Questions, questions, questions!!

[Tanijean]

:) Hi there. This is my first time on the boards, though I am definately addicted to it and check it every day. I am heading off with three friends on the Sun, April 30th, Family Escapade. It is our first time cruising (though I did a stint as a crew member on a different cruise line) so I have a few questions that I hope you guys don't mind answering. I apologize if they have already been asked.

 

1) Someone once told me that the pools were often closed and/or emptied. Is this true?

2) A silly question, but is the air-conditioning on the ship cold? The ship I worked on was freezing all the time and many guests comented on it.

3) I have heard our departure time is around 5pm, so what time is embarkation? We are flying in from Brisbane on the same day and I was wondering what would be a good time to arrive in Sydney.

4) Are there any photographic facilities on board the Sun. I was wondering whether to take my laptop to download my photos on, or is there somewhere I can burn them onto to disc. If so, what are costs involved? I can't hold that many photos on my memory cards and will need to delete them probably every day.

5) Do we need to take cash on board so we can exchange it to local currency when on the islands?

 

I'll leave it there for now,

 

Thanks everyone!:)

[realdinkydi]

Welcome to the boards. I will try to answer some of your questions I have only been on one cruise on the Sun in Nov last year. You could get on from about 1pm to leave at 5pm. You change your money at the pursers desk on the ship to different currency. They empty the pools every. Not sure what time they refill never seen this happen but were always full through the day except when we had bad weather one day they had to empty them as the water was goin everywhere. They have a camera place on board I think you could get them downloaded there but not sure, someone else may be able to confirm this. You will have a wonderful time it was much better than I expected.

[realdinkydi]

The air con seemed alright to me. Sometimes in the cabin I thought it could have been slightly cooler but mostly alright. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have there is always people happy to answer them.

[jessica3152]

Air Conditioning was fine on both Sun and Sky. I was more concerned about it being stuffy rather than cold.

 

Pools tend to be emptied every night and fresh sea water added.

 

A 5PM departure would mean boarding from around 1PM so get a flight that lands around 12.30 into Sydney and you'll be fine.

 

The camera store on board will burn your smart cards to CD. Prices are not bad.

 

Cash is fine. You can put most of it onto your cruise card and keep the rest in the safe in your cabin. You only need foreign cash in New Caledonia anyway. Vanuatu accepts AUD.

[chaz cruiser]

Hi and welcome to the boards...

 

1) Someone once told me that the pools were often closed and/or emptied. Is this true? Pools are usually emptied and refilled every night and during bad weather or if the ship has a list at all. They are also covered up and not available for use after dark.

2) A silly question, but is the air-conditioning on the ship cold? The ship I worked on was freezing all the time and many guests comented on it. The air con can be cool in some areas but hot in others. Worth taking a light jacket/coat.

3) I have heard our departure time is around 5pm, so what time is embarkation? We are flying in from Brisbane on the same day and I was wondering what would be a good time to arrive in Sydney. Embarkation usually starts at 1pm for 5pm departures. I would suggest getting the earliest flight you can in case there are any problems and you are late. I think we usually try to get 8-9am flights when flying to Sydney.

4) Are there any photographic facilities on board the Sun. I was wondering whether to take my laptop to download my photos on, or is there somewhere I can burn them onto to disc. If so, what are costs involved? I can't hold that many photos on my memory cards and will need to delete them probably every day. Yes there are photographers on board. They can print your photos for you (reasonable rates I think from about 30 cents per print on a sliding scale depending on how many you printed). Also can have the photos burnt to a disc. I think it was about $10 to have this done. Might be worth buying a larger memory card just in case.

5) Do we need to take cash on board so we can exchange it to local currency when on the islands? I would suggest taking cash on board but not just for the islands. You need cash for sea horse racing and a few other things. I think you can take money off your card at the casino but they charge for this so if you want a flutter you will probably be best to take cash with you for that too.

 

Cheers,

Chaz:)

[Skyrules]

3) I have heard our departure time is around 5pm, so what time is embarkation? We are flying in from Brisbane on the same day and I was wondering what would be a good time to arrive in Sydney.

 

When we sailed on Pacific Sun out of Sydney, we flew down to Brisbane at 7am (getting in to Sydney at 8.30am). We were at Darling Harbour by 9.30, where we checked our luggage in and then went and explored Darling Harbour and had brunch with family.

I would suggest getting to earlier rather than later. This allows for delayed flights or delays getting from the Airport to the city. It is Sydney after all - when we went down it took nearly as long to get from the Airport to Darling Harbour as it had taken us to fly from Brisbane - and that was on a Saturday morning.

 

Boarding normally starts at 12pm, and if you sail at 5pm you have to be on board by 4pm, which means being at Darling Harbour by 3pm at the latest.

[Tanijean]

Thank you so much, Skyrules. I didn't realise you could check your luggage in that early. A great idea, thanks.

 

Thanks everyone, you've all been a big help.:D I got the free DVD today off the P& O website so we are all extra excited after watching it. Will probably watch it loads of times in the next 2 months.