Christmas Cruise on Sun Princess

Hi,

We just booked a Christmas cruise on Sun Princess. Has anybody been on an Australian Princess cruise at Christmas before. We have read some reviews but they are more ship specific. I am just after what the main demographic of passengers will be. Will it be mainly young families or will it be full of 18-25's partying hard. We are a family of four with teenage daughters.

I'm going on that one too, with hubby. We're first time cruisers so can't answer your questions.

I started a roll call for the cruise http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1969262

Hi,

We just booked a Christmas cruise on Sun Princess. Has anybody been on an Australian Princess cruise at Christmas before. We have read some reviews but they are more ship specific. I am just after what the main demographic of passengers will be. Will it be mainly young families or will it be full of 18-25's partying hard. We are a family of four with teenage daughters.

Hi Gommy

We haven't done a Christmas Cruise, but we have done NYE on Sun Princess a couple of years ago.

We found the Demographics of passengers to be reasonably broad...but generally a whole group of happy Aussies. You and your family will enjoy the Sun P, especially over the festive season where the staff really go out of their way to make things as enjoyable as possible.

The rowdy lot tend to stick with P&O, which is why we prefer to sail Princess or Celebrity.

cheers

:eek:

Hi,

We just booked a Christmas cruise on Sun Princess. Has anybody been on an Australian Princess cruise at Christmas before. We have read some reviews but they are more ship specific. I am just after what the main demographic of passengers will be. Will it be mainly young families or will it be full of 18-25's partying hard. We are a family of four with teenage daughters.

We have just done the Christmas/New Year on Dawn Princess (Dec 13 to Jan 14.

It was fantastic. The age group goes across the board. On Christmas morning Santa came for the littlies - age group say up to around 7 - there were about 80 - you never seemed to see them during the cruise - of course there were older "youngsters - pre teen". We took our teenage grandsons with us - they had a ball. New Years Eve Party was great - or should I say party's - the age groups were so mixed. I suppose there seemed to be more of the late 40's early 50's onwards - it really is hard to say - just one big mixed bag. No party animals - the crew are on to it. We had one(there's always one) guy early on New Years Eve - who looked like he could be troublesome - then out of nowhere came a few strategically placed security personnel - they chatted with him - and he came good. So no concerns there.

If it's any help - our teens had a ball - and we hardly saw them. :p

They didn't join the Teen club - they just did their own thing - disco, karaoke , video games - the lot. :D

I know it's not the Sun - but as Flipper says - Princess doesn't seem to attract the "rowdy lot" perhaps it's because they would be outnumbered by my generation :eek:

We did the Sea Princess cruise out of Brisbane over Christmas last year (11 days around Pacific Islands). Generally speaking it was a typical Princess demographic - mostly the older generation but there were a couple of hundred kids on board. No real problem and they were not a problem. Santa had a gift for each of them on Christmas Day. There was the usual Christmas carol singing lead by the crew in the Atrium and there were separate Catholic and Protestant church services in the Princess Theatre.

I realise that people's expectations are different and what might be expected for one may not be the same for another. While we enjoyed the cruise very much (we do all our cruises) apart from what I have said above I was little disappointed with the lack of emphasis generally on it being Christmas.:)

We did the Sea Princess cruise out of Brisbane over Christmas last year (11 days around Pacific Islands). Generally speaking it was a typical Princess demographic - mostly the older generation but there were a couple of hundred kids on board. No real problem and they were not a problem. Santa had a gift for each of them on Christmas Day. There was the usual Christmas carol singing lead by the crew in the Atrium and there were separate Catholic and Protestant church services in the Princess Theatre.

 

I realise that people's expectations are different and what might be expected for one may not be the same for another. While we enjoyed the cruise very much (we do all our cruises) apart from what I have said above I was little disappointed with the lack of emphasis generally on it being Christmas.:)

We did the same cruise joybook!

We had a ball & were surprised at the cross spread of demographics on board.

I was chatting to a lady who told me she had always assumed cruising was only for the;

Newlyweds,

Nearlydeads

& Retreads!

But her & her family were loving it :D as did we.

I found the cruise director & his team the most annoying. They were struggling for humour & topics that suited their audience (ie quiz questions) the most. They seemed consistently surprised that no-one knew about American sports!! Their bingo calling was slower than a wet week too :D

But seriously, we loved it.

Have booked a T.A. Cruise in Nov already!! But that is with X!

Oh...... & welcome Gommy :)

It's certainly going to be a different Christmas for us. I'm really looking forward to it. The itinerary shows Christmas Day is a sea day snd I'm hoping the ship will be a little bit festive but not OTT - I once spent a few days in December at a resort hotel in Penang which played Christmas music incessantly all over the hotel, including through underwater speakers in the swimming pool LOL. That I don't want onboard the ship!

It's certainly going to be a different Christmas for us. I'm really looking forward to it. The itinerary shows Christmas Day is a sea day snd I'm hoping the ship will be a little bit festive but not OTT - I once spent a few days in december at a resort hotel in Penang which played Christmas music incessantly all over the hotel, including through underwater speakers in the swimming pool LOL. That I don't want onboard the ship!

Ozkiwijj. We are not religious Christmassy peeps at all, and did not have an issue with the festivities! I too worried they may be too OTT, but they weren't!:)

we wore matching t-shirts Christmas Day, & heaps of travellers had their Christmas Tee /hat / earrings etc on for the day! Lots of "Merry Christmas's" in the hallway as you passed one and other!

It was a sea day for us (one of the key reasons we picked the cruise!!) and Chrissy night was a formal night!

Seriously great cruise! We loved it. If we could get reliable dog sitters we would go every year without a blink of the eye!

We did Christmas on RCI last year sailing out of Sydney. The majority of guests were young families. Lovely atmosphere on board. Most of the Christmas activities occurred on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. I would cruise at Christmas every year, if I could. The teens loved the cruise but they found Christmas Day itself (a sea day) a bit low-key.

Oh I packed a Chrissy tree n decorations too! Lots of people had the expanding tinsel decorations (you pick them up for 10c each in January ;)) on their front door! It helped find our cabin!!!

Also we had the low voltage solar lights on our balcony which were magic in the evenings :). We brought the cheap solar outdoor ones, 10m length, n twisted it around the railing. The little solar panel faced out wards and they were great!

Ozkiwijj. We are not religious Christmassy peeps at all, and did not have an issue with the festivities! I too worried they may be too OTT, but they weren't!:)

 

we wore matching t-shirts Christmas Day, & heaps of travellers had their Christmas Tee /hat / earrings etc on for the day! Lots of "Merry Christmas's" in the hallway as you passed one and other!

It was a sea day for us (one of the key reasons we picked the cruise!!) and Chrissy night was a formal night!

 

Seriously great cruise! We loved it. If we could get reliable dog sitters we would go every year without a blink of the eye!

We're not religious Chrissy people either but we do like a bit of traditional Christmas spirit -just not non-stop Christmas songs - but some carols are really nice in moderation, and I do like some nice decorations.

I'm hoping Christmas Day will be one of the formal nights on this cruise, that would make it really special.

Oh I packed a Chrissy tree n decorations too! Lots of people had the expanding tinsel decorations (you pick them up for 10c each in January ;)) on their front door! It helped find our cabin!!!

 

Also we had the low voltage solar lights on our balcony which were magic in the evenings :). We brought the cheap solar outdoor ones, 10m length, n twisted it around the railing. The little solar panel faced out wards and they were great!

Must remember that. I have a small set of solar lights, and I might look at taking some decorations and some LED candles for our cabin.

We're not religious Chrissy people either but we do like a bit of traditional Christmas spirit -just not non-stop Christmas songs - but some carols are really nice in moderation, and I do like some nice decorations.

 

I'm hoping Christmas Day will be one of the formal nights on this cruise, that would make it really special.

I'd be very surprised if they didn't have it as the formal night. Ours was changed to coincide with it!

It was special too :)

You will have a blast!

Thank you all for advice and the great suggestions.

Now comes the wait....

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Don't forget to join the roll call, Gommy.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1969262

That's a thread that is specific to this cruise, where we can all chat and ask questions, discuss what shore excursions we plan on doing etc.

My sister has booked the New Years Eve cruise on the Sun as her Mother in law went on the Sun Princess last Xmas with her Daughter and Grandchildren and had a fantastic time. It sounded like their were quite a few children kept amused by Princess staff so there was lots to do for the kids. There were of course parents and grandparents so people of all ages.

From what I heard it wasn't a young drunken cruise, more of a family atmosphere so no need to lock up your four daughters:p. My sister has three teenagers and is looking foward to a family vacation on the Sun Princess due to her Mother-in law recommendation.

I know you will have terrific time and the tennagers will have plenty of kids their own age.:)

Karryl

I noticed late last night that prices for this cruise had dropped considerably, as an Easter sale. Quite a few other Princess cruises have also got price reductions.

I emailed my TA and they have been very prompt in cancelling my original booking and rebooking us at the lower price, in the same cabin.

I just saved around $1260. Woohoo!

Without all the comments on this forum I would never have thought to keep checking the prices. Thanks, folks :)

I noticed late last night that prices for this cruise had dropped considerably, as an Easter sale. Quite a few other Princess cruises have also got price reductions.

 

I emailed my TA and they have been very prompt in cancelling my original booking and rebooking us at the lower price, in the same cabin.

 

I just saved around $1260. Woohoo!

 

Without all the comments on this forum I would never have thought to keep checking the prices. Thanks, folks :)

We did the Dawn Princess Xmas Cruise out of Melbourne to NZ three years ago.

There were about 400 kids on board and they had a ball without being intrusive or boisterous. The majority age group was 65 plus. The Xmas decorations around the ship were fantastic. Xmas carols were sung in the atrium on Xmas eve with the Ship's singers and dancers leading the passengers in the carols. There was a "snow machine" up at the top of the atrium which sent "snowflakes" down as the carols were sung. Beautiful effect and the kids loved it (the "big kids" too)

We tied up at Auckland on Xmas day and the Captain and crew invited the local Make a Wish Foundation kids on board for Chrissie lunch and Father Christmas gave them all a pressie. The passengers joined in and it was amazing.

Xmas "dinner" was the evening meal on Xmas day in the traditional manner, turkey and xmas pudding etc.

I was appreciative of the fact that Xmas was celebrated in the traditional fashion without worrying about offending the "non believers". I would not go on a cruise if it was anything but a traditonal Xmas without the worry of "offending" someone.

You will enjoy

John

Thanks, John.

Can you remember roughly the time they had the carols in the atrium on Christmas Eve?

We are thinking of doing the Ultimate Balcony Dining that night as it fits in with our Christmas Eve tradition. I'd love to see the carols so hopefully can ensure things don't clash.

I'm so looking forward to a Christmas where someone else does all the work and there are no family dramas LOL.

Thanks, John.

 

Can you remember roughly the time they had the carols in the atrium on Christmas Eve?

 

We are thinking of doing the Ultimate Balcony Dining that night as it fits in with our Christmas Eve tradition. I'd love to see the carols so hopefully can ensure things don't clash.

 

I'm so looking forward to a Christmas where someone else does all the work and there are no family dramas LOL.

Obviously it is a matter of personal choice, but I would highly recommend dining in the main dining room Christmas night. Lovely atmosphere and everyone is so friendly. Staff & pax :-)

By Christmas night I assume you mean the evening of Christmas Day (25th), not Christmas Eve (24th)?

We're hoping that night will be a formal night and have every intention of dining in the MDR.

But if Christmas Eve is a regular night in the MDR it would be nice to have our regular Christmas Eve dinner, lobster and champagne, which we could do by having the Ultimate Balcony Dinner. This tradition of ours came from many years of travelling to Melbourne for Christmas with family. We always stayed in an apartment so I could do the prep on my share of the Christmas Day feast. We used to shop at Prahran Markets on Christmas Eve morning and would pick up a crayfish for an easy dinner that night. That was our personal Christmas treat.

Christmas Eve is the night of the 24th and Christmas night is the night of the 25th.

From memory the carols were sung towards the end of the first sitting of dinner on the 24th A lot of kids were there so it wasn't too late.

I cannot remember if Christmas "Dinner" was a formal night or not.

John

:)yes, I meant Christmas night 25th. Not Chrissy Eve. Sorry for the confusion!

I can check my patters for the carols times if you really want to know...

They are for the Sea Prinny 2013 Chrissy cruise. It will give you an indication. Just let me know, happy to dig them out! :o I am a bit of a hoarder so they will be here! LOL!

Hi,

We did the Christmas cruise on the Dawn Princess quite a few years ago. Our extended family of 27 went and it was by far the loveliest Christmas we have ever had.

The carols were beautiful, and the fake snow in the Atrium very special. All the children, including teenagers were given a gift, and the meal in the MDR was superb. It was so nice not to have to do anything. I am almost certain that it was a Formal night too. I would highly recommend spending Christmas on a Princess ship.

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