Info please on cruising the sun

Hi all

We are going on the N603 in jan.

Can anyone out there know if they have Toohey's beer (cans) on board the sun (for the hubbie) and also can you request the 8pm dinner sitting instead of being allocated the 8.30 one as we have children sailing with us and would like that sitting, the 8.30 would be getting too late for us.

Can any one let us know the following questions??

1. how much is beer

2. how much is a can of soft drink.

3. what does the snorkle gear cost to hire

4.what time does your luggage arrive onthe day of embarking

5. do you have to eat at either the buffett or restaurant

6. can you drink the water from the taps in the cabins

7. do they offer complementry water in the cabins and tolietries.

8. where does everyone park if they drive to Sydney, leave the car, were?

9. is the kids clubs open if you decide not to get off the boat and go ashore.

10. for 10 night cruise- how much spending money should I allocate to each adult and to each child 10-15yr apprx.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help us all out- we are a group.

Mummy gin

Hi all

 

We are going on the N603 in jan.

 

Can anyone out there know if they have Toohey's beer (cans) on board the sun (for the hubbie) and also can you request the 8pm dinner sitting instead of being allocated the 8.30 one as we have children sailing with us and would like that sitting, the 8.30 would be getting too late for us.

 

 

Can any one let us know the following questions??

1. how much is beer

2. how much is a can of soft drink.

3. what does the snorkle gear cost to hire

4.what time does your luggage arrive onthe day of embarking

5. do you have to eat at either the buffett or restaurant

6. can you drink the water from the taps in the cabins

7. do they offer complementry water in the cabins and tolietries.

8. where does everyone park if they drive to Sydney, leave the car, were?

9. is the kids clubs open if you decide not to get off the boat and go ashore.

10. for 10 night cruise- how much spending money should I allocate to each adult and to each child 10-15yr apprx.

 

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help us all out- we are a group.

 

Mummy gin

will try and answer some,$25 for snorkel,I think this is just a dep and you get it back.This for the week,make sure you get in quick and pick the best stuff. I took own.

You can eat wherever at lunch,but evening if noy going to dining room,polite to inform Maitre "D in dining room. There is no buffet at night it becomes a pizz/steak bar and there is a charge.Never tried it. There is an ice bucket in room,which becomes nice cold water.There is bought water bottles but there is a fee I think $3.I did have some water to take tablets from bathroom,tasted alright.I suppose it is Sydney water if thats fit to drink LOL. There is a carpark near ship but couldn't say whether it was for longterm parking,give P&O a ring.Where are you coming in from?In regards to spending money,that is ?? it depends whether you like to drink or go in casino.Probably best to set an amount and try and stick to it $50 to $100 day.Some you might spend more some days less.Sorry I can't help with all the questions.I never had beer or softdrink.There are free juice/coffee available all the time near the buffet.I also filled my wide mouthed waterbottle there with water/ice.If you put a beer cooler on it it will keep cool for hours.On the islands,as you come ashore they set up drinks as well.Hope this helps

ps,As far as I know there are only 2 sittings for dinner.Early and late. Also the kids club is closed while in port.

Pacific Sun has first sitting dinners at 5.45 and 6.00 pm and 8.00 pm and 8.30 pm. To be at the 8.00 sitting, you would need to request from P&O that they sit you in the restaurant that has that sitting.

some other questions answered;

4.what time does your luggage arrive onthe day of embarking

they aim to have all the luggage delivered by early evening, but it will depend on what time you check your luggage at the terminal, etc.

5. do you have to eat at either the buffett or restaurant

food is available, in the evenings, at extra cost at the Outback Restaurant and Pizzeria. There is no buffet for dinner - only buffet lunch.

6. can you drink the water from the taps in the cabins

cabin tap water is drinkable - in fact because of the filtration systems used, it can be nicer than some of the water ashore.

7. do they offer complementry water in the cabins and tolietries.

water bottles to purchase are placed in the cabin (treat them like a hotel mini bar) - but complimentary Ice is placed in the cabin. There are a limited toiletries supplied. Extra toiletries can be purchased from the boutique if you run out.

10. for 10 night cruise- how much spending money should I allocate to each adult and to each child 10-15yr apprx.

We worked on roughly $100 a day per adult, including shore tours, duty free, souven drinks, extra food etc. Really depends what you plan to do.

Softdrink is $2 per can. Beer varies.

Check out p&o website...it says snorkel hire is $30 for the cruise plus $20 refundable deposit. We take our own when we travel. You may find it more economical to buy prior to cruising.

Also I believe you can take on soft drinks and snacks, as well as alcohol.

Think about taking refillable water bottles with filters (Brita), they are pretty good.

I am also going to take disposable plastic wine glasses as we want to take some champagne to have on board as we sail out the harbour.

I am investigating carparking, will let you know if I find a good deal. We may catch a maxi cab with our friends only worry is the amount of luggage we will be taking.

hi, i am just back from the sun so will try and answer a few of your questions.

snorkel hire is $30 as maxx states, we bought some from sportscene for $30 which were great.

space is not an issue unless you are flying so take as much as you want, who wants to be doing laundary on holidays.

I also packed too much dressy stuff. I assumed everyone dressed up for dinner which they didnt. Most men were in shorts and sandles and ladies wore capris(longer shorts0 and tops. I didnt wear my good dresses, only on formal night did most dressup

dont bother taking drinks on board unless you drink a lot of alcohol.prices are not too bad. Soft drinks are $2, beer around $3-$4.50, cocktails around $7,

they sell cocktails and all drinlks at the sailaway, so dont bother with the glasses maxx unless you like really good champagne.

tea, coffee, water and juice is free at all times on the lido deck

our luggage arrived around an hour and half after we boarded, but guess that can change.

water in the cabin is fine to drink although as others have stated there is a bottle of water in room at a cost, we just kept a bottle and refilled it. there is also free chilled water on the islands.

yes also there is 4 sittings for dinner, 5 if you include the childrens dinner at 5pm. if you are travelling with older children please look for my thread i will write later.

Have to rush now but couldnt resist coming on here and checking things out.

karon

are you able to take drinks like vodka cruisers, woodstocks and all that on there? if so, how much? how much alcohol can 1 person take on there?

thats an interesting question.. what are the limits on pre-mix drinks like bourbon and coke or whatever.. ?

My friend was advised directly by P&O it was one bottle. She even questioned beer and they said 1 bottle of beer. lol. It is supposed to be 1 bottle of alcohol we took a litre bottl each last year. I think you would get a few cruisers etc on. She has taken a car fridge on board because of medication and had it filled with beer and softdrink and had no problems.

She paid $151 for 10 days parking at Wilsons Parking next to the Novotel. You need to tell them that you are going on the cruise.

I believe you can take 1125mls per adult. Some people take bottles of wine as well as soft drink.

Thanks for the prices, yes we will buy champagne on board as we sail away. Prices are reasonable.

Parking.....Novotel sounds quite reasonable, a taxi from our place would be about $90 each way. I will ring them and check, and will post the info here.

We have driven to my sisters place in Leichhardt and caught a taxi. It was about $25 in July last year.

We have parked at Wilsons for 2 of our cruises, it works out alright if it's for more than 10 days, they charge you the 10 days at a reduced rate then the remaining days at the daily rate. it worked out $150 for our first time and $126 for the second one. The casher said she wouldn't charge us for the day that we were picking up the car, cause we picked it up before lunch. (that is not the norm, it was up to the person at the time). What the current prices are I'm not sure, if they aren't posted before I find out, i'll post them.

As for the drink prices, march last year

• beer ranged from$4 to $5.50 for the imported stuff.
  
• cocktails standard was $6.50 signature ones up to $10.00
  
• could get a sourvenir cocktail for $11.00 where you get to keep the glass, which has the ship logo on it. (larger than the standard size glass)
  
• liqueurs $5.50
  
• spirits range from $4.50 to $7.00
  

Hope these help,

Will know next week if these have changed much

thanks to all who have replied to our message-its great, as this is our first cruise and we have 5 kids with us all. Mummy Gin

Thanks- keep me updated if you dont mind.

Gin

This is a fantastic forum for answering questions. We are virgin cruisers too and the info I get from here is fantastic. Everyone is so patient and quick to answer any questions. My thanks to you all also.

Mummy Gin, We just got back from overseas and I believe you're now allowed 2ltrs of alcohol per person. The cruise we're doing next year will be our 3rd, my 4th and yes drinks are really cheap but if you can save a couple of $$$$ every now and again, take your own alcohol and save (on the Sky you didn't get ice so if you can get ice on the Sun then at least your drinks won't be warm!!!) We also bought our own snorkel gear and every cruise took it with us and save the initial outlay for hiring (even though you get a credit back, for 5-7 it is costly, so why not save on $$$$$)

Our lastcruise 2 years ago with 13 & 16 y.o. we put $100 per child onto their card and that lasted them (12 night cruise) till day 11 so we just added a couple extra $$$ each. This allows them to buy their ice-creams, drinks, etc. without trying to find you for your card. We requested the 6.00 seating for dinner with the kids joining us (the youngest on our first cruise was 11 and she was the eldest and was most upset about joining the other kids for early dinner so we requested she join us without any problems) The only problem we found with the earlier seating was that sunset usually happened (October) at this time so we were often late to tea!!!