sun princess from sydney to perth

[diane1964]

has anyone done this cruise before and able to offer the information regarding the ports: townsville, port douglas, darwin, broom, geraldton, fremantle western australia. what to do at port, how far it the ship docked from port to interets, any local tour operaters at piers like mexico ports? thanks inadvance.

[Flipper133]

Hi Dianee

 

My wife Shirley and I did this cruise on SP in April 2009

 

Slightly different itinery...They have now replaced Cairns with Port Douglas (no big deal there) and added Bali instead of Exmouth...no loss at Exmouthe and an added bonus of some duty free shopping. (Although added issue of needing a passport)

 

I wrote a somewhat lengthy (and some say ego centric) review of this cruise and you can find it at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=980400&highlight=

 

(I think that will work)

 

This is a fantastic cruise and all Australians should do it

 

Cheers

[Flipper133]

I also forgot to mention that this itinery involves some ports that require the use of tenders, rather than just getting off the ship at a quay side.

 

Less nowadays, but Townsville, Port Douglass and Exmouth are *Tender* ports. Not sure about Bali.

 

Another thing- Broome

 

Here there are massive tide movements and the ships usually stay longer than normal. A couple of points about Broome (which I loved)

 

1. You must do Cable Beach and ride the camels

2. Visit Mtzos Brewery

3. Use a local operator - much cheaper and for us they were a lot more accommodating

4. Do not miss the opportunity to photograph your ship docked at Broome if it is not departing until 11pm. It is rare to ge6t such an opportunity - but it seems they also like to give passengers every opportunity to experience sunset at cable beach.

 

You might also like to have a look at this photo post by Tommy, who did Freo - Syd (reverse itinery) a couple of years ago

 

http://community.webshots.com/slideshow/564116842lNCWCa;jsessionid=abc0WLd79MT7lev9BURSr

 

Cheers

[MargoK]

Flipper - thanks for putting the link to your previous review of your SP trip. I enjoyed reading it and had a few chuckles. The wine issue was something that was upper in our minds on our recent Diamond Princess trip!!;)

 

Anyway, apart for the wine bit, the review was very helpful and interesting as this is one trip I would love to take.

 

BUT, there is always one of those, can you tell me what the ports are like for accessibility? I use a powerchair and had no problems on the DP as the Aust/NZ ports were all easy. I can walk short distances added, and the chair is a collapsible type (always creates interest which I dont mind) so not one of the heavy huge type.

[Flipper133]

Flipper - can you tell me what the ports are like for accessibility? I use a powerchair and had no problems on the DP as the Aust/NZ ports were all easy. I can walk short distances added, and the chair is a collapsible type (always creates interest which I dont mind) so not one of the heavy huge type.

 

Hi Margo

I'm guessing you sailed on Diamond on the Auk - Syd cruise which does not need to tender at any of its ports.

 

You will find no problems in Sydney, Brisbane, Darwin, Broome and Fremantle. At the others you will need to board the ships tenders (aka Lifeboats) - although at Port Douglass you will most likely find that they will use local ferry operators (catamerans).

I don't know about Bali however.

Don't be too bothered about these - Princess really look after people with mobility issues - I saw quite a few people in chairs having a great time. It was hot in a few ports we went to (esp Cooktown and Geraldton) and they had plenty of water, ice and towels for those waiting on shore for the next tender.

 

I'm glad you liked my review...I re read it again before posing the link and it really brought back some splendid memories...even of Mr P

 

cheers

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I don't know about Bali however.

 

Just jumping in to say that Bali is also a tender port . If its Benoa, its quite a long tender ride.

[MargoK]

Am thinking that if tendering is 'an issue' or 'too hard' staying on board is not a biggie. Time to relax and enjoy a really quiet ship.

 

Only thing I have noticed about the Sun Princess, is the lack of HC Balcony cabins, which we enjoyed so much on the Diamond. Just made life easier, as getting up and about first thing in the morning takes me a bit of time, so we could pull back the curtains and watch port arrivals in privacy and comfort. Can't see the budget allowing the one and only mini-suite! :(

 

Something to think about. DH reckons he will only cruise with a balcony now:eek:

 

David - no doubt you are counting down to the QM2 trip. Hope this weather improves for you.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

David - no doubt you are counting down to the QM2 trip. Hope this weather improves for you.

 

Thanks Margo,

If QM2 can handle the Atlantic storms with ease , then I think we will be OK...

I hope:eek:

Another thing to bear in mind is that the balcony cabins on Sun are smaller than we had on Diamond.

[Flipper133]

Am thinking that if tendering is 'an issue' or 'too hard' staying on board is not a biggie. Time to relax and enjoy a really quiet ship.

 

Only thing I have noticed about the Sun Princess, is the lack of HC Balcony cabins, which we enjoyed so much on the Diamond. Just made life easier, as getting up and about first thing in the morning takes me a bit of time, so we could pull back the curtains and watch port arrivals in privacy and comfort. Can't see the budget allowing the one and only mini-suite! :(

 

Something to think about. DH reckons he will only cruise with a balcony now:eek:

 

 

Hi again Margo

 

I understand your comment about the SunP balconies compared to the Diamond...we have sailed on sister ship Sapphire twice in a balcony cabin and there is now no way we would cruise in anything else.

 

When I was booking for our cruise on the SunP in April 09 I was a little concerned about the compactness of the SunP balconies...they are considerably smaller and differently designed than those on the Sapphire/Diamond. At that time I eventually upgraded to a mini, and although it really stretched the budget, I am glad we did. We were able to snare a AB cat Mini on Baja aft - B750. This mini was originally built as a full suite, but was converted to a mini. It has a sensational balcony...we held a party on it for 8 people and there was plenty of room.

 

On our next cruise on SunP we are however taking a standard balcony - budget much tighter now, and if there is only room for the two of us, who cares!

 

cheers

[diane1964]

Hi Dianee

 

My wife Shirley and I did this cruise on SP in April 2009

 

Slightly different itinery...They have now replaced Cairns with Port Douglas (no big deal there) and added Bali instead of Exmouth...no loss at Exmouthe and an added bonus of some duty free shopping. (Although added issue of needing a passport)

 

I wrote a somewhat lengthy (and some say ego centric) review of this cruise and you can find it at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=980400&highlight=

 

(I think that will work)

 

This is a fantastic cruise and all Australians should do it

 

Cheers

 

i will check them out. thank you for taking time to reply these!