Review of Sun Princess cruise to Asia June 17, 2009

[Sailaway John]

Sun Princess Cruise S911 to Asia

17th June – 3rd July

Cruise Director was Adam Goder – In my opinion very good at his job

Captain was Martin Stenzel

 

FRIDAY 17th – As we had to come from Sydney and fly to Fremantle to go on the cruise we took the Princess Package Deal which consisted of return airfares, transfers to and from Perth to Fremantle dock and the handling and checking in of our luggage. This was well worth the extra cost. When we arrived at Fremantle dock we went straight to the Immigration Hall, filled out a few documents and then went and collected our cabin cards, then straight out to board the ship. From arriving at the dock till we were in our cabin took all of about 30-40 minutes. Very well organized.

 

Our cabin which was on Baja Deck was Balcony Cabin B508. We have always gone for a balcony cabin in all of our cruises as we like to sit out on the balcony, especially during sea days with a nice glass of wine and some cheese snacks that we bring down from the buffet. Also at night we like to have the door slightly open to get the fresh air and also listen to the sea sounds . . . beautiful.

 

After getting our luggage delivered we went up to the Sailaway Party, had some ales and/or wines and enjoyed the departure from Fremantle dock. I was amazed at the number of cars and people lining the dock area to wave the ship goodbye. Some of the cars even flashing their lights as we went pass them.

 

Off to dinner. We were booked on the first sitting which was 5.45pm, a little early, but that didn’t worry us as we wanted to go to the Princess Theatre for the show which was on at 8.15pm and then to the Wheelhouse Bar for a couple of nightcaps. Those people who were booked in the second seating for dinner, 8.30pm I think, went to the earlier show. We explored the ship before going to the Wheelhouse Bar just to get our bearings so that we could attack all the areas in the coming days.

 

The next 5 days were spent at sea but there were a lot of interesting things to do: For instance there was the Captain’s Champagne Waterfall Party that was held in the Grand Plaza which went through decks 5, 6 and 7, also the ship’s maitre d’ hotel Rui Pereira helped do the honours together with the captain.

 

Shows on the ship were very good, there was the Piano Man with music of Billy Joel, Elton John, Neil Sedaka. If you didn’t want to go to the big show you could always go to the Vista Show Lounge and see various other artists.

 

Crossing the Equator Ceremony was really a highlight for all those that have crossed and those that have never crossed before. Cruise Director Adam Goder was to the forefront and when the ceremony was given an unexpected dunking in the main pool. To honour this crossing of the Equator, Certificates were given to all passengers to be proof positive that King Neptune has sanctioned your safe passage and will allow you to continue your journey.

 

Will come back again soon with Part 2 where we start to get to our Ports of Call starting with Penang, Malaysia.

 

Sailaway John

[bobhsv]

Hi,

 

Great review. Looking forward to the next episode. What was the food like??

 

Cheers,

Bob and Jen

[Kinkacruiser]

Hi Sailaway John,

How lovely to hear that you got a happy send-off from Perth. That Equator/King Neptune certificate will be a treat next year.Looking forward to hearing more about the ports.

Thanks for posting.

Cheers,

Anna