princess daphne

[Crustycruiser]

Wow. I'm new to this forum and have just been reading some of the comments. Interesting. It would seem that some people's expectations may have been above their budget. Remember - you get what you pay for. And I consider that with Princess Daphne it is good value for money.

 

I am now a week back from a most enjoyable Bay of Bengal cruise and I envy all of you who are waiting to board her. If my circumstances allowed, I would be there in a heartbeat. Sure, she is an older ship and showing her age a little, but it's the time that you have and the atmosphere that you help create that determines the enjoyment of any cruise. While I'm not new to cruising (this was my 14th), I was new to CIC. However, I would be more than happy to sail with them again.

 

As for the Officers, staff and crew - fabulous, friendly, fun. Sure, there's a mix of nationalities (19, I believe), but they are all helpful and eager to please. And very caring of the passenger's needs - often it is the attitude of the passenger that creates disharmony. As for them being hard to understand, I think they did excellent jobs considering that English is not their first language. I actually found their accents and pronunciations endearing. The girls in reception were extremely helpful in their detailed explanations. Oksana and her companion in the shop were delightful, all bar staff were efficient and attentive, the musicians were good, Rosette, the singer, had such a powerful voice for one so small, the dancers were talented, often seen rehearsing in the wee hours, and as for Sonia and Sara (activities), they were just fabulous - and sooo funny at times. Loved them both. Nicoletta (Excursions Officer) knows her job well. It must be frustrating to have passengers who don't know which tour they think they are on and have to be told they are on the wrong bus! Unbelievable. It is all done so clearly. Manuella, our Cruise Director, also did well considering that every announcement she did had to be done in English, French and German. I admired her multilingual talents.

 

Of course we have the dining room - Nicu, Serge, Jose. Those of you travelling will come to know and love them. And then there was our favourite waiters, Gusti and Nick (although I'm sure every table thought the same of their own). The food was great - no worries about buffet presentation on my side and I ate there twice a day. Dinner was a dream. Cater well for the vegetarian, as I am, and certainly up to the standard of the likes of P & O (with whom I have sailed 4 times) and surpass that of the Russian ships that I loved when they were in Aust. So much food...

 

Cabins - I was in 648. Large (much larger than on the 'Canberra') and kept clean as a whistle. Bit patched in the bathroom, but no complaints here. Someone mentioned thin towels - didn't find any - and they were changed regularly. Baths could be a problem for the elderly to step into, but I certainly had no concerns with holding rails or mould (as someone mentioned). Air conditioning in this cabin was good. I do know of some on 7 who had concerns and were moved.

 

So, to those of you who are still to travel, fear not. It is a wonderful experience and I would love to be there with you. To those of you who have pulled out due to comments posted, you are the losers.

 

Enjoy your cruising.

[chookysgirl]

Thanks Crustycruiser, glad to hear such a detailed & positive response. Am now looking forward to our cruise on 23/3 with excitement rather than trepidation....

Lea :p

[debandjo]

I don't know if anyone is watching the holidaycheck website but more reviews are starting to come in in English (six so far). They're not particularly good but most of the complaints seem to be "cruise specific" i.e. having the time in a certain port cut drastically or storm damage, and people expecting certain facilities on board that aren't available and have never been advertised as such (casinos and lots of entertainment). Virtually every single one compliments the food and service and most say that while the cabins are "tired" they are kept spotlessly clean.

 

I think as long as our expectations are realistic we will have a great time. It is what you make it after all and the company will be fun!:D

 

See you on 6/3

 

Debra

 

P.S. Are you still around Kruzermum - have you got any further info for us?

[goldies]

HI - We are flying to Singapore today for our cruise which leaves on Sunday. I will endeavour to post a review along the way. I'm sure it is going to be great.

[Crustycruiser]

Hi Debandjo.

 

According to the blurb following the submission of a cruise review to 'Holidaycheck.com', it can take up to 3 weeks to get onto their website (I may have done it 3 times - whoops...)

 

To you, Chookysgirl and anyone else about to travel on Princess Daphne, you are going to have a great time. Things don't always go to plan, but that can be the joy of the adventure. Make the most of the places you go and the people you meet and you'll not have any regrets. I envy you all and wish I was back there.

 

If anyone has any other queries, I'd be happy to help out if I can.

[Don Barnes]

To All Daphne Cruisers

As future passengers on the 6/3 out of Hong Kong we have read the reviews on this site and on Holidaycheck. Having received our tickets and departing Australia in about ten days there is nothing to be done except going and making the best of it.

Our travel agent told us not to expect it to be like the other ships we have been on. so I am not expecting much. The smell of deisel fumes and oily material in the pool etc. don't sound too good, but these are things that can be fixed so it will be interesting to see if these things have been addressed. One pays for what one gets. It is not Princess or other lines with not glitz and glam. It is a small ship and there are a few things that won't be available. I think I can live without a lot of things that are normally avalable on the bigger ships.

So my advicer is go and make up your own minds. If one doesn't enjoy it just chalk it on the " Not to do again" list. So all you Daphne passengers

have a fabulous time and save me a deck chair and don't eat all the food and drink the bars dry. Save some for me.

 

Bon Voyage

Don Barnes

[debandjo]

Hi all,

 

For anyone still to go on the Princess Daphne who may be interested, I found a travel agent video on you tube. Unfortunately the commentary is all in German but you get quite a good look around the ship. I just entered "princess daphne" hansa in the search box and it's the 8 minute long video. It all looks very nice but there again it is a travel agent video so it should do! We shall find out for ourselves soon enough! Also, there's an excellent recent review on zoover.com (and another not so good slightly older one) and some photos (mainly of the buffet).

 

Hope this is of interest - see you soon!:D

 

Debra

[matilda]

Thanks Don and Debra,

I had a look at the video of the PD. We are counting down the sleeps now (13) until we step on board, and looking forward to meeting you.

We know how to find our 'across the aisle' neighbour, Don, but how will we find you, Debra?

Anyway, our cabin is 707.

Getting excited!!!

Lesley and Des

[debandjo]

Thanks Don and Debra,

I had a look at the video of the PD. We are counting down the sleeps now (13) until we step on board, and looking forward to meeting you.

We know how to find our 'across the aisle' neighbour, Don, but how will we find you, Debra?

Anyway, our cabin is 707.

Getting excited!!!

Lesley and Des

 

11 sleeps for us until we leave for Hong Kong!!!:D

 

The last I heard we were in cabin 608 but it has already been changed once so may be different when I get the tickets. Will let you know if it does. Have you booked any excursions yet or will you do it on board?

 

Debra

[matilda]

Hi Debra,

OK, 608 - we will look out for you. No, we haven't booked any excursions yet. We are still waiting for our tickets, and hope to get them this week. We have been told that because we are doing the back-to-back cruises, we will be later getting our tickets because everything has to come through to the office in Sydney for the second cruise before they can send out both lots of tickets. Interesting, though, that you haven't got yours yet. It sounds like Don has had his for several days. So, we so far only have the descriptions of the excursions, not the prices. We think we will do the tour of Tokyo, the trip to Kyoto and back by bullet train, and the tour of Shanghai. Not sure about Okinawa, and we have been to Nagasaki and Pusan before, so will make our own way around those ports, which is easy to do.

Not long now!

from Lesley and Des

[travellin' light]

Hello! Lesley and Des - From Liz and Ed (Friends of Pat and Uwe) We hope to catch up with you aboard Princess Daphne. We are also doing the back to back sailing on 6/3. Not many sleeps left.

Cheers !

[matilda]

Hi Liz and Ed,

Thanks for making contact. Having heard from Pat that you two are on the cruise, we planned to look out for you. Do you know your cabin number?

We do seem to be gathering together quite a few friends.

We are expecting to receive our documents tomorrow, and can hardly wait.

Nine more sleeps until we leave on the 5/3!!!

From Lesley and Des

[travellin' light]

Hi Liz and Ed,

Thanks for making contact. Having heard from Pat that you two are on the cruise, we planned to look out for you. Do you know your cabin number?

We do seem to be gathering together quite a few friends.

We are expecting to receive our documents tomorrow, and can hardly wait.

Nine more sleeps until we leave on the 5/3!!!

From Lesley and Des

 

Our cabin number is 648. We picked up our tickets yesterday and only a bit of currency to obtain. Look forward to meeting you both.

 

Cheers Liz and Ed

[Crustycruiser]

Yikes, Liz and Ed, you're in my cabin - 648! I almost feel I know you.

 

I was there for the Bay of Bengal cruise and found it really comfortable - very little noise, very little movement (but there was very little movement for the whole cruise). It's a four berth convertable so has 4 wardrobes (not really big ones), a desk with chair (tele on desk), light switches for all lights at the bedheads (I never quite could get the right one first go...), telephone - in fact it looks exactly like the one on page 16 of the brochure if you have it, but the covers were different. It's suggested that suitcases of a certain height will go under the beds - I don't think so, unless they are quite flat - they're not that high. I kept mine in the spare wardrobe. Only thing I wasn't keen on was plastic (I think) backed mattress protectors which I found very hot to sleep on.

 

The bath and basin have a couple of patches in the enamel, but you get used to that. And the non slip strips in the bath seem to be like velcro, with a couple having come 'apart', so if you have a bath (which is wonderful), be careful how you 'slide' down... Of course they may have new ones by now. The baths are quite high to step into, but there are rails that will help.

 

When I first went in, I thought 'whoops', but you soon learn to love it (well, I did).

 

If you have the same room steward (Krisiner, I think was how it's spelt), he's lovely. And, if so, please apologise to him from me for having inadvertently taken the folder on the desk! I didn't realise until I unpacked that I had picked it up with all my papers...

 

And if you are lucky enough to have Gusti and Nick as your dining stewards, please tell them that Jenni (from 57) sends her love and best wishes.

 

I do so envy you all. Have a wonderful cruise (and take care of my room).

 

Oh, and if any of you want to try something different when you come back to Singapore and are waiting at the airport, take a visit to the Fish Spa - where the little fishes nibble your feet - strangest sensation. And your feet feel so smooth afterwards. If anyone is interested, it's on the far (almost as far as you can go) right, towards the front, once you have been processed by customs and immigration and are in the departure lounge where all the shops are.

[travellin' light]

Thanks! Jenni for all the helpful information. - Its a small world and, yes, we will look after cabin 648. We are looking forward to it immensely, having sailed on both the Funchal and Athena. - Enjoyed every minute on each and have a huge network of lovely friends, passengers ,crew and staff from the various cruises.

Had the "fish" treatment done in Bali and will certainly try to have it done in Singapore.

Time for you to book your next cruise, I think !!!!!

 

Thanks again, Cheers Liz and Ed

[happyg]

Hi again - Have just been reading some of the older reviews & was wondering if someone could answer a couple of things. I see that men have to wear long pants in the dining room.Regards

Carole (goldies)

Being a first time cruiser, do men need to bring their suits along for the cruise? Similarly are the ladies expected to dress formally at night. Trying to decide on what to pack for the cruise?

 

We havent received out tickets yet, hopefully in the mail this week.

 

cheers Lynne (happyg)

[Crustycruiser]

Hi Lynne,

 

You'll find that your cruise will include a couple of formal nights and the rest smart casual or casual (usually if in port). For formals, quite a number of men wear dinner suits, and the others, day suits. Women get to wear their fancier and/or more glittery stuff (dresses or pants & tops), but not long evening dresses, although I guess you could if you wanted. Smart casual for men is usually shirt and long pants and we women know it's nice to dress up for dinner.

 

Have a great first cruise, but don't expect it to be like Cunard or P & O (although the food comes close). It's a small, older ship - exceptionally clean, but showing her age in a few places - and the staff and crew are great.

 

 

And to Liz and Ed,

 

Yes, it's time. I'm trawling through the brochures and the internet right now...

 

And I know what you mean about a network of friends. I was the same with the Russian ships, especially the Alexandr Pushkin (7 times). This line reminded me a lot of those wonderful days - maybe it was the Ukrainian accents...

[matilda]

Hi Lynne,

I agree with Jenni that they are the general rules with formal nights. However, Des doesn't own a suit, let alone a dinner suit. He has been known to wear a reefer jacket for formal nights a few years ago, but for the last few cruises, on CIC line and others (but not Cunard), the closest we get to formal wear is, for me, a pretty top and black pants and, for Des, dark trousers and business shirt, with or without a good pullover. We have never been barred for the dining room.

I hope this helps. Looking forward to meeting up with you on the 23rd.

Cheers, Lesley and Des, cabin 707. (Matilda)

Yay!! Five sleeps until we leave!!

[Don Barnes]

Hi all You "Daphne Cruisers"

 

We leave to-morrow for HK so I thought I would get this in now. I don't know how all you other Daphne Cruisers think, but I thought I would see if I can con the Daily News sheet wriiter and see if I can put a message in it, about a get together for the club members and friends one day. Looking at the deck plans there seem to be a few bars that could be used.

Have doe this sort of thing before so hjopefully the Daphne won't be any different. If anyone wants to contact me we atre in Cabin 716.

 

bon Voage to all

 

Don Barnes

[matilda]

Hi again, Lynne,

 

Well, I chatted with hubby over lunch, and we decided that he will pack the reefer jacket (and the tie, of course), seeing as we will be having 4 formal nights.

 

Don, sounds like a good idea about the get-together.

 

All the best for your flights tomorrow. Happy Landings! Enjoy yourselves! See you on board.

 

Cheers, Lesley and Des

[Arragon]

Well hello and how lucky are we ???? we are just about packed, three days to go for us then off to Hong Kong ,

look forward to meeting you all. Thanks one and all for all the good information and most of all have a fantastic cruise.

Rita & Alan

[first cruise]

Hi Everyone,

 

We are in Cabin 725 just down from Lesley and Des and staying in that cabin for both cruises!! yay, we don't have to pack and move!!!

 

Only 4 more sleeps before we leave for Hong Kong!!!

 

Shayne and Lea (First Cruise)

[travellin' light]

Have a wonderful first cruise. We had our first cruise in 2006 and haven't stopped since.

All the Best - Liz and Ed Cabin 648. Off to Hong Kong tomorrow !

[matilda]

Well, the 5th March finally got here, and we are on our way to Hong Kong via Singapore. So exciting! We left Melbourne at 11.30am and it is now 4.30pm Singapore time. We have a couple of hours to wait for our Hong Kong flight. The Melbourne/Singapore leg was on the huge Super Jumbo - very nice. We will be sleeping (very well, I reckon) in a hotel very close to Hong Kong airport, and then looking around HK for a few hours tomorrow until it is time to board Princess Daphne.

Sooo looking forward to it all.

See you!

Lesley and Des (Matilda)

[goldies]

Hi all - We just got off the Princess Daphne in Hong Kong on the 6th March, so I thought I would give you my impressions of the ship. First of all I should tell you that we really enjoyed ourselves & met some great people. Now for the negatives & positives. We were late boarding the ship in Singapore as another ship had taken our berth so we missed the sailing out of Singapore as we had to be seated for dinner. The cabin we were given was right at the back of the ship(645) directly above the propellers I think as everything in the room was vibrating & we couldn't hear each other talk. We were told we could see the chief purser at 10pm. Well we weren't the only ones. There were a lot of unhappy people (for good reason). We were given a cabin on level 5 which was lovely & quiet & with great storage. It is old but very comfortable. The air conditioning problems have not been completely fixed. It worked better in some cabins than others. Our cabin didn't work that well but we didn't want to have to move again. They didn't worry if the men didn't wear jackets & ties on the formal nights. My Husband took his off before we got in as it was just so hot waiting outside. The crew are absolutely fabulous & we thoroughly enjoyed all the entertainment. We preferred to go to the buffet for breakfast & lunch as there were more choices & it was nicer to sit outside when we could. There were plenty of choices for the evening meal but I must say that for my taste I didn't really enjoy it all that much. I took a travel iron on board in my hand luggage & we took alcohol on board at every port & nobody minded. We only did a couple of the excursions. They were very expensive & we found that a group of us could get a taxi for a couple of hours for around 10.00US each. I was disappointed on the day we berthed in Hong Kong as our daily program stated that the shop would be open from 9am to 10am. There was a top I really wanted to buy. Because we berthed early the shop didn't open, so if there is anything you want don't leave it until the last minute. Also on the last day they had turned the water off to flush the toilets. It was quite embarrassing having to leave the toilets unflushed. Why they couldn't have waited until after 10am when we had left the ship I don't know. We did meet one couple who had travelled on the Athena & they said they much preferred the Athena & thought the Daphne should be scrapped. Having not done a cruise before we couldn't compare but we did have a great time. Hope this is a little bit of help to those of you still to sail.

Regards

Carole