Princess Daphne

[Don Barnes]

Have just come home after a 17 night cruise on the Princess Daphne. We did the 6th March out of Hong Kong. I know there have been a lot of reviews on the ship, both good and bad. I would like to add my review to them.

First of all the Princess Daphne is not for families. There are no children facilities. Also she is a small ship and does not have all the entertainment and facilities of the biggeer ships. If one is looking for that don't go on the P.Daphne. I don't go to all the entertainment and shows that are normally presented on a cruise ship. Honestly I would jump over board before going to Bingo and Quiz afternoons and most of the other presentations. So if you want all that, don't go on the P.D. She does have events during the days and nights to entertain the passengers but not on the big scale,

About the food???: I could not fault it. It may not be the range of the bigger ships, but it was tasty and there was plenty of it. Honestly, how mush can a person eat?

Now the service: I could not fault it. I found all the staff I came into contact with were friendly, helpful and courteous. There was no language problem.

The Princess Daphne is a small comfortable ship. It could do with a little refurbishing in some places.

I understand Kiwiboy was on deck 7. We were originally booked on deck 7 but got upgrded to deck 6 We had a twin outside and found it very roomy and comfortable. So to be fair I don't know what the cabins were like on deck 7. I did meet a couple of cruuisecritic members who were on deck 7 so may be they can add their voice to mine.

Being a deep hulled ship , I found the Princess Daphne rode the swells really well.

In short I enjoyed the Princess Daphne and would cruise on her again or one of the other ships of the line. However I would travel with CIC again.

[Terri77terri]

Hi Don,I've been looking into this ship for a few days and it looks very interesting.

My first question is about the aircon, which a couple of recent posts said was poor and needing an overhaul.

What was your experience with it?

[debandjo]

Hi Don,I've been looking into this ship for a few days and it looks very interesting.

My first question is about the aircon, which a couple of recent posts said was poor and needing an overhaul.

What was your experience with it?

 

Hi Terri77terri

 

Hope you don't mind me barging in but if you're looking for more info on the Princess Daphne there is another thread on here - it's under the heading princess daphne (in lower case) and has about 300 posts at the moment.

 

We were also on the Daphne at the same time as Don so if you'd like any further info I'm more than happy to help if I can.

 

Regards

 

Debra

[Terri77terri]

Thanks Debra, that's where I found this thread. I read quite a few there but not much detail was presented, though the dodgy aircon did show up at least twice.

I don't want to spend all day reading posts, so hence the direct question.

Have you been on the ship yourself, or just interested?

Funny how there are no future cruise details available yet.

[debandjo]

Hi Terri

 

We were on the same cruise as Don - Japanese Delights from Hong Kong to Hong Kong.

 

Regarding the air con - we had no problems at all with ours. We were on deck 6 towards the front and sometimes walked through the ship to use the stairs or lift at the back and did notice that the corridor and cabins in the middle were very hot sometimes and smelt of diesel. Definitely preferred where we were and I think some people changed cabins because of it.

 

Don't know what the ship is doing through the summer but she is doing a Christmas and New Year cruise from Portsmouth to the Canary Islands and back.

 

If you have any other questions I'll keep watching this thread and do my best to help.

 

Debra

[Terri77terri]

Hi Debra.

It seems from posts I've read that this ship is very well liked.

We are not keen on the large 'glamour' ships at all, and so this one looks to be much more our style.

Were the cabins good. Beds OK?

We would have a couple of first time cruisers with us, so have to be careful. How did the vessel handle rough seas?

Was there annoying engine noise or vibration?

Comfy lounge chairs?

[debandjo]

Hi Terri

 

This was our first cruise so I've nothing to compare it against really but there were some people who had cruised before who weren't happy with certain things (although as far as I was concerned some of their complaints were rather trivial).

 

Anyway to answer your questions regarding the cabins. When we were first shown to our cabin I was pleasantly surprised at the size as it was larger than expected although the furniture etc. was a bit "tired" but nothing to cause a problem. The beds were comfortable enough and everything was kept spotlessly clean by the steward. Every other cabin I saw seemed to be fairly large too. The bathroom was a bit tatty, mainly the silicon stuff that goes around the bath, but again it wasn't a major problem and the towels seemed to be changed or refolded every time we left the cabin! There was a three quarter size bath with a shower over it, a sink with a large counter area around it and a loo.

 

As for the handling in the rough seas, I can't really answer that as I've nothing to compare it with. What I do know is that we were both very seasick on the second day, along with half the other passengers and some of the crew, as we caught the tail end of a cyclone by Taiwan and the seas were extremely rough. Apart from this though it seemed good as far as I could tell and we didn't have any further problems. We didn't have any unpleasant engine noise or vibration in our cabin but it did seem to be noisier in the centre of the ship.

 

I grew very fond of the Daphne during our stay. It's definitely not a glamourous or luxurious ship, it's quite old and tatty in places, but it definitely grows on you and what really made it for me were the staff and the other passengers that we met. By the end of the cruise they all felt like old friends and I shall remember them for a long time.

 

Anyway, I hope this helps - I'll keep watching this thread in case you have any further questions.

 

Regards

 

Debra

[Eurovisionfan]

Hi

 

I've already posted a message on the larger thread, but thought I'd also post it on here - we're booked for the Christmas/New Year cruise - couple of questions which hopefully you can help with:

 

1 - We're doing the Bay of Biscay in December and January. Is there a doctor on board who administers the magic injections that can help with sea sickness?

 

2 - We've heard that the movie channels aren't that marvellous and were wondering if we can bring a DVD player to plug into the back of the TV (I'm hoping it would have a scart socket?) We've got a fair few days at sea, and watching a film or two may pass the time nicely!

 

I imagine that the crew will be totally different, as will the formality of the cruise (especially as it's Christmas), so we're planning to take some dressy up clothes, just in case. At least there's no baggage limit as we're going from Portsmouth.

 

Any hints and tips would be gratefully received!

 

Bryan

[debandjo]

Hi Eurovisionfan

 

With regard to your questions, I can certainly vouch for the magic seasickness injections. We were on the Japanese Delights cruise and caught the tail end of a cyclone (apparently) the day after we left Hong Kong. Myself and my daughter were both extremely seasick and after a day of it decided to visit the doctor. His surgery is in the bowels of the ship (deck 7) but after giving us a quick check-up he administered the injection and said we would start feeling better in 10-15 minutes. It was like a miracle!!! After 10 minutes it was as if it had never happened!! Quite expensive though, (about £80 I think) but worth every penny.

 

As for your question regarding the scart socket on the TV I've got no idea I'm afraid. The TV stations available weren't all that brilliant and the two movie channels each showed one movie on a loop for 24 hours or until someone remembered to change the DVD!

 

However, the food was fab, the service was excellent and I'm sure you'll have a great time - I only wish I was coming too.

[Eurovisionfan]

Thanks, Debandjo!

 

Nice to know that there's a doc just up the corridor (we've booked cabin 740!). OK, £80 is a bit steep (I wonder if our GP will do it for less - but would it last the 17 days?!!!) But if it saves the holiday, then it's worth it!

 

If anyone else is reading this, then I've started a roll call - it was so lovely on the other cruise to "know" people before you boarded! (we're still friendly with some of them!!!) Actually, we met up in Barcelona the night before, so really did meet them first!

 

And if anyone's had a look at the back of the telly I'd be interested to know - I take it that the telly is an old style tube, rather than flat screen. Having said that, if we're driving and haven't got any packing limits, we could take the little (well 21") flat screen from the bedroom!

 

Sorry to go on, just another quickie - were there any problems taking a kettle on board? I don't think there's one in the cabin, from what I've read, and we do like a cuppa in the morning!!!

 

Bryan