Sun Princess in Australia?

[Iowa cruiser]

In Nov 07 and March 08 the Sun Princess will sail around Australia for 28 days from Sydney to Sydney, stopping at a dozen ports along the way.

Is this a worthwhile itinerary (I could not find it reviewed)? Are the ports far from interesting sights (necessitating shuttles or private transport or ship’s tours)? Is Australia better served by land tours and air passes? Is the weather pleasant in March, or are the northern ports still hot hot hot?

Most important, is the Sun Princess comfortable enough in an inside cabin of 145 sq ft for 28 days? Is the ship’s design dated (more than ten years) and not ideal for longer cruises?

Thanks for your help,

Iowa Cruiser

[Julia’s Journey’s]

We are booked on the SUN for the 30 day transpacific, Seattle to Sydney in September to take her down to AU.

We are booked in a balcony with the kids across the hall in an Inside.

If I had the time and funds I would love to do the 28 day cruise around AU, we travelled there in 2005 for 5 weeks and the distances are very vast by land travel.

I have read here that the SUN handles the water very well, better than the newer larger ships.

My vote is do it:D

[Toto2Kansas]

We sailed the LA to Sydney cruise a few years ago. Definitely worth the trouble as there are so many different ports and cultures to see along the way. But, there are also lots of sea days so you need to love those also. Remember, this cruise ends in Sydney or begins in Sydney, as for seeing Australia, you need to do a post or pre-cruise stay for that.

 

We have also done the cruise from Sydney to Singapore twice (on another cruise line that left more time in ports, including some overnites). That was a wonderful way to see Australia as it went from Sydney all the way up to Darwin before cutting up to Asian Ports.

 

Whether you would like this cruise depends on what interests you.

[Druke I]

You might want to check the fine print in the Princess brochure re the 'round Australia cruise in Mar '08. It says shipboard accounts will be in Australian dollars, while the ship is operating for P&O (Aus).

 

When I checked with the Captain's Circle, at Princess Headquarters, I was told that Princess benefits (elite, platinum, etc) would not count nor accrue on this cruise, and that I could not use any Future Cruise Credits to book it.

 

I think the Sun is a fine ship (last on her 5-04), but not sure that I want to forgo my Elite benefits, etc., so haven't booked this cruise (still toying with the idea).

 

There is a very sparsely visited thread for the circumnavigation of Australia on the Princess Roll Call Forum.

[jane02]

In Nov 07 and March 08 the Sun Princess will sail around Australia for 28 days from Sydney to Sydney, stopping at a dozen ports along the way.

Is this a worthwhile itinerary (I could not find it reviewed)? Are the ports far from interesting sights (necessitating shuttles or private transport or ship’s tours)? Is Australia better served by land tours and air passes? Is the weather pleasant in March, or are the northern ports still hot hot hot?

Most important, is the Sun Princess comfortable enough in an inside cabin of 145 sq ft for 28 days? Is the ship’s design dated (more than ten years) and not ideal for longer cruises?

Thanks for your help,

Iowa Cruiser

Re the weather - March is a beautiful time to be in the southern states. It is my favorite time of the year in Melbourne. Further up north it can be wet and humid. I have travelled to Northern Queensland, the Whitsundays and Darwin in March and it was not all that pleasant but further south would be divine.

Jane;)

[kohala]

We booked the November 7 cruise yesterday with a future cruise credit. We've never sailed on a Sun class ship...any sugestions?

[Tina G]

The Sun is a beautiful ship. I like her better than the larger ships. The bathrooms are the best in the fleet - you actually have room to stand up in the shower! You didn't say what catagory your cabin is. I loved the covered balcony. It was very private. The inside cabins are smallish, but if you can snag one aft, there is a great sundeck on the Aloha level that is seldom used by other passengers. I used it whenever I wanted to get away from DH. (Hi, Iowa! We're from West Des Moines, transplanted to Maryland, soon to be relocating to Colorado! I hear you got snow?):D

[mummsie]

In Nov 07 and March 08 the Sun Princess will sail around Australia for 28 days from Sydney to Sydney, stopping at a dozen ports along the way.

Is this a worthwhile itinerary (I could not find it reviewed)? Are the ports far from interesting sights (necessitating shuttles or private transport or ship’s tours)? Is Australia better served by land tours and air passes? Is the weather pleasant in March, or are the northern ports still hot hot hot?

Most important, is the Sun Princess comfortable enough in an inside cabin of 145 sq ft for 28 days? Is the ship’s design dated (more than ten years) and not ideal for longer cruises?

Thanks for your help,

Iowa Cruiser

I am Australian and I would love to do this trip. Most of the ports are capital cities or major tourist destinations. March its still going to be hot from Cairns to Broome (around the top end) but the rest should be very pleasant. We are heading into autumn now and its just magic. Land tours are the way to go.

As Druke also mentioned, everything on the ship will be in Australian $ so you will do well - the exchange rate is closing fast but you will still get about $1.20Aust for $1USD. Mummsie

[S&D]

Hi everyone,

 

We are cruising on the Sun in April 2008, when she goes back to Princess from P&O...we are doing the Sydney to San Francisco route - 31 days..with around 100 + CC members in our group....:) .

 

The PREVIOUS circumnavigation cruise around Australia in March 2008 - is indeed in AUD $ for that 28 day cruise.

 

The cruise to SFO will then revert to USD $ for the homeward journey, and all normal Princess perks will then apply. I did check this out last week, while we were on our Pacific Princess cruise. I spoke to the staff onboard to ask any questions we had regarding these changes.

 

Having been on both the Grand class ships and the Pacific Princess, we have tried the mega and the small size vessels....we are looking forward to trying out the medium size Sun..:p .

 

Druke is indeed correct with the Captain's Circle...we did not have our Platinum status applied on the Pacific Princess for our cruise last week, as we were under the P&O banner. We look forward to the Sun, when we may get a little free internet (or an allowance at least!)

 

If anyone is interested in joining us on this cruise... you would be VERY welcome...we have a HUGE roll call which is over 100 pages so far..:eek: ...and there is a GREAT group of people on there, we are having a lot of fun on that thread so far! We are bringing along

4 good friends from here at home , and we all LOVE dancing, so we are looking forward to a lot of good times next April!

 

This will be a bit of a re union cruise, as we have travelled with about 50 of these cruise friends - on previous cruises......it will be wonderful!

 

LINK to roll call:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=6901306#post6901306

 

Happy cruising to you all....;) .

[Kiwi Kruzer]

If any one is interested there is a thread on the P&O Australia board where we are following the current "Around Australia Cruise" via the bridgecam.I don't how much we will see or capture but we are also discussing the ports of call.

She is currently at her first Port of Call, in Brisbane.It would be great to see this cruise done every year,and if demand began to wane for the entire trip, I would love to see it broken up into sectors, as not everyone can cruise for 28 days.