Australia/NZ Cruise choices HELP

[Joyce B.]

We are veteran Princess cruisers (9) and are considering a Celebrity Millenium cruise to Australia/NZ.

 

The highest level cabin we can book in a free-air deal is the conceige class. How does this compare with a mini-suite on Princess?? Will we be happy with the space, particularly the bathroom? We are cabin/balcony relaxing people during the day.

 

Should we stay with Princess or try the better-price deal with an internet travel agency?

 

Please HELP......................

[critterchick]

I've only toured a Celebrity ship (Summit, a sister of Millennium, which is the Celebrity ship doing the AU/NZ cruises). A CC cabin is quite a bit smaller than a minisuite, but it's comfortably laid out with a sofa in the sitting area, maybe a loveseat instead of a full 3-cushion sofa like you'd see on the Diamond or Sapphire (if you're considering one of those, not the Dawn or Sun, which have much nicers minisuites). I believe that the bathroom will be a shower stall, not a shower/tub combination.

 

We usually book a minisuite on Princess or a JS on Royal Caribbean, but we're trying Celebrity and a CC cabin because we like the itinerary better than Princess or RCI - we're taking a 12-nighter instead of the usual 14 offered by X and RCI, which will give us more time pre-or post cruise to explore on land. I think Millie's itinerary also has more ports than Princess' 12-nighter, but it's been awhile since I compared the itineraries. Oh, and we managed to snag a CC cabin on the stern, so we'll have a larger than usual balcony. Those cabins, plus 4 on deck 6, have the largest balconies.

[Joyce B.]

Still need some HELP! Should we Princess or Celebrity???

[joll]

Still need some HELP! Should we Princess or Celebrity???

 

We did the 12 night Sapphire Princess from Sydney to New Zealand which was great. Check the itineraries as due to winds and currents we were told by Captain Nick Bates that the route from Australia TO New Zealand is always better than vice versa. Sailings from NZ have arrived late in Hobart, Tasmania or missed it all together.

[critterchick]

Still need some HELP! Should we Princess or Celebrity???

 

Well, that's a much broader question than you originally asked.:) If your only concern is the cabin and the amount of physical space you will have, go with a Princess minisuite - it's larger, has a full sofa in the sitting area, has a bathtub in the bathroom and usually a larger balcony.

 

If itinerary and the onboard "experience" (service, food, activities, etc.) are also important factors, perhaps you could tell us more about what you like and don't like.

 

But ultimately only you know what will make you "happy," and therefore only you can decide which line you "should" cruise.

[NewPennCruiser]

I can’t speak for Celebrity but the Mini Suites on the Sapphire/Diamond ships are quite spacious. There are large balconies (Emerald Deck mini’s are fully covered while all others are fully open to the elements) and a full size sofa in the sitting area. The bathroom does have a tub/shower combo giving you a lot more room then the bathrooms in the standard cabins. These cabins are VERY comfortable to spend time in and a plus in my opinion for longer cruises with lots of sea days.

 

We did the 12 day cruise on Princess this past year which happened to be on the Sapphire Princess and we originated in Auckland. We had no issues hitting all the ports on time but as mentioned previously we have also heard numerous comments about the Tasman crossing being so rough that they have to slow down a lot and miss Hobart. I’m glad we didn’t because Hobart was one of our favorite ports. Because of that, a lot of folks cruising the Princess routes say that doing the Sydney to Auckland direction decreases your chances of missing a port. I’m not really sure if that’s true but just something to think about cruising either line you choose since I think both are offering 12 day cruises that just reverse order and go back and forth.

 

A couple of things to consider… while cruising around New Zealand, don’t expect Caribbean type weather. It will be “cool” to our usual thinking of what summer weather should be like and at least on our trip it was quite wet with lots of rain. We had much better weather on days near the more northern cities but it can be a mixed bag. The Diamond which will be doing the Aussie/Kiwi routes for Princess next year does have the Conservatory with the large indoor pool and hot tub area. It was used a lot during our cruise because there were really only a couple of sea days where we had warm enough weather to sit out and sun yourself by the outdoor pool or up on deck. That may not matter to you and it really didn’t to us. We enjoyed just putting a sweater on and sitting on one of the deck chairs on the promenade deck and watching the world go by. At least there, it also didn’t really matter if it was raining.

 

I would really take a look at the ports and if the differences there are important to you, then pick the cruise line that goes where you really want to go. I think Princess is pretty much still doing the same stops next year and it is heavy with sea days. Celebrity might give you a different selection of ports and that might be important to you. However I can only imagine that they would probably still have about the same number of sea days because you have to remember that at least on this cruise, you’re covering a lot of area and cruising more nautical miles then most other 12 day routes in other parts of the world.

 

The cruise was amazing and we loved the people we met and the cities we visited. I honestly don’t think you can go wrong with either cruise line. If one gives you a better deal with the accommodations you’re looking for and the ports that are important to you…take it.

 

Dave

[Joyce B.]

Thanks for all the info! Now, we have to decide!!

 

If anyone has other ideas, please let us know!