why does Australia get older cruise ship?

[Westaussie]

I am puzzled about the comment 'purchase the FCC' if you got your Future Cruise Credit on an Australian cruise. We applied for a Future Cruise Credit when we were on the Sun Princess at the end of last year and there was no cost involved. By quoting the FCC, it allows us to book with a 50% reduction in deposit, this deposit is fully refundable and the FCC gives us an OBC. When this didn't cost us anything, I think it is a good deal.

 

I understand that in the USA there is a cost to get a FCC.:)

 

Evon.

 

We recently got another FCC while on the Coral Princess and as Australians did not have to pay anything in advance (US citizens do).

 

Vera

[Guest012]

, he was 'under-whelmed' with the ship and the food..

 

...Under-whelmed is the word i have been searching my mind for to describe our last cruise experience............we have been lucky enough to do 3 cruises in the last 4 months... one on ROS..."fabulous as usual" .....one on Pacific Sun..." got a bargain.. ship was cheap and cheerful but we knew that.....destinations made up for the ships shortfalls..." and one on Sun Princess....." which after reading all the hype about Princess Australia, Superliners and Premium cruising felt totally underwhelmed with the cruise" but thats okay because we now know that the class of ship that she and her sisters are we don't like and two "Princess Australia" is not for us.....the cruise was another cheapy and we are glad we went on it to experience what we thought was a higher class of Australian cruising:rolleyes:......at least now we know better..........

We have no problem with foreign currency onboard any ship..for one: we buy at the right price and two: we adjust our spending to suit and hope for a great exchange rate..............shiona

[raringtogo]

i'm with you shiona- US currency doesn't bother me a bit...but, ship quality does. It is the most important thing to me.

 

We've booked Rhapsody for the Hawaii cruise next april and I'm praying it doesn't change in the next year

[Guest012]

i'm with you shiona- US currency doesn't bother me a bit...but, ship quality does. It is the most important thing to me.

 

We've booked Rhapsody for the Hawaii cruise next april and I'm praying it doesn't change in the next year

 

Excellent choice....we did the original one on her in 2007 and it was amazing you are going to love it...........the ports are fantastic.....cheers shiona

[raringtogo]

I didn't realize you'd done that cruise shiona- we have friends on it right now-

 

it's very interesting you mention the ports because our biggest concern is that there are SO many sea days (not my preference) and only 5 port days right in the middle...did you find there were too many sea-days or do you enjoy them as much as the ports?

[Guest012]

I didn't realize you'd done that cruise shiona- we have friends on it right now-

 

it's very interesting you mention the ports because our biggest concern is that there are SO many sea days (not my preference) and only 5 port days right in the middle...did you find there were too many sea-days or do you enjoy them as much as the ports?

 

 

We were booked on the one now but we have work commitments on the opposite side of the globe toward the end of the cruise so we had to pullout..:mad::mad: who knows we might make next years...;) our intentions are to cruise back to the U.K next year ... but i don't fancy the way the ships we are looking at are going .....too many pirates around.....so maybe i can talk him around going back the opposite way.....doing a ship hop....:D:D.

I didn't mind the sea days there was plenty to do or nothing if thats what you wanted and the weather was brilliant....heres a link to the review i did.......

http://www.caboolturetravel.com.au/templates/listDetail.jsp?id=143

I do enjoy my seadays...........but prefer not longer than 7 days start to get a little restless then........:D cheers Shiona

[raringtogo]

thanks so much for the link Shiona...i have a feeling I read it quite some time ago, but had forgotten about it. It really sounds beautiful (in reverse)

 

you also sort-of answered a really important question..my sister and her husband are thinking of joining me again (they were with us last week) and we all had o/v cabins on level 2- in fact, i've booked the same cabin as I was so happy with it...but, they are thinking they will go into an inside cabin to save some $$$- they have their littlie to consider- he slept inbetween them in their o/v and that was no problem- he's 16 months now, but will be over 2 years old next april- do you think the 3 of them will be ok in an inside? I'd really appreciate your opinion.

 

we had a trio of gorgeous young girls in our group (of 42) and they were in a really bad 'inside' it didn't even have a tv. their brothers were in another inside and that was completely different.

 

 

also, my son was in an inside on Rhapsody in February- he did the circumnavigation from sydney to perth in an inside and said it was fine. the only problem was waking up at 2pm and not knowing whether it was day or night LOL

 

thanks again

marilyn

 

p.s. so sad to have to wait a year before we do this cruise- we were hoping to do our usual mid-year land holiday to Asia but our siamese cat got terribly sick on the day we left, had to be rushed to emergency and see a cardiologist, and we came home to a vet bill of $2000 - so, goodbye to mid-year holiday :(

[rugbypopsie]

To those of you worrying you will hate the Dawn Princess...I dont think so. Is it of the same standard I have had on other Princess cruises, frankly no. The ship has some maintenance issues that need attending to and I understand she is going off line for a couple of weeks so hopefully that will help. The staff were very good, as good as some Princess cruises...not that I really noticed maybe not quite as "keen".

 

The tip thing (i.e. aussies have a different culture) really has an effect on the staff...I personally would prefer to pay a little more upfront and have the whole tip thing dropped. It causes too much agnst. all round.

 

On the positive side, more choice is good. Travelling in Aussie dollars is great, more port choice is great. I had a good time, this is not my favourite ship in comparison to the Diamond or Star or even Pacific Princess...but she is no rust bucket clunker compared to some I have seen around the world. Compared to some very expensive and rubbish hotels I have stayed in ...give me a day at sea in any Princess ship any day!

 

I met nice people, went great places, ate some great meals, had someone cook for me, clean up after me and generally pamper me...other things are minor and momentary irritations.:):)

[Guest012]

Hi Marilyn sorry to hear about your cat hope things are looking better now....omg that was one hefty vet bill......

To be honest we had cabin 2047 cat M i think it used to be....size was fine for John and I but i wouldn't have wanted a third person of any size in with us.....might be worth checking out the large superior inside cabins.....for comfort for the three of them.... have to agree about not knowing what time of the day it is in the insides....great for nana naps...we always set the mobile phones alarm to make sure we didn't sleep the crusie away...............lol..................cheers Shiona

[raringtogo]

thanks shiona- appreciate that advice.

[AuzzieCruiser]

I've been on various ships- from the 'small' Pacific Sun to the Voyager of the Seas and ships in between. Each had their pro's and cons. We loved the Pacific Sun for the laid back atmosphere. The same can be said for the Rhapsody, except when it came to dinner.:p

The ship I personally disliked was the Diamond Princess. For me it lacked something. I just couldn't connect with the ship. I think I went in expecting way too much and was comparing it to the Voyager. I'd be willing to give the Diamond another go at the right price. We loved the food on Princess. It was 5* all the way

I'm surprised that we have the Diamond or Sapphire down here during our summer. Such a relatively new ship and a big one too. I suppose they fill it, otherwise it wouldn't be here. I'm also guessing it is aimed at our overseas friends and not us. Royal Caribbean admitted that they were aiming at Americans, Canadians and English guests. Not us!! Rumours are still abound about the Rhapsody will stay. I believe it when I see it. Though again, they admitted that they were looking at basing her here full time. They still have some work to do.

I've sailed in USD for all but one of my cruises, so that doesn't deter me at all.

Marilyn, we have also booked the Sydney to Honolulu cruise. This time next year......;). We have even got our good old cabin 3092 back.:) I'm actually looking forward to the 6 or 7 sea days. I've lost count with the International date line.:rolleyes:

[Down-Unders]

It is about people who cannot be bothered, they make excuses it is too hard, company don't listen, what can we do? I even see someone stating Australians don't complain as an excuse for getting old ships. Anything but being proactive, I made comments about the hand me downs on these boards only to be greeted by " we don't care " attitude. P&O and other corporations do their homework they read CC and when they see statements like " we don't care" they keep on keeping on.

 

It is only when you vote with your feet that P&O Australia will do something about the type of ships that sail out of Australia and NZ. And yes when someone stands up to them on CC out come the flame throwers, some of this is caused by people who know they should have stood up for their rights and are envious of the few who do.

 

 

 

:):):):):)

[bazzaw]

Or could it be that MOST Aussies just like the "older" P & O ships and the way they are run??

 

I have heard P & O Australia ships referred to as "RSL" class. I am sure that this was meant to be an insult - but if you look at the enormous popularity of RSL clubs (and other similar ones) in Oz with their value-for-money bistros (especially amongst the older members of the community) , then perhaps this intended insult was actually a big complement and the writer uncovered the exact reason why P & O have become so popular (remembering their problems in the past)

 

Perhaps those who are so quick to criticise P & O should keep their bookings to Cunard or others of that ilk - there are plenty of BIG flash US seagoing cities cruising around. I dont think that these will ever come here because the majority of Aussies find that sort of thing quite pretencious and ostentatious - but then again some like that! :p

 

Barry

[skippyy]

Hi,

 

Reading through the boards lately I read a lot about Princess Australia cruises not being as good as princess cruises overseas and that the Sun & Dawn princess are older ships.

 

My view for whats worth is that like P&O Carnival redeploy their older ships to the Aussie cruise market.Principally I think its because Australia is not a strong and profitable market as overseas mainly because of our geographical position and it takes 2 to 3 days out of sydney/brisbane before you reach a port which means longer cruises usually 9-13 days or longer .Overseas most cruise line have 7 day cruises with very minimal days at sea.So virtually there is a complete turnaround of 7 days.On longer cruises from aussie the turnaround is longer with the same number of passengers onboard.

 

 

Both P&O and princess compensate for this by increasing the number of berths by converting a lot of 2 berh cabins into 4 berth to maximise capcity and increase the buttom line profit.Although I dont know but I suspect overseas there is a limit to pax capacity( i think i read on PD SP it was 1950 pax) however out here its 2250 plus.

 

Obvisiously P&O/princess dont increase the dining capacity or add additional seats in the theatres etc....nor upgrade the aircon to handle the extra load placed on them by extra passenger capcity.

 

While the Ships are what can sadly be deemed disgards from the overseas parent company we tend to judge them harshly.Most up market cruise ships only carry a small amout of pax to ensure comfort and privacy.We in Australia I hope one day will get a brand new ship to call our own but at present we have to make do with hand me downs.

 

 

what do you guys think

 

cheers

Col

According to the American Medical Association, there is an extremely high incidence of alzheimers in older Australians and they frequently forget how old the ships are:eek:

[raringtogo]

[Marilyn, we have also booked the Sydney to Honolulu cruise. This time next year......;). We have even got our good old cabin 3092 back.:) I'm actually looking forward to the 6 or 7 sea days. I've lost count with the International date line.:rolleyes:[/color][/font]

 

looking forward to it so much- just tooooooooooooo long to wait:(

[Witchymob]

I don't think old ship necessarily means bad ship and newer is always best. My first ship experience was on the Himalaya in 1969 perhaps being young and having nothing to compare with helped but it was a terrific trip, but we had bunks beds and communal bathrooms, the old Oriana was also a terrific ship with a great atmosphere even by the mid 80s with the shuddering and obviously a bit down at heel. Have recently been on Adonia and Oriana and although I like Oriana better and crowd on Adonia were more fun. Friends of ours have just had a cruise on the new Ventura and hated it and they have been on about 300 cruises, said it was the worst ship they had been on, too big, too crowded, rolled the whole time. Any ship travelling from Australian ports is better than none and I am looking forward to only having to go to Fremantle to get on a ship, whoa no flying and extra hotels to book as well as the cruise. What we have now is better than in the past and hopefully we will get better ships in the future, can remember when they said no cruise line would do world cruises from oz and back, but Dawn Princess is doing one this year and then again next. Interesting to see how it goes, cos as everyone says the cabins are somewhat on the small side.

[The Fox]

I don't think old ship necessarily means bad ship and newer is always best. My first ship experience was on the Himalaya in 1969 perhaps being young and having nothing to compare with helped but it was a terrific trip, but we had bunks beds and communal bathrooms, the old Oriana was also a terrific ship with a great atmosphere even by the mid 80s with the shuddering and obviously a bit down at heel. Have recently been on Adonia and Oriana and although I like Oriana better and crowd on Adonia were more fun. Friends of ours have just had a cruise on the new Ventura and hated it and they have been on about 300 cruises, said it was the worst ship they had been on, too big, too crowded, rolled the whole time. Any ship travelling from Australian ports is better than none and I am looking forward to only having to go to Fremantle to get on a ship, whoa no flying and extra hotels to book as well as the cruise. What we have now is better than in the past and hopefully we will get better ships in the future, can remember when they said no cruise line would do world cruises from oz and back, but Dawn Princess is doing one this year and then again next. Interesting to see how it goes, cos as everyone says the cabins are somewhat on the small side.

 

Hi

 

I agree, as you can see by my past cruise profile i too have sailed on some old ocean liners including himalaya and had a fantastic time on all of them.my main beef is we get the disgards from other cruise companies and they are hyped as new mega ships ....the biggest newest ships to sail from sydney.They are in fact the biggest in tonage etc but new ...they are simple stately lovely older ships....still all beautiful and graceful...just like the QE2. If they were to advertise like that maybe we wouldnt be expecting and comparing...so much .

 

cheers

 

Col:)

[NSWP]

Apart from my favourite ship Pacific Princess, the Regal Princess - now Pacific Dawn' is the best ship I have been on. Says something for the older ships eh?

[The Fox]

Apart from my favourite ship Pacific Princess, the Regal Princess - now Pacific Dawn' is the best ship I have been on. Says something for the older ships eh?

 

Hi Les,

 

I would have to give my vote to Canberra ...beautiful ship.....especially liked the cricketers bar

 

cheers

Col

[wildweston]

Fox, get back to work but not before you check out MY COUNT DOWN CLOCK.

 

YAHOO, not long for you either.

[thied]

pacific sun 1986, pacific dawn 1991, pacific jewel 1990, pacific pearl 1987, this are the years that were built .

[JLC@SD]

Hi,

 

Reading through the boards lately I read a lot about Princess Australia cruises not being as good as princess cruises overseas and that the Sun & Dawn princess are older ships.

 

My view for whats worth is that like P&O Carnival redeploy their older ships to the Aussie cruise market.Principally I think its because Australia is not a strong and profitable market as overseas mainly because of our geographical position and it takes 2 to 3 days out of sydney/brisbane before you reach a port which means longer cruises usually 9-13 days or longer .Overseas most cruise line have 7 day cruises with very minimal days at sea.So virtually there is a complete turnaround of 7 days.On longer cruises from aussie the turnaround is longer with the same number of passengers onboard.

 

 

Both P&O and princess compensate for this by increasing the number of berths by converting a lot of 2 berh cabins into 4 berth to maximise capcity and increase the buttom line profit.Although I dont know but I suspect overseas there is a limit to pax capacity( i think i read on PD SP it was 1950 pax) however out here its 2250 plus.

 

Obvisiously P&O/princess dont increase the dining capacity or add additional seats in the theatres etc....nor upgrade the aircon to handle the extra load placed on them by extra passenger capcity.

 

While the Ships are what can sadly be deemed disgards from the overseas parent company we tend to judge them harshly.Most up market cruise ships only carry a small amout of pax to ensure comfort and privacy.We in Australia I hope one day will get a brand new ship to call our own but at present we have to make do with hand me downs.

 

 

what do you guys think

 

cheers

Col

 

Having travelled on most classes of Princess ships......We prefer the Sun class.......especially the Dawn. It is a better sized ship........better than the huge Grand plus class size......... they keep buiding over and over.

[The Fox]

Fox, get back to work but not before you check out MY COUNT DOWN CLOCK.

 

YAHOO, not long for you either.

ha ha wait till it shows 22 minutes to sailing...whooooo

[rugbypopsie]

Having travelled on most classes of Princess ships......We prefer the Sun class.......especially the Dawn. It is a better sized ship........better than the huge Grand plus class size......... they keep buiding over and over.

 

I wonder if they increased the passenger load when the ship was relocated to Australia...the theatre and other public areas really were overloaded on our recent cruise....if does have its points though the balconies were very useable in sun and wind. Other cc'er really enjoyed their inside cabin on deck 12 with its easy access to a lovely outdoor space.

 

My vote for a favourite at this point would be the Pacific Princess I thought she was lovely and just right.

[thied]

i see the pacific pearl is going to be the biggest ship P&O has in auatralia at 247 mtr but the second oldest ship here sorry should longest ship as its only 63000 tons