REVIEW - Sea Princess Sydney to NZ 12 Nov 2011

[aussie57]

Happy to answer any questions for any who want info on Sea Princess.

This was only our 2nd cruise on Princess - our first was on Sapphire in 2007, also to NZ & after so many recent cruises on P&O Aust we did notice some little subtle things that we think make Princess superior. It helped that we weren't sailing in school holidays. Apparently there were only 150 kids aboard & we very rarely saw any & they certainly weren't running wild in hordes unsupervised & pushing all the lift buttons like they were on the Jewel in June!

 

EMBARKATION

Arrived at Wharf 5 around 11.15, dropped the bags & checked in with wheelchair registration. Got our platinum cards & were in the 3rd group for preferred embarkation seeing us onboard in our cabin just after 12. We were pleasantly surprised by our O/V cabin on Deck 8 because we could see over the top of the lifeboat & there was adequate daylight - heaps better than inside. Although the cabin had fixed twin beds (which we knew would be the case) there was heaps of storage room & our empty bags fitted under the bed.

I had read on the Princess forum that a MDR is always open for lunch on turnaround & the Patter in the cabin suggested as much. However when we went to the Dining Room an attendant said it was closed for a private function & that we should go to Horizon Court which we did.

Our bags were in our cabin by 2.30pm so we were able to get unpacked before muster drill & sailaway. With our platinum cards attached to our lanyards, we felt really special when all the crew members we came across greeted us with "Welcome back"

We saw the Maitre'd to find out if our allocated table for 1st seating dinner was wheelchair accessible ( which it wasn't) - so were allocated a new table number.

Another tip we'd picked up from reading the boards was about the bow viewing area at the front of Deck 10 so we made our way there for sailaway & we may as well have had a private balcony with only 4 other people being there as well. It was a beautiful day on the harbour so sailaway was quite spectacular & we sailed through the heads about 5pm.

At dinner we found ourselves on a Table for 6 in the Traviata Dining Room. Our waiters were Zaldy & Jonnel, both from the Philippines, & they were both wonderful throughout the cruise, especially with Allan's gluten free diet, as was the Head Waiter, Alex from Mexico. Our waiters were also lots of fun. After this first night we didn't see one couple from our table again for the whole cruise. The lady of the 2nd couple had boarded sick so she & her husband were quarantined for several days & she ended up in the medical centre on a drip, after which she had a bad reaction to acupuncture & was on crutches & in a wheelchair by the end of the cruise. So they didn't come back to the MDR either which left us as the only people on our table. This wasn't much fun as we like traditional dining for the company, especially on the 2nd sea day when I had a birthday celebration, although all the waiters from the section joined in serenading me.

With the current policy of traditional dining on the Aussie-based Princess ships it seems that a percentage of pax who don't like it for one reason or another just don't come back to their allocated table, choosing the buffet, pizza cafe or steakhouse instead. So there were 2 spare seats night after night at a nearby table for 8 & by the 3rd night we asked the Head waiter if we could move there. From then on we were part of that table & had a fabulous time with our table mates & were still with our original waiters.

[aussie57]

DAY 2 - AT SEA

We started each day by having cups of tea delivered from room service, using the cabin breakfast request form. We found that we had to put "milk for tea" on the form otherwise we got hot water, 2 teabags & a selection of sweeteners but no milk.

We also watched The Wake Show with cruise director Peter Tredgett & ACD Dan. We liked answering the daily question posed on the Wake Show & finally won the draw for the prize on the last Sea Day.

Breakfast in the Dining Room & then Vista lounge at 9am for the Remembrance Day ecumenical church service which was attended by over 70pax & led by an aussie chaplain.

We had purchased a coffee card ($32 for 15 coffees) & had lattes at the Explorers Lounge in the Atrium on Deck 5. We also got the free Princess travel mug that comes with the coffee card using the voucher from the in-cabin voucher book.

Morning Trivia at 10.15 where our team came 2nd.

An enjoyable Meet & Mingle from our CC rollcall which was attended by the Captain (Martin Stenzel) CD & other heads of department & we were able to ask all sorts of questions in a relaxed atmosphere in the Razzmatazz Bar.

We would have liked to watch a movie on the big screen on Deck 12 but when we went up there, it was cold, windy & raining on deck so we gave it a miss. Although there were programs advertised throughout each day on MUTS I don't think the weather on this itinerary was very conducive to the experience, even with blankets. Probably an experience more suited to the islands.

Trivia again followed by Formal night dinner & champagne waterfall & Captain's welcome in the Atrium between the 2 dinner seatings which was a better time to have it in our opinion than later at night as currently on P&O. The show in the Princess Theatre was Adam Sicluna who is a brilliant vocalist which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We were in a team of 6 for the Jeopardy Game Show which we won - yay - but as 4 of us are non-drinkers the 3rd couple got the prize bottle of champagne.

[Armchair Cruiser]

Hi Anne & Allan

 

Enjoying reliving the experience. Keep up the good work.

 

Cheers Rose & Norm

[aussie57]

Hi Anne & Allan

Enjoying reliving the experience. Keep up the good work.

Cheers Rose & Norm

Hi Rose & Norm

Great to see you, special cruise buddies :D :D

 

DAY 3 - AT SEA

We had turned our clocks forward an hour on each of the first 2 nights of the cruise & were now on NZ time but were feeling the effects & so had a later breakfast & I missed line dancing at 9am. We bombed out at Trivia but enjoyed our morning lattes in the Explorers Lounge.

 

One thing I love about Sea Princess is the wraparound Promenade Deck allowing people to do whole circuits of the deck & really take in the sights & smells of being at sea. On Pacific Jewel we found it was difficult to find spots where you could really look outside. 3 circuits of the Promenade Deck is 1 mile & I did 4

 

Being Platinum we had 500min of free internet which we thought was a pretty good perk. We had good wifi on our laptop in the cabin & we didn't find the connection & the speed too bad. We were a bit economical with it early in the cruise as we weren't too sure how long it would last so by the end we had plenty to do whatever we liked.

 

I had been really looking forward to participating in the Princess Pop choir ever since I'd first heard about it. The first rehearsal was actually on Day 2 even though I forgot to mention it in that part of the review. So the 2nd rehearsal was next on Day 3. The choir director was Alex from the cruise staff & I can't praise him highly enough for his talent, enthusiasm & encouragement.

 

We attended a port talk in the theatre - the Port Lecturer was a likeable lady who was really happy to give out info for independent travellers as well as those on ship tours which was another change from P&O where they just try to scare you into their own shore tours & give you very little info otherwise. Unfortunately I did nod off in the port talk though so we just had to have some more lattes Explorer's Lounge itself wasn't easily accessible for the wheelchair & we usually sat in the Atrium but today there weren't many chairs blocking access & we got a window seat. Since it was at least an hour & a half since lunch & I was suddenly craving a cookie, it was as if I'd waved a wand & a milk & cookies waiter magically appeared with a yummy double chocolate cookie!!

 

Our team came 2nd in the Afternoon Trivia. On returning to the cabin we had balloons & a poster & a card for my birthday as well as a "watch dog" towel animal. Actually, our steward, Joseph turned out to be the king of towel animals - we had never had so many & varied ones on any previous cruise. As well as the dog we received a polar bear, a goanna, a cobra, a turtle, a pair of kissing swans & a hamster. Many of them were decorated with chocolates!

The production show was "Piano Man" which was really fabulous with songs from Billy Joel, Elton John, Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka etc & contained great dance routines & impressive costumes.

We had fun participating in the Majority Rules game show as well.

[aussie57]

DAY 4 - BAY OF ISLANDS

Beautiful clear sunny day in the BOI.

For the first time in 10 cruises we ordered room service breakfast knowing we'd have to queue for tenders. We ticked the 7-7.30 time on the order & it came at 6.30!! Actually mostly our morning cuppas came at least 30min earlier than ordered as well. We tried 2nd guessing room service by ordering later & the day we ticked 8-8.30 because the 7.30-8 had come at 6.45, we didn't get it till 8.45!! So who knows how they organise it!!

We'd never tendered with Princess before & I was interested that you don't get the tender tickets until you REALLY ARE ready to go off with your full party & all your gear compared to P&O where you get a ticket & then go for breakfast & get packed etc.

I liked the Princess method. Everyone with tickets waits together in the dining room until a tender is available at which point you are escorted as a group to the tender deck.

The tender point was at Waitangi quite close to the Treaty grounds. Free shuttles are provided into Paihia. We did a one hour Paihia History tour on a mini bus with 3 other pax for $20ea which covered local missionary & maori history as well as all the main local sights. Anna, the guide, likes to use anecdotes & stories about the pioneers to illustrate her info which was fascinating & entertaining.We caught the ferry to Russell & wandered around ourselves, seeing the oldest church in NZ. We had lunch before catching the ferry back, wandering around the markets & going back to the ship in time for afternoon trivia.

At sailaway we went back to the front of deck 10 which we had entirely to ourselves as there was a strong, freezing wind. We had hoped to be able to see the hole in the rock as we sailed past Cape Brett but it took longer than we thought to get there & we had to go to dinner as we were on first sitting at 5.45pm. Allan was facing the windows at dinner although we were 3 or 4 tables back from them, so he did get a brief glimpse of the hole in the rock after all.

[aussie57]

DAY 5 - AUCKLAND

We've been to Auckland several times so I just planned to do a bit of shopping & it was raining when we docked so Allan stayed aboard. I was wandering around the Viaduct when I heard a loud hissing & could smell gas. Suddenly 3 fire engines, an ambulance & a couple of police cars arrived as it was a large gas leak & they evacuated the area. I retreated to the Westfield & did some shopping there & on Queen St.

Back onboard for lunch I discovered a coffee theme with the desserts in the buffet & as it's my favourite dessert flavour I just had to try all 3: cappucino cake, mocha truffle tartlet & coffee cream puff - deliciously decadent.

Allan came ashore early in the afternoon & rode the free red link bus for its entire route which took over an hour as they've changed their link bus system since last we were there.

Tonight was Adam Sicluna's 2nd show which was just as fantastic as his first. Then it was Music Trivia in the Razzmatazz Bar - fun with canadian DJ Sean.

[Sandielle]

Just love your review Anne. :) I'm picking out the parts pertinent to our Sun Princess cruise as a reference. Re the choir - do they sing in parts (SATB) or in unison?

 

Also, is smoking allowed in parts of any public rooms? On our personaliser it states there will be a policy change on 15 Jan 2012 - no more smoking in staterooms but on some decks and some public rooms. I think this is for American based ships. (As you know, P&O allow smoking on some of the open decks only, and I was hoping it would be the same on Aussie Princess.)

[Aus Traveller]

Just love your review Anne. :) I'm picking out the parts pertinent to our Sun Princess cruise as a reference. Re the choir - do they sing in parts (SATB) or in unison?

 

Also, is smoking allowed in parts of any public rooms? On our personaliser it states there will be a policy change on 15 Jan 2012 - no more smoking in staterooms but on some decks and some public rooms. I think this is for American based ships. (As you know, P&O allow smoking on some of the open decks only, and I was hoping it would be the same on Aussie Princess.)

Sandy, I took part in the Sun Princess choir on our Indian Ocean cruise. Larry (the pianist in the atrium) took it, and he did a professional and excellent job. It was heaps of fun, with rehearsal every sea day and one performance. The choir consisted of around 200 people. He asked for volunteers for the mini choir that sang harmony, but otherwise it was simple stuff.

 

On our next cruise Larry wasn't there so the choir was organised by two of the cruise staff (Tina and one of the other girls). I didn't join in on that occasion, but I did see parts of some rehearsals. They did it like karaoke, and I didn't think it was as successful as Larry's way, but then he is a professional musician.

 

I hope you have Larry on board. If so, you will enjoy it. He is quite a taskmaster, but I know that one of your hobbies is singing in a choir so you will find it easy.

[Sandielle]

Thanks AusT. Hope it's Larry, then. I find unison a bit boring - but that's just me. Wow, 200 people make a large choir - I'm surprised so many people are interested with all the other distractions. :rolleyes:

 

(Which reminds me I'd better stop procrastinating here and get my music ready - we have our Christmas concert tomorrow.)

[aussie57]

Sandy, I took part in the Sun Princess choir on our Indian Ocean cruise. Larry (the pianist in the atrium) took it, and he did a professional and excellent job. It was heaps of fun, with rehearsal every sea day and one performance. The choir consisted of around 200 people. He asked for volunteers for the mini choir that sang harmony, but otherwise it was simple stuff.

 

On our next cruise Larry wasn't there so the choir was organised by two of the cruise staff (Tina and one of the other girls). I didn't join in on that occasion, but I did see parts of some rehearsals. They did it like karaoke, and I didn't think it was as successful as Larry's way, but then he is a professional musician.

 

I hope you have Larry on board. If so, you will enjoy it. He is quite a taskmaster, but I know that one of your hobbies is singing in a choir so you will find it easy.

 

Just love your review Anne. :) I'm picking out the parts pertinent to our Sun Princess cruise as a reference. Re the choir - do they sing in parts (SATB) or in unison?

 

We had one of the entertainment staff (a junior assistant CD perhaps?) Alex from Ottowa but he was a very gifted singer himself & an awesome choir director (at only 25yrs!) We were organised into sopranos, altos & men & in several songs he taught parts for those who wanted to harmonise. In 2 of the songs we were encouraged to do free harmony on the last note which resulted in an impressive finish. There was also a male singer/dancer amongst the men & a female amongst the ladies mainly to give us someone to follow with the choreography - just simple swaying, side stepping & synchronised hand & arm movements. We didn't have actual sheet music, though - just words. but all the songs were very well known. There were about 40 of us in our choir & it was certainly one of the highlights of the cruise for me. :D :D

[bobhsv]

Fabulous review Anne and Allan. Wishing we were back there, mingling with all the lovely people we met, including yourselves of course. Glad you got animal towels. We missed out. Our early morning cuppas were a half hour early too, but didn't worry us being such a port intensive cruise. Looking forward to reading more. btw have a great Christmas you two!!

Jen and Bob

[aussie57]

Also, is smoking allowed in parts of any public rooms? On our personaliser it states there will be a policy change on 15 Jan 2012 - no more smoking in staterooms but on some decks and some public rooms. I think this is for American based ships. (As you know, P&O allow smoking on some of the open decks only, and I was hoping it would be the same on Aussie Princess.)

 

There was certainly no smoking in any indoor parts of the ship such as on Sapphire in 2007 when smoking was allowed in one half of the Explorer's Lounge, or on Celebrity which was even worse. :eek:

Don't know about balconies as we had an O/V outside. There was smoking on one side of Promenade & a section of Deck 14 outside. If there weren't obvious clusters of smokers you could still spot the ashtrays or smoking receptacles so you could steer clear. When I was doing the circuit on the Promenade Deck I'd just hurry past & hold my breath!

[aussie57]

Fabulous review Anne and Allan. Wishing we were back there, mingling with all the lovely people we met, including yourselves of course. Glad you got animal towels. We missed out. Our early morning cuppas were a half hour early too, but didn't worry us being such a port intensive cruise. Looking forward to reading more. btw have a great Christmas you two!!Jen and Bob

 

Hello & Happy Christmas yourselves, Jen & Bob! BTW you might recognise a reference in the next installment LOL (I also posted the review elsewhere incl pics)

[aussie57]

DAY 6 - TAURANGA

This morning we ordered our cups of tea for 6.30-7am & it came at 6.15! At least we didn't need the alarm

We were sharing a rental car with Jen (bobhsv) & her hubby Bob, a plan hatched on our rollcall even though we'd never physically met before the cruise. We had a silver toyota wagon from ABC rentals which we picked up right outside the wharf precinct in Mt Manganui. We planned to go to Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland about 20min south of Rotorua & we arrived in time to see the Lady Knox Geyser blow at 10.15am.

There were 4 busloads of Princess pax on shore tours there as well but even though they saw the geyser, they weren't there after that for very long. We had a coffee & entered the park itself after the buses had all left.

The park is absolutely awesome with a fascinating thermal landscape, large craters, steam vents & water bubbling away at 100deg C. There was an all-pervading smell of sulphurous rotten egg gas but we didn't find it overpowering or uncomfortable. There were amazing yellow, green, orange & blue colours in the rock, & the pools of water were different colours too, from the palest blue to bright flouro yellow.

 

Not far down the road from Wai-O-tapu we saw the boiling mud pools which I tried to photograph with varying success. A short video actually captured all the movement & noise more effectively.

Jen & I did some shopping in Mt Manganui about 3.30pm before heading back onboard. Strangely our menfolk had opted to give the shopping a miss ?? We had the best day with Jen & Bob & aside from all the natural wonders we saw it was just a real pleaseure to spend time with & get to know this special couple.

After dinner we went to see the Country Jam production show in the Vista lounge, but I was unable to keep my eyes open after such an active day & missed most of the show - it was nice to snooze to though LOL

[aussie57]

DAY 7 - NAPIER....or not!

We weren't due to arrive at Napier until noon so were still at sea when we woke up. We had discovered that we liked Horizon Court buffet for breakfast & lunch better than the Dining Room. Princess MDR choices seem to be more limited than on P&O & the lunch offerings are much heavier than we prefer to have at lunch. Also we found the Princess buffet to be heaps less crowded than buffets on P&O & we never had any trouble getting a seat.

There was a merchandise sale in the Rigoletto Dining Room but it was all leftover Hawaii & Alaska stuff they were trying to get rid of. We came 2nd in Morning Trivia. I went to Pop Choir practice & then we played Movie Trivia which our team won on a tie breaker. The prizes for the day competitions included Princess pens, lanyards, keyrings with torches, fridge magnets, drink bottles & carabiner keyrings. The evening competition winners got a bottle of champagne per team.

The Captain made an announcement to say that due to strong winds we couldn't get into Napier & we'd have to miss the Port.

We know that decision is not made lightly & that the safety of the ship & pax are paramount so we weren't too disappointed. It would be harder for people to miss a port if they'd arranged to meet relatives or attend a function, but we were actually happy to have an extra sea day in such a port-intensive itinerary. Other ships in the area at the same time had missed Dunedin & Fiordland. Peter the CD announced that extra activities would be scheduled & that a revised Princess Patter would soon be available.

We went & had a spa in the one next to the Seaview Bar which seemed to be the most accessible for Allan. It actually has a hoist but we were unable to locate someone who would operate it for us & after half an hour were told that Allan would have to go to reception & sign a disclaimer or something, so being his independent self he just climbed in. Don't know what they would have done had he fallen when doing that, especially since the hoist is there & he had asked to use it. :confused:

We love meeting different people at the Trivia etc & very rarely played in a team made up of the same members. We were in a new team (5 of us) for the Aussie Quiz & we won outright & were rewarded with Princess lanyards - yay!

We had our lattes at the Crooner's Bar on Deck 7 in the Atrium & listened to the string quartet. That's another area where we see Princess as being a notch up from P&O with their classical entertainers being of such a high standard, performing frequently in the coffee lounges & bars. As well as the quartet there was a classical guitarist & a pianist ( not including the resident crooner who performed each evening)

Then it was Afternoon Trivia followed by dinner followed by Chris Gable in the Princess Theatre. He's an Aussie who we hadn't heard of but who is a talented singer/performer/multi-instrumentalist, brilliant on the saxophone & clarinet & quite young. We were very impressed. We probably came about 3rd in the Lyrics Music Quiz later that evening.

With an 8metre swell, the motion of the ocean had become much more noticeable during the day & into the night so it was literally a case of being rocked to sleep after we turned in.

[aussie57]

DAY 8 - WELLINGTON

We were already docked when we woke up & we had disembarked by 9.30am & onto a shuttle bus into the CBD ($10 return - AUD, USD or NZD so we used NZD as it was cheapest) We were told the shuttle would drop us at the I-site but it actually dropped us in the CBD next to a Department Store which it turned out was quite a few blocks from the i-site. This made it difficult for Allan who was on his artificial legs & without his wheelchair.

We were only a couple of hundred metres from the Cable Car so we rode it to the top & had a coffee in the cafe watching subsequent cable car trips. We looked at the Cable Car Museum which is very interesting.

 

Allan made the strenuous walk to the i-site to find out that apparently people with mobility issues can hire mobility scooters from the council for free to get around the city but this service is only available during business hours & we were in Wellington on a weekend! He walked from there to the Te Papa Museum where he was able to have a scooter, after which he caught a cab back to the shuttle stop & the bus back to the ship.

I had been to the Underground Markets on the Waterfont before also spending some time in Te Papa. It is a huge complex & would probably take a week to do all the displays justice but I managed to get a brochure detailing the "must-sees" including the world's largest giant squid.

I spent a fair bit of time walking around the shops looking for specific souvenirs eg I was hoping to get some possum socks for my Dad for less than $25 but found that although there were many & varied shops in the CBD they were a bit high end for my purposes.

Back onboard it was lattes in the Atrium then Afternoon Trivia, then internet time, dinner, & shopping in onboard boutiques. The production show was "Thanks for the Memories" but once again I could barely keep my eyes open despite the show being excellent as usual. the evening game show was interactive team Hangman with the cruise staff. We played with 2 of out table mates & an elderly couple to whom we gave the champagne when we won

As we were walking past the Crooner's Bar, Larry Dunsmore, the resident crooner, was just starting a movie themes "Name that tune" quiz which we joined in. Until that time we hadn't had much of a chance to listen to him but he was very talented & funny so we could see why he had such a large following every night with every available seat taken & people sitting on the atrium stairs.

5 metre swell tonight but movement not as noticeable as last night.

[aussie57]

DAY 9 - AKAROA

At anchor off at Akaroa before 7am. It was spotting rain with a max forecast of 15deg so Allan decided not to bother tendering & stay onboard, & I dressed in jeans, joggers & jacket. However Akaroa village was very sheltered compared to the ship out in the bay & I proved to be overdressed especially when the sun came out & i almost sweltered.

Dawn Princess was anchored nearby & was doing our itinerary in the opposite direction. With 2 ships in port the little town was swamped by tourists & many of the tiny shops were almost impossible to get into. At the wharf there were at least a dozen operators offering tours to Christchurch, as well as penguin tours, dolphin cruises, jetboat rides etc.

Akaroa is a very picturesque, seaside town with its French heritage reflected in some of its architecture, including many delightful timber cottages set in fragrant & gloriously blooming spring gardens. I did a lot of walkingI managed to get some possum socks for Dad for $25 in one of the 2 NZ wool shops. At the wharf there were a cluster of cafes & a general store but the rest of the village was a 1-2km walk along the beach. I didn't mind the walk there but was hot & tired by the time I had to walk back & when I did get back to the wharf I saw that there was a free minibus shuttle taking people backwards & forward between the 2 parts of town.

From the tender on the way back to the ship we could see both the Sea & Dawn Princesses at anchor but it was difficult to get a decent photo from shore as Dawn Princess was further around a point & we couldn't see them both at once.

Back onboard it was lunch, a giant Jenga game, internet time & journalling & then the Afternoon trivia. We attended the church service at 5pm, it being Sunday. For those of us to whom this is important, we were appreciative of the opportunity to meet over 70 of our fellow pax for Sunday worship. P&O is much more hit & miss with offering church services, especially on port days.

Lobster tails were on the menu tonight (something else you don't get on P&O) & were very yummy. We didn't go to a show tonight but listened for a while to the string quartet, & later in the evening we came 2nd in both the Jeopardy Game show, & DJ Sean's 60s & 70s music quiz.

On retiring the sea was very smooth with no noticeable movement, & we found Joseph had left us a towel turtle.

[aussie57]

DAY 10 - DUNEDIN

In Port Chalmers we docked right next to Pacific Jewel on which we had cruised only last June.

After breakfast I came back to the cabin to pack for going ashore & was lucky to be there when the crew lowered the lifeboat from immediately outside our window for some maintenance - so we had a completely unobstructed view from our cabin for the only time all cruise. (see post 5 on page 2 of this thread for pic)

It was absolutely teeming with heavy rain so Allan opted to stay onboard as we'd been to Dunedin before & I mainly only wanted to do some shopping anyway. I was off the ship fairly early & there were buses for the shore tours quite close to the gangway & the shuttle buses for the "plebs" about 150 -200m along the wharf which meant that those of us going to the shuttle buses ($10 return)got absolutely drenched despite having umbrellas & raincoats.The bus driver said the port authorities were at fault & not Princess but a lot of people were displeased. Allan said about half an hour after I left, the shuttles started loading a lot closer to the gangway.

The shops in Dunedin suited my purposes much better than Wellington & I managed to get quite a few bargains & even did some Christmas shopping. I did do a lot of walking in some fairly steep parts of town which hopefully helped to counteract all the yummy treats that Princess had been force feeding me , not to mention the huge, delicious date scones that seemed to be a cafe staple in cafes all over NZ!!

On arriving back at the wharf there was now only very light spits of rain so I walked along the wharf to try to photograph Sea Princess with Pacific Jewel. Allan had just played afternoon trivia when I boarded & his team had come 2nd. As I was a bit stiff & sore after all my trudging we decided to have another spa near the Seaview bar at the back of Deck 14. It was overcast & misty & the air temperature was very cold but the spa was steaming hot & very therapeutic - & we had it to ourselves....understandable perhaps because of the weather, but hey, we ARE from Oberon

After a yummy dinner we had lattes in Crooner's while the string quartet played & then, since we had seats (or I had a seat - Allan had his own LOL) we stayed to hear Larry Dunsmore's first show. He was very entertaining, mostly playing requests & bantering with the audience.

[aussie57]

DAY 11 - FIORDLAND

We were very fortunate to be able to enter the sounds because the weather had been touch & go. Entered Dusky Sound around 8am & ate breakfast at a window table in Horizon Court watching the fjordland waterfalls scenery slide by. I really like that Horizon Court is at the front of the ship instead of the stern as with most other ships we've been on. When we were in Milford Sound, Allan sat near a window right over the bow & as most people were out on deck he wasn't crowded & had a great view. It does mean the front lifts get very congested though, especially when something's on in the Princess Theatre as well. Often Allan would go through to the Atrium & use the panoramic lifts which were often easier to catch.

We went out on Deck 7 to see if we could spot seals or dolphins but it was freezing & windy & we were about to head back out to sea from Dusky /Doubtful Sounds. We went to morning trivia in the Vista Lounge & afterwards sat by a window with friends & ordered lattes just as we were entering Thompson Sound. Unbelievably, after a view minutes of this idyllic pastime, the blinds went down because a movie was about to start. Seriously, I can't imagine anyone choosing to watch a movie rather than the fiordland scenery but somebody actually scheduled it like that! So we moved to the premier Cru Bar - coffees in hand. I tries going out on Deck 7 again but the wind was really quite ferocious & I retreated back indoors.

Back out at sea the ship was moving quite strongly as we headed for Milford Sound which we were due to enter around 3.30pm. We had lunch, then Sports trivia for Allan & choir practice for me where there was a lot of stumbling going on as we tried to hold our positions & do our little choreographed actions in time with the floor moving! Tonight we had booked to go to Sterling Steakhouse for dinner at 8pm ($20pp), so we thought we'd go to Afternoon Tea as on all the other days we really didn't think we could justify it being on early dinner seating. It was yummy & quite decadent, made even better by the fact that Allan was brought gluten free scones much to his delight.

Just as we left the dining room the Sea Princess was entering Milford Sound. Allan went to Horizon Court as aforementioned & I rugged up & went up to Deck 15 amidship armed with my camera. As before I found the scenery majestic & spectacular although it was hard to find a viewing spot by the railing with so many people on deck. There were snatches of sunlight through the prevalent heavy clouds, & the brief gaps in the clouds revealed snow on the peaks. There were myriads of waterfalls & lots of small cruise boats full of land-based sightseers. The skipper of one of these boats took a phot of Sea Princess & posted it on FB, so I borrowed it to put it here.

 

 

Sea Princess in Milford Sound 22 Nov 2011It was hard to wait for 8pm for dinner when we were used to 5.45! but we filled in the time by drinking lattes & listening to the string quartet & the Russian pianist, Radyk Bashirov. The Stirling Steakhouse is one side of Horizon Court but is unrecognisable from its daytime appearance as it's transformed into a classy restaurant. We've always found Princess food & service in the MDR to be of an excellent standard & couldn't see how it could be improved, but it was! My 8oz(smallest available) filet steak was the juiciest, most tender, most delicious steak I can remember having. There was quite a significant swell & if I looked out the window I could see that the bow was actually crashing down from the peak of the waves, but it didn't deter us from eating everything in sight, including our dessert of delicious raspberry creme brulee.

We had both overindulged with our dinner (actually we could hardly move) so went back to the cabin. With the increased movement we had noticed an odd gurgling noise in the ceiling/wall & hoped that a torrent of some sort of unmentionable liquid was not going to burst forth from somwhere & flood us. (We did hear the next day that a lady had been showered in water that fell from the ceiling outside the Princess Theatre - but whilst the gurgling noise remained, the liquid stayed away from us)

Since we'd left Dunedin we'd had no MCP (ship satellite) signal on our mobiles & we rang reception to mention it. The assistant rabbitted on about poor signal in cabins etc but we had had good MCP coverage for the whole journey thus far & suspected that someone had actually forgotten to activate it after we left Dunedin. Lo & behold, about half an hour later we had signal once again. I can't believe no one else had queried that in over 24hrs.

[Sandielle]

There was certainly no smoking in any indoor parts of the ship such as on Sapphire in 2007 when smoking was allowed in one half of the Explorer's Lounge, or on Celebrity which was even worse. :eek:

Don't know about balconies as we had an O/V outside. There was smoking on one side of Promenade & a section of Deck 14 outside. If there weren't obvious clusters of smokers you could still spot the ashtrays or smoking receptacles so you could steer clear. When I was doing the circuit on the Promenade Deck I'd just hurry past & hold my breath!

 

Thanks Anne, that's good to know. Smoke makes my nose itch so I go around like Samantha in Bewitched!!! :D Also good to hear about your choir. I'm used to reading the music, but I'm adaptable. I hope we have similar, because I'm hopeless at trivia - don't go to many movies, or know anything about sports or modern songs - and I certainly don't do karaoke, lol.

[aussie57]

DAY 12 - AT SEA

On the Wake Show this morning they advertised a sale in the boutiques starting at 8am so I trotted down there before breakfast. The sale was a bit of a fizzer as far as sales go & pretty frustrating as the only things I was interested in would have been the Quicksilver t-shirts for $20ea, but they had about 20 shirts altogether & very limited sizes. When I asked about other sizes they said they'd sold out. Pretty poor show I reckon as I'd been there so early they certainly didn't sell out on this sailing.

We followed our usual pattern of Morning Trivia then lattes at Explorers, before going to see the Future Cruise Lady & got the form to buy a Future Cruise Letter.

We'd heard good things about the pizza place, Cafe Corniche, on Deck 8 in the Atrium & when we enquired they said they only needed 30min notice to make Allan a gluten free pizza. So we opted for that for lunch & it was delicious. We had a table overlooking the atrium & looked on with some amusement as the entertainment staff were filling a high net with inflated balloons for the midnight gala balloon drop scheduled for that night, as a lot of the balloons were missing the net & floating down to the floor on Deck 5.

Allan then went to a Speed Scrabble game & I went to the final rehearsal for the Pop Choir. Our performance was at 3.00pm in the Vista Lounge & the lounge was packed! As those who've sailed on Sun & Dawn Princess would know, there are 2 "theatre"-type venues on these Sun class ships which I think is a great idea. It means that at night they often have top-billed performances showing in both venues so that more people are catered for at the same time as on a ship with only one large showlounge which fills up quickly causing many people to have to miss the show. Interestingly on Princess they used Vista Lounge (the smaller of the 2) for Bingo which didn't seem to have the same mass appeal as on P&O where the showlounge is always packed out for Bingo. We don't play Bingo ourselves, so it's just an observation.

Our choir performance was very well received & I think we did a pretty good job, especially with the free harmonising on the last note of the last 2 songs. We got a lot of applause anyway.

Tonight was our 2nd Formal Night of the cruise & at 5pm we went to the Captain's Circle Cocktail party in the Vista Lounge. The most travelled passenger was Stephen from the Gold Coast with over 1200 sailing days with Princess- that's over 4years!!

Lobster was on the menu at dinner again but I went for the pheasant this time. I also decided after the steakhouse the previous night that I'd just have the fresh fruit platter for dessert after which our waiter appeared with plates of little chocolate delicacies which he delighted in putting in mutiples in front of those of us always complaining about how many calories we were consuming!

The final production show for the cruise was "British Invasion" which included great music & even fireworks, but even that couldn't keep us from nodding off - sincere apologies to the Sea Princess singers & dancers, but cruising is so tiring! Tonight we put our clocks back an hour so at last we were going to get some extra sleep.

[aussie57]

DAY 13 - AT SEA

The last sea day is always tinged with sadness because it's packing day & we know that in 24hrs we'll be getting ready to disembark

But for us this time it was also spend the remaining OBC day

After breakfast in the buffet we had lattes in Explorers served by Jesse who had got to know our orders. We had a window seat which was very pleasant. I went to the boutiques & bought a couple of souvenir Princess shirts & then joined the queue for the Bijou Terner $20 sale in the Deck 5 dining room. There was a good selection of merchandise on offer & I made a few more purchases.

Allan had been to the speed sudoku challenge & then Dan's (the ACD) magic demonstration in the Vista Lounge which was very good. We enjoyed morning trivia but we well & truly bombed out on the questions.

At noon we went to Horizon Court to see the pastry extravaganza &, not having seen one of these before, we were truly blown away by the extensive display of edible treats - huge cakes in the shapes of carrot, banana, sheep, chocolate sculptures (the swan was amazing), heaps of multi coloured cupcakes, slices, tarts, pies, profiteroles...impossible to describe (or even photograph effectively)....oh, & a penguin ice sculpture.

After many photos & people filing past to gaze in wonder, they did the unthinkable & cut everything up & opened it up as a pastry buffet! I guess they couldn't just leave it there. Allan had some pavlova & I had 2 bits of cake but there's no way you could even sample a fraction of what was on offer (although there were some people giving it a pretty good shot!! )

I really hope the crew got to have some of the delicacies in their own dining room - & I don't just mean leftovers. There was so much stuff there that they should have been able to have entire cakes & pies to sample as well.

It was time to pack the suitcases & while I was doing that I had the Reflections DVD playing on the cabin TV & saw myself in the Pop Choir. It wasn't enough to make me fork out $60 for the DVD though!

We went to the Passenger Talent Show & Afternoon Trivia & then it was time for our last dinner. We had a happy time with our table "family" & Zaldy, our waiter was still trying to convince everyone to "Eat more! eat more!" - aaaargh!

I love that Princess still has the Baked Alaska Parade in the MDR & that they use REAL baked alaska with your waiter carrying your dessert before it's cut up for your table. Allan got his own gluten free baked alaska & he was thrilled!

We watched a movie in the cabin & went to the final trivia game before turning in to be rocked to sleep for the last night.

[aussie57]

DISEMBARKATION DAY

We sailed through the heads about 6.15am & it was foggy & raining so not such a bright harbour welcome for our OS pax. On the bridge cam we noticed a black-hulled cruise ship was ahead of us & we realised it was the HAL Zaandam. I went out on Deck 7 & took some pics as we approached the bridge & we had a great view of Zaandam as we passed under it.

We wanted to check out the Platinum / Elite / Suite Departure Lounge in the Wheelhouse Bar but because of the wheelchair we had to wait in the Atrium with the mobility impaired. This was not as well organised as P&O who rope off an area with chairs for those in that category. The Explorer's Bar was serving coffee on a cash basis & all sorts of people were milling about & taking their time in the Atrium & making it difficult for the wheelchair passengers arriving at their allocated assembling time. Princess really needs to reserve space for this purpose.

We did disembark smoothly when it was our turn & sailed through customs but P&O provide dedicated wheelchair assistants who help me find & lift the luggage etc whereas Princess provides a crew member who just stood by the wheelchair & let me do all the heavy stuff myself.

Then it was into a taxi & homeward!!

PHEW!!!

[bobhsv]

Hello & Happy Christmas yourselves, Jen & Bob! BTW you might recognise a reference in the next installment LOL (I also posted the review elsewhere incl pics)

 

 

Awww, aren't you just the kindest person Anne:) I am still giggling of the memories of you and Bob disappearing into the thick white cloud of smelly stuff around the steaming lake. I admit I was getting worried that you both hadn't decided to go for a hot dip:eek:. What a fun day it was, and a pleasure to have spent it with you both. One we won't forget, thanks.

Jen

[Armchair Cruiser]

Anne

 

A really comprehensive report. Well done. Best wishes for the festive season and 2012

 

Cheers Rose & Norm