Just off the Pacific Sun

Hi everyone! Well we're back from our Pacific Sun cruise up the east coast of Oz. It was quite good although I wouldn't say great. We won't be cruising on the Sun again, I can easily say that (although if a great special comes up again I'm sure I'll have my hand up :rolleyes: )

If anyone has any questions about the Sun (or compare it too the Sky - I did that last year), just let me know.

Natalie

I am going on the Sky soon and have had friends sail on the Sun. How do they compare?

Also on the Queensland cruise, if you don't take a shore tour, can you get off the ship at the three ports where there are no wharf facilities? Where do they take you?

Thanks a lot.

Isn't the Sun the old Carnival Jubliee? What about it did you not like?

Hi everyone! Well we're back from our Pacific Sun cruise up the east coast of Oz. It was quite good although I wouldn't say great. We won't be cruising on the Sun again, I can easily say that (although if a great special comes up again I'm sure I'll have my hand up :rolleyes: )

 

If anyone has any questions about the Sun (or compare it too the Sky - I did that last year), just let me know.

 

Natalie

Hi,

Just wondering, why won't you be cruising on the sun again?

If the ship is either in port of anchoring off an island you can get on and off the boat regardless of whether you take a tour. You will just do your own thing.

Isn't the Sun the old Carnival Jubliee? What about it did you not like?

Ya! The Pacific Sun is the old Carnival Jubilee! It is sad huh! She was our first cruise!

Hey what room did yall stay in? We were in Balcony room V-7! It was wonderful!

Twice in U165, and once in M118.

Just reread the post and realised that Pacific was specifically asking about the QLD cruises. My answer was for South Pacific. Sorry

Yes, I too have been to the South Pacific Islands and been taken ashore in a ship's tender, and sometiomes the trip back to the ship has been a bit blurry:)

In this case however, the situation changes. There is Port Douglas, Cairns and the Whitsundays. The shore tour booklet shows a tour to Airlie Beach, so I guess that won't be the freebie drop-off for the Whitsundays. If it is Shute Harbour, then there is little to there as well. :confused:

The Pacific Sky can't berth at the Cairn's wharf, and I believe this has something to do with the fact that it is a steam ship.

Anyway, Thanks for answering.

At the Whitsundays, the tender boats take you to Airlie Beach and you can do your own thing. We were there fairly early so alot of people made the boats out to the islands organising it themselves. In Cairns the Sun can dock at the wharf right in town which is handy but I believe the Sky has to go to Yorkeys Knob. In Port Douglas it is by tender boat to the marina.

The price of the shore tours is absolutely disgusting. In the south pacific, the prices are reasonable but not on these ones. Two examples -

1. Daydream Island - $98pp to get a boat from the ship to the island and a "smorgasboard" lunch (ie. a piece of dry cold chicken and a little bit of salad)

2. Brisbane - A Croc Adventure - $99pp which is a bus ride to Australia Zoo for 2 hrs and 1 hr in Mooloolaba(?). Entry to the zoo is $34 pp so how on earth can a bus ride cost $65pp. We barely had any time to see anything at the zoo. We arrived with 1/2 to spare before the main show which goes for a bit over an hour. If we watched the whole thing no way would we have been able to see the little bit that we did see. To cap it all off we spent a total of 1hr 25mins sitting on the bus waiting for people who were late back to the bus (in one case it was 2 crew members from the boat 40mins late back)!

In other cases with people we spoke to they all had similar stories

* $249pp for a fishing trip where there was 24 people and only 6 fishing rods. And they used old bait which disolved on hitting the water.

* $118pp for trips to the theme parks where all the got was entry to the parks. $60pp roughly for the bus fare!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* $45pp for a "guided" river cruise and tour of Brisbane where they all got on the normal river catameran to Southbank (no commentery), did their own thing for 2 hrs and a shuttle bus back to the boat. Actual costs $4pp for the catameran and $5pp for the shuttle!!!!!!!!

I believe things are alot more organised on the Sky than on the Sun. We had to line up for everything and I'm talking long lines. If we didn't we didn't have a seat or food! It's a completely different feeling. Alot more deck space on the Sky - it's very claustrophobic on the Sun.

These are just my opinions anyway. Each to their own :)

Thanks for that Nat153. Now you can see why I asked where they take you if you don't do a shore tour. :)

I have been on a few cruises and have done some tours. Although I don't regret any of them, they are just too expensive, as you rightly say, some are just not up to scratch.

I hope you noted the very expensive tour costs in your end of cruise report to P&O. Also if the tour operator is not up to scratch, (eg the 6 fishing rods & 24 pax), then they need to be rubbed out as well. I guess Steve Irwin wasn't at Australia Zoo either. he is usually only there at peak tourist times these days.

Sky seems to be the preferred ship out of the two, and with the Star being some 10,000 tonnes smaller than the other two, it will be interesting to get comparisons there as well.

Again, thanks for your report especially so soon after your return.

I've been on the Sky twice and am thinking of booking on the Sun in Jan. I was looking at the deck plans on the website and the Sun doesnt appear to have alot of outside areas and in particular a wrap around promenade like the Sky. Can anyone confirm?

Thanks,

Dan

I found that the Sun had nowhere near as much deck space as the Sky. It can feel very claustrophobic on the Sun. It's a real fight to get a deck chair - you have to be out there from about 9-10am onwards or you have no chance. Speaking to alot of people who have travelled on both ships - the Sky is definitely much preferred.

that was one of the things i loved about the Sky, the open areas, being able to stand on deck or sit or whatever and having plenty of room no matter what time of day...

Is there still room for shuffleboard! I won alot of free drinks playing shuffleboard, I was quite surprised at how much fun it was.

ive only been on the sun.. its very enclosed.. an when i went on it there wasnt too much 2 do during the day but sun bake.. there is a shuffle board thing on there (thats the thing that looks like a chess board right) an that is near the ice cream place on lido deck

Dan, there is a shuffle board court (? is that what it's called?) somewhere on deck, but for the the life of me I can't remember where. I think it may have been on the Lido deck aft, near the Outback pool.

that was one of the things i loved about the Sky, the open areas, being able to stand on deck or sit or whatever and having plenty of room no matter what time of day...

 

Is there still room for shuffleboard! I won alot of free drinks playing shuffleboard, I was quite surprised at how much fun it was.

Dan, there is a shuffle board court (? is that what it's called?) somewhere on deck, but for the the life of me I can't remember where. I think it may have been on the Lido deck aft, near the Outback pool.

Thanks....

That means more free drinks for kicking my brothers butt!!!

Cheers,

Dan

There are 4 Shuffle board courts on the Sun. (The chess thing near the ice cream is chess not suffleboard)

I didnt find any trouble. THere was plenty of outside areas, could always find a deck chair on the deck at the back of the boat. On the main Lido area was a problem but as the water slide is there, there are alot of screaming kids so preferred to stay away from there anyway

Shorty,

Yes, thinking about it later, I realised it was a chess board near the pool, not shuffle board! The big black & white pieces should have been the give away shouldn't they? :)

Kym

There are 4 Shuffle board courts on the Sun. (The chess thing near the ice cream is chess not suffleboard)

 

I didnt find any trouble. THere was plenty of outside areas, could always find a deck chair on the deck at the back of the boat. On the main Lido area was a problem but as the water slide is there, there are alot of screaming kids so preferred to stay away from there anyway