redeye84

10 minutes ago, Crystal04 said:

I always book solo and pay in full. Sometimes I add a second person later on and have never had any issues. I just had to pay port fees and taxes.  

 

Same here - I've done it a few times and never had a problem. You just have to try it and see if Princess will accept it.

You can give this one a try:

 

 

whatsinport.com - Your cruise guide to 1200 ports of call

Hi Redeye84, how strict are they with the check in times at Fremantle? We are on the 22/10 to Broome and have read that Aloha deck is 3.30pm check in 😣. We would like to get on about lunchtime if possible.

 

You're referring to the 'Progressive Cruise Check-In' times. I wouldn't worry about it. I'm always on Baja deck 10 and scheduled to board first at noon. When I arrive at 11am the place is always packed and I've been on 7 cruises out of Fremantle. There are people that are arriving at their posted times later on but it looks like the majority come whenever they want and board much earlier. I'm Elite so if there aren't too many of us sometimes I get a 'fast-track' and get right on board. Otherwise we go to the 'holding pen' with the other Preferred Boarding cruisers. I like to arrive early enough to have lunch at the restaurant which is open from 12-1:30 so I don't have to join the food fight in the Horizon Court.

We have an upcoming Australia/New Zealand cruise on the Sun Princess...I'm wondering how old & dated she is.

 

If you did a search for the Princess Fleet you would have found that the Sun Princess is the oldest of the 17 ships currently sailing. You can't expect her to be in the shape of a ship launched last year. In general, Princess dumps the old ships on the Australian market.

I've sailed on her several times and I have 2 more booked because I'm on the west coast of Australia and prefer sailing out of Fremantle so I don't have the hassle of flying over to the east. The crew do a great job trying to maintain this ship.

Sorry, got the wrong thread

Hi Redeye I am on the Around Australia cruise on the Sea Princess in March/ April and we have one day in Albany. I was wanting to visit the beautiful beach ( can't remember the name, but it costs to go on the beach...probably a National Park) and wondered what is the best way of getting there? Is there public transport? Is it a tender port?..:)

I live in Perth and have cruised to Albany twice on the Sun Princess. Both times there was a bagpipe player on the wharf all dressed up in kilts greeting us on our arrival. Albany is a deep water port and you can walk off the ship. There is a shuttle to town which is only about 1.5km away. I just walk to town - turn left off the ship and there is a pedestrian overpass on the right hand side of the road that takes you into town, 15-20 minute walk. You may be referring to Little Beach in Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve, about 25-35 km east of Albany. I don't know if there are any buses that go out there. When you get into town go to the visitor's centre and they'll have info on transport and other sights.

...Unfortunately, too many walkers refuse to follow the directional arrows (left turns)...

 

Well, it isn't always left turns or counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise for Australians, New Zealanders, etc). It depends on the ship. I just disembarked the Sea Princess in Brisbane 3 days ago and the direction on the port side of the ship the arrow pointed clockwise (right turns)

If you want to go with the flow just look for the sign. I know for a fact that the Sun, Sea, Diamond, and Golden all have a sign because I have sailed on them and have seen it. They are not consistent, even thought it's the same sign. If it's posted on the cabin side of the Promenade Deck it shows the arrow clockwise. Take that same sign and post it on the opposite wall, the sea side, and it shows the flow going counter-clockwise. Could be a simple mistake, a crew member is told to put the sign on the wall of the Promenade Deck not having a clue that it makes a difference.

The game changer I’d like to see is the return of s9me small ships, but I know that’s not likely.

 

I agree. Going on the Sea Princess in a week and the Sun in May. Sad to see my favourite, the Dawn Princess, go to P&O.

One I really loved was the old Starship Gemini that I sailed on in 1998. What a beauty that 'small' (in the cruising world today) ship was.

I was also on the 4 Day Fremantle Albany Fremantle cruise. As mentioned the happy hour was in the Wheelhouse Bar at 3pm and again later at night. It now has anytime dining at the Traviata on Emerald Deck 6. Traditional dining is in the Rigoletto a deck below, Plaza Deck 5.

 

One of the best features of the Sun, Sea, and Dawn is the pizzeria but the only one left is on the Sea Princess. The Sun had Verdi's which is now a Curtis Stone Share with a cover charge. The Magnum's Bar on the Sun with the comfortable chairs and couches has been replaced by a Sushi Restaurant which also has a cover charge. I've been on the Sun twice since the conversion and only a few people have been in either venue. The Dawn still had both of these great and popular free eateries and the ship was given away to P&O. The Sun Princess is the oldest ship in the whole fleet but they kept it. Seems like a great way to self-destruct. Of course Princess and P&O are both part of the Carnival Corporation so it was just a change of hands for them.

 

Fortunately the Sea will still have the Nook (same as Magnums) and the pizza restaurant will have additional Italian offerings like La Scala had on the Dawn a few years ago. I'll be sailing on the Sea in January 2018 out of Brisbane so I'm looking forward to seeing the changes.

I just got off the Sea Princess 8 days ago (October 8th), the penultimate cruise before she departed on a 12 day journey up the Andaman Sea, which she is on now and almost to Langkawi, and then to Singapore for a refit.

 

I was in a Club Class Mini-Suite (B417) as opposed to a regular one so I don't know why they say that they are being established now. The suite is the same as the other ones as far as I know except they are all mid-ship. You just get Club Class benefits such as anytime dining in a closed off part of the main dining room. This comes in handy because the Club Class restaurant is in the anytime dining Traviata Dining Room venue on Emerald Deck 6 and has a Club Class entrance on the right hand side. So when the regular anytime diners are lined up all the way to the shops on the Emerald deck we were greeted by the lovely hostess Deya from Chile and immediately escorted to our two person table at the window in the Club Class section. The Rigoletto down on Plaza Deck 5 is the traditional dining room now that the Sea has both that and anytime dining. I initially booked a balcony a few cabins down from the mini-suites with traditional dining but received a free upgrade to not only a mini-suite, but Club Class! Why, I don't know, they must have been desperate to get my balcony. I didn't complain. :p

 

As you probably know, on the Sun, Sea, and used to be on the Dawn (I loved that ship, my first cruise on Princess) the minis are really 2 balcony staterooms together. Most of the extra space is taken up by the lounging area with a couch and desk. In my opinion the best thing about a mini suite is that there is a division between the toilet and the shower/tub section. The TV's look like they haven't been upgraded since the thin screen LCD came in. I've been in a Sun Princess balcony room with the large screen and it's great if you are a TV addict. I used it to watch the Wake Show and try to win a prize and that's it. I'm here to cruise!

...For the record, I thought the Seawitch IPA was okay, the Denali Red was excellent and the Blonde was very good.

 

Agreed that the Denali Red was the best and always try to find it on every cruise. The Blonde was my second choice. If you didn't try the Denali Red you missed out on a great beer.

OK for you good people in USA. It seems you only have to apply once and each subsequent cruise it is automatic applied. Not so in the UK where their software is still driven by steam. Iv'e had to reapply for each cruise we take and even then have had to struggle on the phone to have it granted. Happy days and keep smiling. It does go towards a good bottle of wine.:)

 

That's true. It all depends on how simple your situation is. If you are a US veteran and still live there, once you apply for military OBC it is usually automatically applied to subsequent cruises.

 

I'm a US veteran but now living in Australia. The military OBC has been extended to include Australian and New Zealand cruisers but I can't use that application. Being a US veteran,I have to apply to the US Princess headquarters. I also have dual citizenship so sometimes it gets confused - why is an Australian citizen applying for US military OBC?

 

But I never can tell how it'll go because on two cruises the OBC was granted automatically! :confused:

Captain Lavadera is still onboard April 19th.

 

On our 19 May cruise the captain is John Foster according to our pre cruise email...

 

I'm booked on the May 4-19th cruise with Captain Domenico Lubrano Lavadera so it looks like John Foster takes over after that.

Unfortunately, we've never seen a Pub Crawl offer by Princess ....

 

 

I've only sailed on Princess Sun, Sea, Dawn, and Diamond out of Australia. The only pub crawls I've seen are ship excursions in a couple of ports. Dunedin in New Zealand and Port Vila in Vanuatu. I've done both and had a great time. I'll be on the Golden in May out of Sydney so I'll write a shout out on the Wake Show answer sheet asking for a shipboard pub crawl.;p

...Do you know if the magnets are available in a shop-think Vines is the souvenir shop, please? ...

 

 

Unfortunately I've never seen any prizes from the trivia quizzes for sale in the shops on the Sun, Sea, Dawn, or Diamond - going on the Golden for the first time in May. It's a shame they aren't for sale because one prize is a nifty little key chain Princess Cruises flashlight (or torch, depending on where you are from ;p)

You can win a fridge magnet that is an alligator clip on board at the trivia quizzes or other activities. I use it to attach patters and other notices. :)

What you're given in the Elite Package seems to vary. :rolleyes:

Agree with others -- Great Chap Stick! :)

 

Looks like we can agree that the Chap Stick is great.

 

Did anyone get the Lotus Spa Linen Mist? It doesn't have a list of ingredients or what to do with it. All it says is 'soothing linen mist developed by WESSCO exclusively for Princess Cruises'.

 

Do you spray it on the sheets before you get in bed? Sounds like it would be a bit damp :rolleyes:.

How was the ship? There are very mixed reviews on the Sun on this forum... I'm boarding on the 8th Jan :)

 

When you consider the fact that the Sun Princess launched in 1995 and is the oldest ship in the whole princess fleet she is in pretty good shape. My balcony stateroom had a big widescreen tv with on demand viewing. I could watch part of a program and resume at a later time.

 

There is an Australian power point but it's on the wall in back of the tv. The desk for my laptop is on the other side of the cabin so I brought an extension cord to use it while charging.

 

The Main Dining Room meals are as good as ever in my opinion. Unfortunately, there were cases of Noro virus so sanitation was in full swing for the last few days of the cruise. In the Horizon Court the staff served everything - you couldn't touch anything. If you just wanted a glass of water a steward had to get it for you. In peak periods the Horizon is packed and slow as it is. As a result, I ate in the MDR for breakfast, lunch when it was open, and dinner. On Sunday the boarding for the next cruise was delayed until 3pm because of a 'deep sanitizing' procedure.

 

I do miss the great free pizza restaurant replaced by Share, and free Swirls replaced by the surcharge New Zealand Ice Cream. The Dawn and Sea Princess still have the pizza restaurant and Magnum's Bar, with the comfortable sofas and chairs that stretch down the hall to the dreaded Valley of the Photos :eek:.

I believe that you can still get pizza on Sun via room service. Reports on quality has been mixed.

 

The Sun class ships have always had pizza available:

 

Room Service Pizza

 

Whole, made fresh to order 12" pizzas are available for consumption in your stateroom via room service from 12 Noon to 2:30pm and 6pm to 10:45pm. Pepperoni, Cheese, and a rotating daily special are available. Please specify choice of extra cheese and chili flakes.

 

A nominal service charge of A$3.00 per delivery will be applied to your shipboard account.

 

I just got off the Sun in Fremantle 18 Dec 2016 and Curtis Stone's Share restaurant ($40 per head) has replaced the much loved (free) pizza restaurant. I saw no one at Share when I looked but I didn't hang around to see if anyone showed up.

Looks like nobody is interested so I cancelled that link

Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone is able to post any Patters from Sun Princess taken from a recent Australian based cruise?

 

The latest patters I have from the Sun Princess are over 6 months old from March this year, a short 4 day Fremantle - Fremantle.

 

Since then there have been many changes.

The free venues, Verdi's Pizzeria and Swirls ice cream, have been replaced by Share Restaurant and New Zealand Natural that have a surcharge.

Kai Sushi is now Kai Seafood Bar which also costs extra. I think is was changed because the two times I was on the Sun I saw very few people there.

Shooting Stars is now Legends Sports bar.

 

I do have the patters on OneDrive if you still want to have a look. They are around 10 megabytes each to get a decent resolution.

 

https://1drv.ms/f/s!Al9Po6jc8LsqjAbfZyI5H2NvyaPm

...Yes' date=' there is an Aussie outlet to the left of the bed, above the nightstand. There is still a US style plug, too...:)[/quote']

 

That's good news because I always had to bring an extension cord on the ships to stretch from the plug behind the tv to the laptop on the desk.

 

I'll be going on the Sun out of Fremantle 4 weeks from today on a 13 day cruise. Last March I did a 4 day out of Fremantle on the Sun and I'll miss the pizza restaurant that was replaced by Share on the last overhaul.

 

I did enjoy the on demand wide screen tv that the other 2 Sun ships don't have so you just have to make the best of what you've got.

 

I always love a cruise no matter what. Thanks for your reply and again for the great review.

...in the written description next to them, the International Cafe is listed on Deck 5. There is also reference to it under the Dining Section...

 

Thanks for replying, I hadn't noticed that the International Cafe was listed under Public Areas on the deck plan. I think you're right, they probably can't keep up with the changes every time they refurbish the ships and the deck plan is probably way down on the to do list.

Great review, thank you.

 

I was on the Sea Princess a few weeks ago and it has an Australian power point at the desk. Previously the only place you could plug in an Australian appliance on Sun class ships was behind the tv. Did you notice if a universal or Aussie power point was there at the desk on the Sun Princess?

 

Also I heard that on the last Sun refurbishment the Explorer's Bar was replaced by an International Cafe, but the Princess website still shows Explorers on the deck plan. Did you notice which one is there now?

 

Thanks again

...She has seen some decent renovations in the last few years...Kai Sushi seafood...There is a lack of public lounges in my opinion...

 

Magnums was a great place with comfortable padded chairs and couches that stretched out all the way down the corridor from the Art Gallery to the Photo Gallery. That is gone now, replaced by the Kai Sushi restaurant which you have to pay for if you want to dine there. I think it was a big mistake because on the two cruises I have taken on the Sun since the refit I saw very few people in Kai Sushi both times.