Sun Princess Review - Fijian Jewels 11/1/12 - 22/1/12

[fayfam]

Sun Princess – Fijian Jewels 11th January 2012 – 22nd January 2012

 

Itinerary – Brisbane – Noumea – Iles of Pines – Suva – Port Denaru – Port Vila, Vanuatu – Brisbane

 

This was our fifth cruise and second with Princess. We are in our 40’s and cruised for the first time with two of our four children. Our son is 20 and daughter is 16. (18 year old daughter wanted to stay home and house-sit. Amazing how quick the recycling bin filled with bottles and cans in 11 days????)

 

 

We arrived at Portside at 10am but the cruise terminal was hot and crowded, so we checked our bags and decided to escape the heat around the corner at a café for 1 ½ hours while the Sun disembarked the previous passengers. We had a smooth embarkation at Brisbane and were on the ship by approx. 1pm. We headed straight to the Guest services desk to put cash down on each of our accounts. We always do this and have found it is the easiest way to keep control of how much we spend. We checked our onboard credit and had 200.00 per cabin from our TA but our future cruise onboard credit wasn’t recorded. I whipped out my folder of paperwork and showed Irena and she was straight onto the email to Princess Head Office to sort it out. Mark called our TA at the same time and found out that when we upgraded from inside cabins to Obstructed O/V the week before, they forgot to bring across the past passenger OBC. We thought it was about 180.00 for our cabin but they told Mark it was 220.00. This was a surprise but we were just happy to sort it out. By the afternoon we checked back with Guest Services and to our surprise Princess had credited Mark & I 220.00 each. No complaints from us. 840.00 total for 4 of us.

 

Handy Hint; print and take with you all important email correspondence you have regarding your cruise, even if you TA says “Trust me, you won’t need it”. Chances are you will.

 

 

 

Dining Room: Mark headed to the dining room that afternoon to check our dining arrangements and consult with the maître d' regarding our son’s vegan diet. When he didn’t return after half an hour I went looking for him and found him with a number and more than 30 people sitting around waiting. Mark was up next and the maître d' was lovely and very helpful. They would let our son select something from the next evening’s menu and they would try to make it Vegan. He had some great meals and if we didn’t make it to the dining room, our waiter Ronaldo told us he would eat the meal. They made him feel very special and sometimes would come out with 4 or 5 choices and place them plates in front of him like a king. I think they loved the way a 6 ft 20 year eats.

 

 

We ate in the dining room most evenings and the food was excellent. This is our 5th cruise, so we are pretty new to cruising however I can honestly say that Princess in our opinion has had the best dining room food so far.

 

 

Buffet: Having the two kids with us, we tended to eat at the buffet a lot for breakfast and lunch. Their selections were good and our son was always able to find plenty of salad, curries, potato dishes etc. When we were on the Celebrity Infinity we loved the way the buffet stations were manned by staff who would dish out the food on your plate. This stopped a lot of contamination by so many passengers touching the serving utensils. I think Princess need more hand sanitisers around the ship. We found them at the entrance to the buffet and dining room but nowhere else. In everyday life, we never use this precaution but on the ship we are avid users.

 

 

The Terrace Grill was another favourite place to eat lunch as they cook fresh chips, burgers, vegie burgers, hotdogs, kebab’s (I think) and have pies in the pie warmer. On RCCL and Celebrity we found the chips to be cold most of the time and coated in some type of crumb or salt before being cooked.

 

 

 

Laudromat: There is one on decks 5 – 11. We washed twice and took our own washing liquid as our daughter is allergic to most. I used the clear travel pack bottles that hold 100mls. Our cabins were on Deck 8 but most of the time that one was being used. Often, both washers by one person. We would usually head to deck 10 because our thinking was, there were heaps of suites on this deck and they probably had free laundry. The wait was usually only 10 minutes and Mark would sit and read a magazine while he waited. He did mention that the detergent dispenser was very hard to push in and pull out. He helped a few older ladies who didn’t have the strength to operate the machine.

 

 

 

The washer and dryer cost $2.00 per wash and takes $1.00 coins. Guest services will change money if you need change. Handy Hint: place a clean towel in the dryer with your wet clothes to speed up the drying process. I think you get 45 minutes of drying time. Confession: I didn’t do one bit of washing. I just popped my head in to say hi or bring him a bag.

 

 

Fitness Centre: The fitness centre is very small but serves its purpose for the people who like to sweat on a cruise. They also offer fitness classes for free or Yoga, Pilates or Spin for 13.00 each. My son and I did the Yoga classes which were held on sea days. Package of 5 for 50.00 or 13.00 each. Handy Hint: They have a small Lotus Pool and spa that is hidden away in the middle of the Fitness Centre. This is usually quiet and a nice place to relax if the main pool areas are busy. There is also a bar there.

 

 

Cabins – D602 & D606: We originally booked two inside cabins close to each other on Deck 10 but upgraded at a small cost to Obstructed O/V cabins the week before cruising. The view was blocked by the tender boats but we didn’t care as we could still see through the windows and natural light was a bonus. We noticed the staff working on the tender would leave the windows open so we had a clearer view. Handy Hint: Close your curtain in these cabins when you come out of the bathroom or decide to change clothes. Workers appear from nowhere. The cabins were midship and in a convenient location. Even though they were close to the casino, we never heard any noise. When we were heading back to our cabin at night I would just close the glass doors that separate the sports bar from our hallway near the cabins.

 

 

 

These two cabins are a more square shape than other cabins. We found them to be ok on space with big windows. The bathroom included Lotus Spa shampoo, conditioner and body lotion. I ended up using the conditioner as I brought 2 shampoos by mistake. We also used the body lotion. The shower has the dreaded shower curtain but I think it didn’t hug me as much this time. Maybe the shape of the shower was more square.

 

 

 

Library: Our kids would use the library daily to do the sudoku or crossword. They have a great variety of books and games. We borrowed many books and near the end of the cruise would spend heaps of time in the library playing Trival Pursuit and Scrabble. When you live in a cabin with your husband, wife, sister or brother for 11nights, competition is a great way to let off a bit of steam.

 

 

 

Soft Drink Cards/Coffee Cards: On the first day we bought the ultimate soda card for each of the kids. They were around 84.00 for the 11 days (7.95 per day). This gave them access to all soft drinks, smoothies, milkshakes (even soy), mocktails etc. If you need soy milk, most bars have it in stock. If you need it for cereal in the buffet, go to one of the closest bars and they will give you a tall glass.

Coffee cards were 35.00 for 15 coffees.

 

 

Teen Club: Our daughter was hesitant at first registering for this but on the second day she asked me to go with her to register. She was in the 13 – 17 club which had 129 members on board (only 28 are in the same age group for the next cruise to New Zealand). She loved going and would often go to bed later than all of us. It is a very safe place and the older children are free to come and go as they please. They had plenty of activities and events planned. By the end of the cruise they were all swapping names and contact details to catch up.

 

 

 

Ports: Noumea: As we arrived at pm we didn’t have any plans. We have never been to Noumea as when we were on the Dawn Princess in 2009 we missed this port due to leaving late from Sydney. We paid 10.00 ea (1000 francs) for the all day explorer bus. We took this to Lemon Bay and swan and snorkelled. I reminded everyone to wear their reef shoes. Of course Mark didn’t and was stung by a sea urchin. He had about 6-8 barbs stuck in his foot. When he was at the shower washing them, a lovely local man with very little English, knew exactly what to do and took him to the life savers. They used a combination of hot and cold water and some special cream which would help disolve the barbs which where approx. 1-2 cms long.

 

 

 

We ate some crepes and checked out the supermarket and then was back on the ship by 7pm. We passed the Medical Centre where we saw a man coming out with dressings on the top of his foot and limping. He looked in a lot of pain and his wife was carrying a bag of medical supplies. We later heard that he had been stung by a stingray and had spent the rest of the cruise unwell. I don’t know if this is true but we did see him a couple of times around the ship and he was still limping.

 

 

 

Iles of Pines: We had a great day snorkelling . It was so great that our son who had his iphone on him at all times to take photos, in his excitement, left it in his pocket of his board shorts and realized after an hour of snorkelling. Travel Insurance is considering this claim as we speak?????? The ship inspected the phone and made a report for us. He was devastated as not only did it have all of his holiday photos, it had a lot of music he had composed.

 

 

 

Suva: We booked a Zip line tour through Zip Fiji. This was a great day and would recommend it to anyone. We also spent a couple of hours walking through Suva city. Our son wanted to post a letter to his girlfriend and our daughter likes to check out the supermarket.

 

 

Port Denaru: We booked South Sea Island through the ship and had a great day. We have done this shore excursion before and really wanted to take the kids there. It was very expensive at 518.00 for all of us (129 each) but Princess book the whole island which made it impossible to book ourselves through a tour agency ( 40.00 each). We snorkelled most of the day. The fish were in abundance and we even had 2 ft black tip sharks swimming in knee high water around our legs. They are harmless but fascinating. The kids had a mini massage each for 30 fjd.

 

 

 

Port Vila: This is one of our favourite places to visit. We have holidayed there before cruising and always find something new to do. This time our kids did the abseiling down the Cascade falls tour. Amazing experience for them and one that they will remember for a long time. We booked a local tour to go up there (3000vatu each) Evergreen tours is owned and run by the village that owns the land and the falls. We were able to video tape the whole abseiling experience for them. We met back at the ship and then took a taxi into town to shop for cheap alcohol (first time we have ever done this in three trips to Vila). Now we know what everyone is talking about.

 

 

 

Lunch, Tusker beer for me (Mark doesn’t drink, son is in a Kava study through his uni – coincidence) and then shopping. I asked our taxi driver David if he would meet us at 4.15pm at the Post office to take us back to the ship and he jumped at the chance. Sure enough he found us on the street, at exactly 4.15pm.

 

 

 

Rumour has it that 3 people broke their leg. I saw 2 ladies and 3 men in Princess wheelchairs with casts/braces on their legs. We had a couple of rain showers and saw quite a few people slip over on the deck near the Horizon Court. One person was also put in an ambulance at Vila.

The last couple of days were spent relaxing, playing games and eating. What a wonderful cruise this was.

 

 

 

Perfect weather, calm waters, friendly people and a great atmosphere. What more could you want. We have lots of photos of the ship, cabins and ports. If anyone would like to see something or would like to know something, I will do my best to help.

 

 

Kerry :)

[thied]

very for you to do a review , i wish I could wright as welll as you have,

 

mmmm 18 yr old home alone for 11 days lucky it was just Amazing how quick the recycling bin filled with bottles and cans in 11 days????):D

[fayfam]

very for you to do a review , i wish I could wright as welll as you have,

 

mmmm 18 yr old home alone for 11 days lucky it was just Amazing how quick the recycling bin filled with bottles and cans in 11 days????):D

 

Thanks Thied. I love reading reviews and thought maybe some fellow CC members may be interested in our experience. I have found it hard to get some recent Sun Princess reviews, so for every 100 people that aren't interested there maybe 1 that is. I should have put a warning about it's length. Sorry ;)

 

I think the 18 year old daughter had a hand by 30 of her closest friends.

 

Kerry :)

[Sandielle]

I love reading reviews and thought maybe some fellow CC members may be interested in our experience. I have found it hard to get some recent Sun Princess reviews, so for every 100 people that aren't interested there maybe 1 that is. I should have put a warning about it's length. Sorry ;)

Kerry :)

 

Long? :rolleyes: That's not long, Kerry. :D :D Thank you for taking the time to write this. We are soon to cruise on Sun Princess, and although I have done heaps of research you have given some more useful hints. Much appreciated.

 

Cheers

Sandy

[johndon]

Fayfam

 

Good review and well written. We are on Sun Princess to NZ in March so we know what to expect now. We have done 2 cruises on Dawn Princess and I wrote a review for both. You can read them under "Member Reviews" and compare them with yours.

 

John

[fayfam]

Long? :rolleyes: That's not long, Kerry. :D :D Thank you for taking the time to write this. We are soon to cruise on Sun Princess, and although I have done heaps of research you have given some more useful hints. Much appreciated.

 

Cheers

Sandy

 

Thanks Sandy. I have read that you love singing in choirs. I am sure you already know that they have a Princess choir to join at the start of the cruise. Have a great cruise. She really is a lovely ship. Well maintained and well staffed.

 

Kerry :)

[cjm66]

I enjoyed your review. A good mix of ship and shore information. We are looking forward to another cruise on Sun Princess - to New Zealand. You reminded me of the pleasure there can be in a family holiday to new places

 

 

Colleen

[fayfam]

Fayfam

 

Good review and well written. We are on Sun Princess to NZ in March so we know what to expect now. We have done 2 cruises on Dawn Princess and I wrote a review for both. You can read them under "Member Reviews" and compare them with yours.

 

John

 

We loved the Dawn too. However, we were on the cruise before the drydock in 2009. Going on the Sun was just like the Dawn but with all the extras. I am going to head there now and read them. Thanks John.

 

Kerry :)

[c7009]

Thanks for the great review.

Do you happen to have any pictures of the room? We are sailing on the Sun 3rd March Syd/NZ rtn. I am travelling with my parents and my 3 1/2 yr old son, and we are in D608. Obviously it will be set up as a 4 berth and its hard for me to imagine how it's going to all work. I know it's going to be cozy.. But we are thinking about asking for a roll away so that we can try and get away with only one tops bunk as my son is too young to sleep in a top bunk and it's not such a great idea for either of my parents if we can avoid it also.

Also did you happen to catch any of the entertainers. Obviously they may have changed by the time we get on, but I'm still interested. My son is mad for any kind of acrobat/juggler/magician but also loves live dancers etc, not that he will be up late all that often. But if there is something he might like, and he's awake then I'd let him go for a short while.

Do you remember what the movies were?

[Aus Traveller]

Kerry, Who was the Cruise Director and Deputy? Was it still Mark and Frenchie?

[fayfam]

Kerry, Who was the Cruise Director and Deputy? Was it still Mark and Frenchie?

 

Sorry, I forgot to add those details. Captain Andrew Froude. CD was Kelvin Joy & Frenchie was his deputy. They seemed to be a good combination.

 

Kerry :)

[fayfam]

I enjoyed your review. A good mix of ship and shore information. We are looking forward to another cruise on Sun Princess - to New Zealand. You reminded me of the pleasure there can be in a family holiday to new places

 

 

Colleen

 

Thanks Colleen. I really appreciate your comments. We would love to cruise to New Zealand. Maybe on the Sun as she really is a fantastic ship. Family holidays are great. We are trying to get as many in as we can before they are too old and busy to want to share it with us.

 

Kerry :)

[Debsta]

Fantastic review Kerry!

[fayfam]

Thanks for the great review.

Do you happen to have any pictures of the room? We are sailing on the Sun 3rd March Syd/NZ rtn. I am travelling with my parents and my 3 1/2 yr old son, and we are in D608. Obviously it will be set up as a 4 berth and its hard for me to imagine how it's going to all work. I know it's going to be cozy.. But we are thinking about asking for a roll away so that we can try and get away with only one tops bunk as my son is too young to sleep in a top bunk and it's not such a great idea for either of my parents if we can avoid it also.

Also did you happen to catch any of the entertainers. Obviously they may have changed by the time we get on, but I'm still interested. My son is mad for any kind of acrobat/juggler/magician but also loves live dancers etc, not that he will be up late all that often. But if there is something he might like, and he's awake then I'd let him go for a short while.

Do you remember what the movies were?

 

Hi

 

We walked past D608 when it was made up with 4 bunks. The room was a different shape to ours as it was longer whereas ours was more of a square shape. I will try to post a couple of photos of our cabin but they won't be the same. When we looked in from the door, the bunks ran the length of the room with the window in between. It looked a bit cosy but you are not in the room a lot so I am sure you will be fine. I don't know if they will allow a rollaway in the room as it is very hard for the cabin steward to get around to make the beds up. Our Cabin steward Arthur would work up a sweat and said they were the hardest cabins he had.

 

We didn't get to attend the entertainment but I have the Princess Patters in front of me, so I will list them.

Piano Man - Princess singers & dancers

Comedy Magician Shayne Richards

Ventriloquist Sarah Jones

Production Show - Save the last dance - Princess singers & Dancers

Instrumentalist Roland Storm - Aust. Keyboard Country Rocker

Vocalist Tony Pantano

Production show - Shimmy - A salute to Rock n Roll era

Classical Concert with Diamond String Quartet

British Invasion Princess Dancers & Singers

Music Variety of La Forza - vocal show

 

Movies in the Princess Theatre & Movies under the Stars

Puss in Boots

I don't know how she does it

Warrior

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Captain America

Bridesmaids

Footloose

50/50

Mr. Poppers Penguins

Kung Fu Panda

Gold Rush

Midnight in Paris

Lots of music concerts on the big screen

 

Hot popcorn on a deck chair watching the movies under the stars was always a favorite in the evenings.

 

The kids in the kids club were always so organized and looked to be having a ball. When they had line dancing out on the Lido deck, alot of the children had made cowboy/girl hats and scarves to wear.

 

Kerry :)

[fayfam]

Fantastic review Kerry!

 

Thanks Deb. Not long now for your fantastic cruise. You must be so excited. Let me know how to vote when the time comes.

 

Kerry :)

[robinph]

We loved the Dawn too. However, we were on the cruise before the drydock in 2009. Going on the Sun was just like the Dawn but with all the extras. I am going to head there now and read them. Thanks John.

 

Kerry :)

 

We were on that Dawn Princess cruise too, that was the one that was held up embarking because of the swine flu, and we did'nt board until nearly 12 midnight with sailaway about 1am if I remember rightly, would go down as probably the longest day of my life hanging around wharf 8 with no seating and every inch of floor space taken, at least now if something like this happens wharf 5 has better facilities to cope with the crowd. once we were on our way we had a good cruise, even though we missed a few ports definetly enjoy my Princess cruises. Robin:)

[c7009]

Thanks so much for your answer. I knew the picture on the Princess site had to be wrong. It shows a cabin much like I imagine your's was with the one bed against the bathroom wall and the other in the middle of the room. I couldnt imagine where the other top bunk would be, and made the comment to my Mum that I bet the beds would be length wise with the window between. She is adamant that the bunk just hands from the ceiling, and that there would be room for a rollaway under the window if we moved the chair and little table...

It sounds much like a cabin we had many many moons ago (1978) when we cruised as a family (I was 8 my brother 10). It will be fine. If we can't have the rollaway, we will be fine. Worst comes to worse, if Dads not coping on a top bunk we will take the matress off one of the top bunks and put my son in between the two bottom beds of a night, and put it back up in the morning before the porter comes to clean. We don't intend on being in the cabin much. It's a pretty port heavy cruise and I'm sure my son will keep me out and about during the day.

I think the biggest issue will be 4 people, one bathroom, but again, we will make it work.

[fayfam]

We were on that Dawn Princess cruise too, that was the one that was held up embarking because of the swine flu, and we did'nt board until nearly 12 midnight with sailaway about 1am if I remember rightly, would go down as probably the longest day of my life hanging around wharf 8 with no seating and every inch of floor space taken, at least now if something like this happens wharf 5 has better facilities to cope with the crowd. once we were on our way we had a good cruise, even though we missed a few ports definetly enjoy my Princess cruises. Robin:)

 

Robin, that is exactly how our day went. With a 6am flight from Melb. we were awake around 3am. Hanging around the wharf and Darling Habour until 12am midnight. Up to the Buffet to eat around 12.30am, food was cold and tiredness got the better of us. In bed around 1am. Seasick most of the next day, along with 75% of the ship. I remember we missed Noumea and Lifou. They blamed our ship was a risk of swine flu but apparently everyone was ok. Our first cruise so we didn't know any better. It was amazing how well behaved we all were just sitting around in the cold outside on concrete without knowing anything. Still, it was a great cruise and didn't put us off. Even the fact that I was diagnosed on the fifth day with shingles across my forehead and 600.00 later in medical bills it didn't dampen my spirit, I was still having a great time. Maybe it was the 5 different tablets the ship's doctor prescribed for me.

 

Kerry :)

[Royalty X]

Great review Kerry, thanks for posting it. I love reading reviews as well. I have to admit, the Sun Princess looks like a lovely ship. And I loved you handy hints! :)

[Sandielle]

One of the members of our FB roll call was on Sun Princess recently (Nov/Dec)and said Kelvin Joy will still be on ours, but Frenchie wouldn't.

[windsor26]

Thanks so much for your answer. I knew the picture on the Princess site had to be wrong. It shows a cabin much like I imagine your's was with the one bed against the bathroom wall and the other in the middle of the room. I couldnt imagine where the other top bunk would be, and made the comment to my Mum that I bet the beds would be length wise with the window between. She is adamant that the bunk just hands from the ceiling, and that there would be room for a rollaway under the window if we moved the chair and little table...

It sounds much like a cabin we had many many moons ago (1978) when we cruised as a family (I was 8 my brother 10). It will be fine. If we can't have the rollaway, we will be fine. Worst comes to worse, if Dads not coping on a top bunk we will take the matress off one of the top bunks and put my son in between the two bottom beds of a night, and put it back up in the morning before the porter comes to clean. We don't intend on being in the cabin much. It's a pretty port heavy cruise and I'm sure my son will keep me out and about during the day.

I think the biggest issue will be 4 people, one bathroom, but again, we will make it work.

 

The answer for 4 people one bathroom when you are getting ready for dinner is for a couple (men usually) to go and use the spa showers, more room spare towels and peace

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi Kerry,

Good reviews from the Aussie perspective are sadly lacking of late, so I really appreciate your taking the time to prepare this one.

I will wait until we board to book the classes in the Lotus spa (nice specials) and like the towel in the dryer trick.

[fayfam]

Hi Kerry,

Good reviews from the Aussie perspective are sadly lacking of late, so I really appreciate your taking the time to prepare this one.

I will wait until we board to book the classes in the Lotus spa (nice specials) and like the towel in the dryer trick.

 

Hi Anna

 

They offered us the package of lessons after our first class when we were ready to pay. You can combine different ones to make up the five.

 

For anyone with a girl under 19 years, look out for the Spa Pamper Package for $59.00. We signed our daughter up for this and she loved it. Facial, manicure, head massage, hair braided etc. Lots of pampering for a great price. They have lots of sheets near the Lotus Spa entrance to sign up for different things.

 

Kerry :)

[K-Roo-Zers]

Hi Kerry,

 

Thanks for a great, up-to-date review of the Sun Princess. DH and I have often considered trying Sun Princess but after some "fairly ordinary" reviews have shied away. We have been on various Princess ships, but never Dawn, Sun or Sea.

 

We are now about to kill two birds with one stone. We are doing the Cherry Blossom cruise on Sea Princess in March which we are both really looking forward to.

 

Imagine our delight when we noticed Sun Princess departing Brisbane for a two night cruise to Sydney - completely eliminating the need to fly to Sydney - yeah.

 

What a great way to take advantage of both Sun and Sea Princess.

 

Thanks for the great review and all the tips.

 

Nicki

[fayfam]

Hi Kerry,

 

Thanks for a great, up-to-date review of the Sun Princess. DH and I have often considered trying Sun Princess but after some "fairly ordinary" reviews have shied away. We have been on various Princess ships, but never Dawn, Sun or Sea.

 

We are now about to kill two birds with one stone. We are doing the Cherry Blossom cruise on Sea Princess in March which we are both really looking forward to.

 

Imagine our delight when we noticed Sun Princess departing Brisbane for a two night cruise to Sydney - completely eliminating the need to fly to Sydney - yeah.

 

What a great way to take advantage of both Sun and Sea Princess.

 

Thanks for the great review and all the tips.

 

Nicki

 

Hi Nicki

 

You won't be disappointed with the Sun Princess. Even though it is quite a few years old, it never looked tired or worn. Maintenance staff were always out oiling the teak rails, painting, cleaning etc. We especially love the Promenade Deck that wraps around the whole ship. We have been on Celebrity Infinity and would rate Sun Princess above that ship for quality of food, staff service and overall cleanliness and look. Have fun on your Cherry Blossom Cruise.

 

Kerry :)