Australia and New Zealand Ships

[Turk1]

OK, time to "Ask the Experts". Wife and I are looking to cruise Australia/New Zealand in Feb/March 2018. Curious as to recommendations for Ship that most prefer. Depending on itinerary there seems to be 4 possible ships. Golden (which we have cruised on to Alaska), Diamond, Sun and Sea Princess. Looking for input as to pros/cons of each. Also, various ports to cruise from/to include Sydney,Auckland, Melbourne and Brisbane. Input on everyone preferences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Colo Cruiser]

OK, time to "Ask the Experts". Wife and I are looking to cruise Australia/New Zealand in Feb/March 2018. Curious as to recommendations for Ship that most prefer. Depending on itinerary there seems to be 4 possible ships. Golden (which we have cruised on to Alaska), Diamond, Sun and Sea Princess. Looking for input as to pros/cons of each. Also, various ports to cruise from/to include Sydney,Auckland, Melbourne and Brisbane. Input on everyone preferences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

 

In order,

 

Golden

Diamond

 

 

 

Sea

Sun

(Built late 90's)

After sailing on both......

IMO we would not cruise on any Sun Class ships anymore.

Check out the reviews on them.

Edited January 25, 2017 by Colo Cruiser

[Turk1]

Thanks. That the way I was leaning also. Like I said we have been on the Golden and enjoyed that ship.

[Thrak]

We sailed Sea Princess in 2011 and loved it. Granted, that was a while back but Sea Princess had Cafe Corniche (better than Alfredo's) and also had the super wide Promenade deck with room for a lounger and plenty left over for people walking around the deck.

 

The inside cabins are tiny though. I suppose the Sun class ships may be showing their age more than they did in 2011 but we have some very fond memories of the cruise.

Edited January 25, 2017 by Thrak

[clubby]

Diamond then Golden

Avoid sun class ships so old.

It's great to have newer ships down under now after having the old ships for so long.

Diamond has some nice features not on Golden or other ships, worth a try if you have never been on her.

[Kartgv]

On which port to sail from, Sydney & Auckland probably have more flight choices, which may translate to lower cost. I think there are also more cruise choices from those ports. To get to the ports, we've flown both Air New Zealand and Qantas and been happy with them. We once flew United to Sydney and it was not a happy experience. Both cities have lots to see and do, so fly in AT LEAST one day early, more if possible.

 

If you can swing it, upgrade your flight to at least 'premium economy'. It's a very long flight from the US or almost anywhere else in the world and it would be nice to start out your cruise without being exhausted and cranky.

Edited January 25, 2017 by Kartgv

[Cruiserkenn]

Had a great cruise on Sun Princess in October, around New Zealand, RT from Sydney.

 

The Sun has a great, wrap around promenade deck.

 

The Sun has the new on demand TV system, with new HD flat screen TVs.

 

The cruise was RT from Sydney, and loved Sydney.

 

Hawaiian Airlines from Honolulu was a great flight. Their extra comfort seats are worth the extra money.

 

Enjoy!

Edited January 25, 2017 by Cruisin'Rabbit

[Alessandrina]

I really like Sea Princess; was on most recently for the Christmas cruise and have done various World Cruise segments on her.

 

She's the perfect size!

 

Have cruised out of Sydney and Brisbane and have enjoyed spending time in both cities.

 

Cheers.

[Aus Traveller]

The OP mentioned February/March. February is still very hot in the northern half of Australia and the Pacific Islands. If the itinerary you want is available in March, I suggest it would be a better time to cruise.

 

We have cruised many times on the Sun and Sea and find them quite OK. As someone mentioned, the Sun has anytime TV :):):) and the new beds. :):):)

 

Diamond and Golden are larger ships with a few more features, but in my opinion that does not necessarily translate into a better cruise.

[By The Bay]

My choice would be Sun as it gets into the Bay of Islands, which the Diamond or Golden do not. The Sun also has the new beds, IC cafe and other pluses already mentioned.

[OzKiwiJJ]

I've cruised on Sun and Golden, each has pluses and minuses but the Princess experience is the same.

 

February/March is a good time to cruise NZ, March or later if you want to go up the coast of Australia to the Great Barrier Reef or across to the South Pacific Islands.

 

It also depends on whether you want to so some land travel before/after your cruise. If so, a one way cruise Auckland to Sydney/Melbourne might be the way to go. Spend some time seeing parts on NZ that you don't see on a cruise eg Queenstown, then cruise to Australia and stay a few days there.

[Lanwood]

I've sailed on all of them. Not a huge fan of the sun class ships, but don't dislike them either. I really like the new added features on the Dimond Princess after its refit and facelift in 2014. Although the downside of the Dimond is no IC.

 

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Forums mobile app

[Kartgv]

Forgot to mention - if you're not locked into Princess, Celebrity Solstice does some very nice cruises around AU/NZ, with a couple of different itineraries. One includes western Australia (Perth) and there's one in April that goes from Sydney to Honolulu, stopping at several South Pacific islands. They're set up so that there is an opportunity for a couple of nice B2B options. We did 14 nights on the Solstice last January (Sydney > Auckland) and it's a very nice ship.

[Cruiserkenn]

My choice would be Sun as it gets into the Bay of Islands, which the Diamond or Golden do not. The Sun also has the new beds, IC cafe and other pluses already mentioned.

 

Yes! Cruising into and out of Bay of Islands on the Sun was fantastic! As was the scenic cruising of Fiordlands. Spectacular!

 

Thanks for reminding me:)

[iancal]

We did a Sun Princess Fiji cruise from Sydney. It was one of the best ships that we have been on in terms of food and service. A big bonus was that the on board currency was AUD instead of USD. As good or better than any Celebrity, etc cruise that we have enjoy

 

We followed it up two weeks later with an RCI cruise to NZ, Perth. By comparison would would rated the good on that run as a 7 compared to the Sun's 10?. Worse still, the drinks were more expensive in dollar price however the currency was USD. Essentially we paid thirty to forty percent more for the same drinks.