Witchymob

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, onboard with a VIP check-in - don't ask, it was just luck. We've had the traditional embarkation lunch with some very nice pinot noir. Now we're in our cabin waiting for our luggage to arrive.

Looking forward to following along from home with great interest.  We have booked Dover to Sydney for 2026 so will be looking for info on ports, all of which we haven't been to and ship board life.  Have a wonderful time.

We have stayed at The Esplanade in Fremantle they have a buffet restaurant for breakfast and usually for dinner depending on the night of the week you are there.  Close to the port taxis not always readily available so I usually book one with the taxi co so there are no probs on the morning of the cruise.  Will be interested in your impressions of the Crown as we are booked on her in 2026 and have not been on a ship that size yet.

Have been waiting for 2025 world cruises to come  out as by then had hoped to be able to do a sector or two, but living in Western Australia doesn't look like anything on offer except a cruise to Sydney or Brisbane.  Cunard are not sending any ship in 2025 which was a hope for a trip to the UK as QM2 leaves on today, and no cruises to overseas ports by Princess, which is our go to line as previously they were doing a selection of cruises from Fremantle and we are elite.  Hope some other lines see an opportunity and bring a ship over here, will be plenty of empty slots at the port of Fremantle!

2 hours ago, lorri111 said:

Damn hard to plan isn't it. And us here in WA have the added worry that it doesn't look like our border to rest of country will open any time soon.

Princess have progressively scaled back cruise offerings here in the West, from their first years here in 2008 and 2009 when there was a choice to only one Freo back to back cruise in winter 2017 and 2018 and then nothing last year, then had two cancelled this year, betting it will be awhile before winter cruises are seen again in this State.

No mention of Sea or Sun in the schedule or anything from Western Australia,  Very glad now

that I got refunds for this year's cruises not future cruise credits, doesn't look like anything

on offer for this State for at least 2 years!  With the demise of CMV our chances of cruising look pretty grim.

Hi Baz,

Don't throw out the tux just yet.  Fremantle port page has an entry for QM2 in Feb 2021

& March 2022.  So far I have only gazed from afar but still hope to get aboard one day!

I always thought Oceana didn't fit with P&O UK, but hoped she might be transferred to Princess in Australia

to make up for losing the Dawn Princess.  I did read that she was going to be scraped, but read that she

is now in Greece and is going to be a ferry!   Seems a waste of a very nice ship.

Hi,

In May ocean should be pretty good.  Coral Coast cruise goes north from Fremantle and generally in May winter storms have not started and the cyclone season should be over.  We have booked the Coral Coast one for late July and don't expect any probs, maybe a bit lumpy going out of Fremantle and coming back in.  Even if it is a bit rough next morning the ship is further north and away from the big swells.  We have our fingers crossed for both the weather and that there isn't too much spread of the virus so that there isn't much chance of passengers bringing it on board.

We have managed to get the cruise we wanted, got the local agent to do it as I couldn't get the website to work.  Booked 10 night coral coast on 27th July in a mini suite.  Happy with the price. We had already booked our cruise in September on the Sea Princess in a mini suite and the Sapphire one has come out cheaper.  At the moment Broome is about as far from home as I am comfortable travelling and fingers crossed everything works  out.  Maybe Princess will get the message that cruises from Western Australia are popular in winter so we can get away from the wintery weather when businesses are quiet and there is no danger of bushfires. 

Hi West Aussie,

I too have been across the bight a couple of times both east to west so into the swell and both in March, so weather not to bad,  September can go either way here in the west could be just a bit lumpy or rough.  I think east to west would be better as the sea is behind you once you turn the corner at the Leeuwin (by the way I live near Augusta so know what it is like off there) and you are a good sailor.  Fortunately we don't get seasick and as long as the swell is under 5 to 6 metres getting around is not to difficult.  We went out of Fremantle on the Sun Princess one July in 8  metre seas and 70 knot winds and that was a bit too noisy for a good nights sleep. Personally I am looking at the Coral Coast cruise in July as already have Sea Princess booked in September.  Don't care where it goes as suffering cruise withdrawal as no cruises last year now they have stopped coming here in winter.

Very keen to see prices for the cruises can someone post a link, not just the from prices as would be looking to have a balcony.  Hoping to get time to do a short cruise out of Fremantle as we don't usually get winter cruises any more.

Haven't been on the Sapphire so that is another plus.

Hi There,

We have been to Laem Chabang a number of times with Princess.  We have taken the shuttle to Pattaya.  There is a charge for it and you book it on board ship at the excursions desk.  Can't remember how much, but it was not a lot, you pay for a ticket each way. Don't go too early as most shops and the market stalls don't open until 11.00am.  The drop off point is the Siam Bayside hotel which as toilets, restaurant and a bar for if you have to wait for the shuttle back. Were last there in 2018 so presumably it is still the same.

We have been on a cruise holiday every year since 2008.  This year we have nothing booked as we are in Western Australia and there are no ships coming over winter the last one was in March and nothing now until October.  We have sailed Princess on all but one of those cruises but there isn't anything from any other State over winter either.  We like the winter get away and all the cruises we have been  on have been full, but from a long winter season in Fremantle in 2008 to last year the choices have reduced so there was only one we could do last year and nothing this year.  It seems the major cruise lines are only interested in sending ships  in our summers when it is too cold and rough in the rest of the world.  I have always wondered why no line have put a ship in Darwin for a season sailing to south east Asia, during the dry season.

Princess haven't replaced the Dawn Princess, and looking at port schedules it seems no Princess ships will be based in Australia over winter in 2019 and the same  in 2020.  We are in Western Australia and Princess did a winter season from 2008 and then just one cruise the last couple of years and now nothing except over summer.  They transfer ships to P&O Australia, but what about basing a couple here all year round, they seem to have plenty, or perhaps another line might see the potential and base a ship here full time.

Heres Hoping.

I looked at this too and thought wow, have not seen the pricing for all catagories, but agree it seems to expensive. We were on Sun Princess for 26 nights in May and June this year and it felt very crowded on days when the weather was too cool for outside decks. One lounge turned into a Sushi bar which had a max of about 8 crew eating there each night and empty all day, while it was standing room only for a coffee in the atrium bar on deck 7 and international café on deck 5. Wheelhouse bar always hosting art auctions or talks morning and afternoon. I think 77 days too long for this ship and the price.

Hi There,

Can anyone who has been on Sun Princess recently tell me who the current Captain and Cruise Director are as will be on her on 13th May from Fremantle.

Looks like this could be good news. Where can I find details. From what I have seen recently looks like Princess is mainly here for our summer and then all ships leave for our winter. As we can only travel out of tourist season need cruises between May and October, and we are in Western Australia so only one cruise this year, we are doing 26 nights on the Sun in May, and at this stage have seen nothing at all for next winter.

Just off the Sea Princess yesterday and was surprised to see that she still doesn't have the IC as yet .

After talking with several different crew members during our cruise it became very apparent that there is still no plans for the IC in the near future.

Hard to believe when this is the ship for world cruising.

 

Items on the agenda for the scheduled dry dock later this month in Singapore.

New Princess beds.

Major cable refit (Ocean Medallion ?)

Changes to Cafe Corniche (pizza) deck 8

Minor repaint & hull clean.

 

Cheers

Johhno.

Hi,

We came off Sea Princess on the 4th October and were told that it would be getting International Café when it goes to its dry dock in Singapore. Will have to wait and see

The cabins on Pacific Explorer appear to be unchanged from when Dawn Princess, Sun class ships do have very small cabins, inside cabins, oceanview and balcony cabins are all very small with not much storage. Bathrooms in balcony and oceanview are very small, no real floor space, inside cabins actually have more floor space in the bathroom and more storage than the balcony cabins. On Princess we normally book a deluxe oceanview, space taken up with balcony is then in the room, have been in interior, don't like the lack of normal light, and balcony cabins and next cruise have a mini suite. Don't think size of cabins will be the issue on Pacific Explorer but the way P&O run their ships, the food and service will be the problem if the other ships are anything to go by.

I live in WA and was thrilled when Princess started home porting in Freo in 2008 over the winter, have cruised with them almost every year since. Choice has slowly got less and less, until next year only one round trip cruise. We have had a couple of lumpy nights out of Freo in winter but it soon settles down. The terminal is large and there is plenty of places to sit while waiting for boarding. Unfortunately last year the port authority decided to do away with luggage trolleys which made it hard returning from a 26 night cruise with lots of bags of goodies. World Cruises departing Freo used to get a band, sometimes with a singer, to farewell them, plus people allowed on to the deck outside the terminal to wave, throw streamers. The passengers loved it. If the town of Fremantle and shops is too far from the terminal for transit passengers, then the City of Fremantle needs to put on free shuttle buses. How many ports in the world are need their destinations cities?

I agree about Geraldton, Exmouth and Broome. In 2006 on a sector of Oriana's world cruise the ship tried to call at Exmouth, apparently despite booking an alongside berth 18 months prior to the cruise it was changed a few days prior to the call to tendering, anchor wouldn't hold so we just took off to Singapore. Captain made it known P&O UK wouldn't be calling at Exmouth again. Have a cruise booked for September out of Freo on Princess, but if another line offered choice, as Marion says, cruises to Indian Ocean ports, South Africa and return would be wonderful and I would be working on the time off and money to do such a cruise.

That is an issue every ship with anytime dining faces from time to time.

Also interested to hear how the new club class mini suites arrangement is going to work in Oz. We are booked on Sea Princess later this year and our Mini Suite has turned into Club Class.

Is Princess abandoning the South Pacific region over the 2018/2019 summer season?

 

Looks like they have all but abandoned Western Australia, this year and next, only one cruise this year round trip from Fremantle and only one next year. When Princess first came to the West for the winter season they offered a choice of cruises, now its one if you are lucky. We have had P&O here this year but tried them in 2015 and not tempted to go with them again. We can only cruise in the Aussie winter as our business is too busy in summer and only have time for 4 weeks max. Note no world cruise from Fremantle next year either.:(

They may well all be heading here.:D

I keep an eye on the port schedule for Fremantle, looking to see if there is going to be anything out of Freo next year, just noticed Diamond Princess is shown as calling twice in early September this year, but Princess is showing her as being in Japan. Curious!

I have been watching the Princess site for info on Sun Princess for 2018, note its last cruise on their site at the moment is Fremantle to Singapore in May then nothing. Being in WA we love the Fremantle and back to Fremantle cruises but there is only one for 2017 going to Indonesia and nothing in 2018. Wondering if like the Dawn Princess this year Sun might be going to leave Princess in 2018 as all the other ships seem to have their schedules up through to at least September and some to the end of the year. Hope Princess are not about to abandon Fremantle cruises and Carnival think a few P&O cruises will make up for it. Did a P&O cruise on the Jewel last year and no way will I be going back. IMO no point giving P&O better ships if the cut backs still leave it under staffed and a very basic product.

Is anyone currently on the Dawn Princess or has been on recently who can let me know who the Captain is and the Cruise Director. We are sailing on her on 15th August. Previously we have had an email letting us know their identity, but not this time so far.