Sun Princess Around New Zealand, Oct. 4-17

[Cruiserkenn]

I forgot how much I love the Sun Princess! Had a great cruise, around New Zealand, RT from Sydney.

 

We flew to Sydney, from Honolulu, via Hawaiian Airlines. It was a 10 hour, 20 minute flight, which became 10 hours, 45 minutes, once extra circling was required over Sydney. Not bad, though. “Extra Comfort” seats on a Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330 provided plenty of leg room, with two seats by the window. Nice! The one downside to Hawaiian Airlines: chaotic check-in procedures, in Honolulu and in Sydney. Perhaps they don’t have enough staff on duty inside the airport. The flights were great, though, I must say.

 

On arrival, we had the Princess hotel package, which featured the Four Seasons in Sydney. While it was very expensive, it was worth it. It was great to be met at the airport, and then taken to the hotel. The flight arrived in the evening, so the extra care and attention provided by the hotel package was very welcome under my jet-lagged condition.

 

The beautiful location of the Sydney Four Seasons was incredible. When I went out for my morning walk, I was astonished to find the famous Sydney Opera House just a short distance away. Even more astonishing: the Sun Princess was right there, too, ready and waiting! The Princess rep at the hotel said that the ship had arrived about 6am.

 

The transfer to the ship, from the hotel, was quick and easy, as was the preferred check-in nicely provided by Princess. The Princess people said, oh, preferred, right this way! We were onboard, and in our room, meeting the room steward, in just a few minutes.

 

Aft facing mini-suite D748 was wonderful: nicer than a suite on many ships. Old fashioned woodwork and plenty of drawer space enhance this mini-suite. There is even a Jacuzzi! Also included were two new Samsung flat screen televisions, with the new on-demand programming. There were so many movies to choose from, it was amazing!

 

Dennis, the room steward, is one of the best, ever. He was quick and efficient, and never once was there a wait for the room to be ready, after morning activities or after dinner.

 

Another fantastic thing about the Sun Princess is the beautiful promenade deck. It is a full wrap-around promenade deck. It is wonderfully wide, with plenty of room for both full length, wooden loungers, and for those who enjoy walking, too. The promenade deck has an old fashioned, wooden surface, that is far less slippery than the newer laminate surfaces. Absolutely a dream come true!

 

We mostly ate at the buffet, which provided excellent choice and great food.

We enjoyed room service breakfast, daily, while enjoying the view from D748. Extra food from the buffet supplemented the room service breakfast.

We enjoyed Kai Seafood, once, and Sterling Steakhouse, once, but mostly it was the buffet.

 

I had heard, in advance, that the crossing of the Tasman Sea, from Sydney, can be very rough. On this cruise, the Captain did an extraordinary thing:

He reversed the direction of the itinerary, due to bad weather forecasts.

We cruised around New Zealand from the north, rather than from the south.

This was a last minute decision, by the Captain, to avoid bad weather in the south. It worked out great! Somehow, all of the ports were able to take us at different times than scheduled, and the Princess shore excursions all worked out great, too. Amazing! I’m sure some must have been distressed, if some advanced arrangements had been made. But it was fine for me.

 

Entertainers and Speakers

 

It was very nice that several Maori speakers and performers, highlighting Maori history and culture, were featured. A couple provided an illuminating presentation on Maori culture, and a larger performance group came onboard and presented a fantastic program featuring Maori song, dance, culture, and martial arts.

 

Two different male singers were featured, and were said to be stars of New Zealand television. They seemed to be well known and popular with the many Australians onboard. Songs by Tom Jones, Elvis, Sinatra, and Bobby Darin were highlighted by these singers, which seemed to confirm the universality of current popular culture. One of these singers was also Maori.

 

A fascinating artist, known as “the Sandman,” gave amazing performances of his sand art. The art was featured on the Vista Lounge screen, as he created it, and narrated as he did it. The Sandman was also of Maori descent, so he, too, provided interesting insight into Maori history and culture.

 

A speaker named Bruce Petty gave fascinating and moving presentations about World War II in Australia and New Zealand. His presentations featured facts that Americans had not heard before. His presentation about World War II MIAs, and efforts to locate their planes and their stories, was extremely moving. It left me breathless and misty eyed.

 

Ports and Shore Excursions

 

The first sight of New Zealand was Bay of Islands. There were scenic vistas while cruising in and out of this area. The ship provided tendering in Bay of Islands, but I stayed onboard, recovering further from my jet lag.

 

The next stop was Auckland. The Princess shore excursion “Piha Beach and Rainforest Ecotour” was wonderful. Piha Beach featured black volcanic sand, with impressive waves that attract surfers. The rainforest walk was pretty and pleasant.

 

Tauranga offered the Princess shore excursion to Hobbiton, the Hobbit village created for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. The drive through the countryside, to Hobbiton, was absolutely beautiful! Green rolling hills, with many sheep, were a wonderful sight. Scones and Amber Ale and cider were provided at Hobbiton’s Green Dragon Inn. (While enjoying the sights at Hobbiton, I could hear the sheep “baa-ing” on the hillsides. This was a memory that I won’t soon forget.)

 

Napier offered a Princess winery and wine tasting tour of Hawke’s Bay, one of New Zealand’s wine regions. We visited Abbey Cellars, Ngatarawa Winery, and Mission Estates. Five wine tastings were provided at each location, with selections including Riesling, chardonnay, sauvigon blanc, merlot, red Bordeaux blends, and dessert wines. Abbey Cellars provided locally made cheeses, and Ngatarawa provided locally made ice cream. It was also fascinating to learn that Mission Estates is operated by the Marist order. Small world, considering that I live near a Marist school, here in Chicago.

The movie making industry has taken off in Wellington, since the time that the Lord of the Rings movies began filming there. A Princess tour of the WETA movie studios, followed by a tour of the woods surrounding Wellington, was quite interesting for movie fans. Several of the sights in the woods were used for filming Lord of the Rings. Due to the movie industry, Wellington is now sometimes called “Wellywood” !

 

Akaroa was a tender port. The tendering by Princess crew was orderly and professional, as always. The Princess shore excursion to the countryside was beautiful! Rolling green hills were stunning, as was the snow as we neared the mountains. It snowed so hard that the bus windows were covered! Thankfully, the sun came out and the snow melted. A wonderful lunch, with New Zealand sparkling wine, was provided in one of the countryside towns. A treat!

 

Dunedin was the final port, and here there was a Princess tour, via railroad, out into the countryside. Another scenic tour! Lunch was provided on the train. The lunch included Riesling and sauvignon blanc, and these wines were again an unexpected treat!

 

The final day in New Zealand included all day, scenic cruisng of Fiordland National Park. It was so beautiful, comparable or exceeding the beauty of Norway and Alaska.

 

After two pleasant days of cruising back to Sydney, the disembarkation proceeded in an orderly fashion. The Princess disembarkation tour of the Blue Mountains, near Sydney, provided a fitting sendoff from Australia.

 

Another chaotic and confusing check-in ensued at Hawaiian Airlines, but their flight back to Honolulu was wonderful, with nice staff and fine meal service. It is puzzling why Hawaiian Airlines has such a disorderly check-in, considering that their flights are quite wonderful.

 

An interesting conclusion to the trip was that the return flight left Sydney at 9:20pm, on October 17, and it arrived back in Honolulu, at 10:20am, also on October 17! The International Dateline is quite an experience.

[Kinkacruiser]

Thanks for taking the time to share your Sun Princess cruise to New Zealand with us. She is a comfortable ship and her time in drydock recently has brought some great improvements . I didn't recognize the Horizon Court and the movies on demand was fabulous.

 

I'm so pleased you will be taking fond memories of your cruise back home.

Edited October 31, 2016 by Kinkacruiser

[easyboy]

Thanks for your review.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[cheznandy]

Thank you for your detailed review of your cruise and the Sun Princess:)

We have cruised a few times on the Dawn Princess, looking forward to the Sun Princess next year and to experience the few differences the Sun has now.

Having been on the Sapphire, Diamond and soon Emerald, it's a nice change to be back on the smaller ships.

[Cruiserkenn]

Thanks for your nice responses. Everyone I met in Australia and New Zealand was so gracious and so helpful.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Cruisin'Rabbit

[redeye84]

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

[Cruiserkenn]

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

 

Thanks so much for reading my comments.

 

Yes, there is an Aussie outlet to the left of the bed, above the nightstand. There is still a US style plug, too. (I recognized the Aussie style, because I brought an Aussie style adaptor.)

 

There is a Wheelhouse Bar, on deck 7, a very nice space. International Cafe is nice on deck 5.

 

Thanks again for reading:)

[pacificlover]

I will be sailing on Sun Princess in May 2017 and have been given "Waitlist" second sitting. As there is no Anytime Dining I wonder how this works. Does this mean that I'll have to use the Buffet for my evening meals, or wait till those with confirmed second sitting have left?

[Cruiserkenn]

I can tell you that the buffet is a great option. I enjoyed it every night, except for the one night when I went to Sterling Steakhouse.

 

The buffet is a wonderful option when the dining room is difficult.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited November 5, 2016 by Cruisin'Rabbit

[OzKiwiJJ]

I will be sailing on Sun Princess in May 2017 and have been given "Waitlist" second sitting. As there is no Anytime Dining I wonder how this works. Does this mean that I'll have to use the Buffet for my evening meals, or wait till those with confirmed second sitting have left?

 

Don't panic, you should get allocated seating in the MDR by the time you board.

 

However the food at the buffet is very good.

[joll]

Great review, thank you.

 

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

 

I also noticed this when looking at the drawings for the deck plans. However, 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.

 

We were on the Sun Princess for 6 weeks in January/February this year and spent many hours in the International Cafe - plan to do so again next year. I'm sure Princess would not have removed it, they just need to update the drawings for Deck 5!!!

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[redeye84]

...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.

[redeye84]

...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.

[matamanoa]

Many thanks for the informative report of your cruise on Sun Princess. My DH and I will be sailing on her in Feb. of 2018 when we do a b2b cruise of Tasmania and then on to New Zealand. Really looking forward to it as we have never been to that area of the world before and have been wanting to get there for some time.

[foxfilbert]

I will be sailing on Sun Princess in May 2017 and have been given "Waitlist" second sitting. As there is no Anytime Dining I wonder how this works. Does this mean that I'll have to use the Buffet for my evening meals, or wait till those with confirmed second sitting have left?

 

hi, we are also booked on the sun going to png we got option to do any time dining which we took it also shows it on our cruise personalizer so may pay to recheck .

[Cruiserkenn]

Many thanks for the informative report of your cruise on Sun Princess. My DH and I will be sailing on her in Feb. of 2018 when we do a b2b cruise of Tasmania and then on to New Zealand. Really looking forward to it as we have never been to that area of the world before and have been wanting to get there for some time.

 

Thanks for reading my report, and enjoy your 2018 B2B :)