ten decks town.

What About Star Princess?

Sun Princess’s sister ship, the Star Princess, is expected to debut in August 2025. It was supposed to be widely similar to Sun Princess, featuring the same attractions. Princess Cruises does not mention Star Princess in their statement, but deck plans for the ship on the Princess Cruises website have removed mention of the Rollglider and Ropes Course and now just say “coming soon.”