clairebearinaus

An article posted on the Princess board says that the ship will be skipping a port on its next cruise too, so the engine problem must be a tough one to fix.

Correction - the pizzeria on the Sun Princess was called Verdi's.

Obviously this engine problem isn't going away anytime soon! I was firstly disappointed to hear that my recent cruise on the Sun was to be its last before a refurbishment, but that turned out to be a good thing :)

We docked there recently. My understanding is that the pier at Patong isn't usable at the moment.

There's a pretty cool market set up at the dock.

I don't think you'll be offered a drinks package for a cruise of less than 7 days leaving Australia.

Let them know about the birthday and you'll receive a card to take to the MDR. Birthday boy or girl will be brought a cake and made a fuss over by the wait staff. Princess will also decorate the stateroom door.

You could have a look through the gift options on the Cruise personaliser too - flowers, chocolates, wine, spa treatments, bathrobes etc could be ordered in advance.

I found the article I was referring to, it's from another cruise website. Here's the excerpt which confused me, it refers to the Amuleto Cafe which definitely wasn't there before the refit. I wondered if they've rebranded the IC:

Further dining improvements made to the ship include the transformation of the Kai Sushi Restaurant into the Kai Seafood Bar, complete with a new menu and sampling menu. Guests can participate in a wine and seafood tasting experience which includes Australian oysters, prawns, sashimi and shellfish, paired with matching wines and champagnes. Elsewhere, a new coffee and cakes menu has been rolled out at the Amuleto Café, while the Pool Deck has been fitted with a New Zealand Natural Ice Cream parlour.

The article was posted on a cruise Facebook page, I'll reply and ask about it.

I saw an article about the refit the other day, and it mentioned another cafe which wasn't there when I was on the Sun earlier this month. I wondered if the IC has been renamed.

The first people to travel on the Sun since the refit are still at sea for another week or so, and so far I haven't seen anyone posting live so you may not get your firm answer straight away.

I have boys the same ages and would pick the first one, mostly because of the ship. Then spend more time in Sydney at the end.

I think the Golden is a better choice for a longer cruise. More dining/drinking choices, and the indoor pool makes it a better all weather ship. I'd be bored silly after a few days on the Sun/Sea/Dawn if it wasn't warm enough to be up on the outside decks.

And Anytime Dining on the Golden, too.

Exactly.When the cats away,the mice dont give a. Dosent seem to be an intelligent menu item,crispy pork belly.For the MDR at least.

I'd eat it, if it was actually crispy!

But the 'crackling' was hard and chewy, inedible.

How annoying!

Still, having done that cruise in reverse, if they had to cancel any port KL would be the one I would have chosen. It was my least favourite day off the ship.

Hopefully they'll make it to the rest of the places they're supposed to see.

Oh no! Where did you hear this, do you have a link to a news article? I was on the last Sun cruise before she went to dry dock. Poor Stu and they others, second time this cruise has been cancelled after dry dock!

They have the same active ingredient, meclizine I think it's called.

If you Google 'sea legs ship to Australia' you will find a couple of pharmacies who do that. However it's much more economical to buy Bonine from the States, I used eBay, I think it was $20 for 100 pills including shipping.

I haven't had a chance to try Share but from one actual review I spotted in the sea of criticism on the Princess boards, the food sounds interesting and quite delicious.

Unfortunately the Curtis Stone pork belly dish I had in the MDR - my first ever cruise dinner - was pretty foul so I haven't been back for more punishment.

The pizzeria on my recent Sun Princess cruise was completely empty every time I went through. The one time my son and I tried it we were alone. It was lovely food but an awkward space. I can see why they'd want to try something different.

We tracked the WA coast a couple of weeks ago en route to Bali and the sea was very calm. One rocky night thanks to strong wind but the swell still wasn't very big. We four were all ok seasickness-wise.

I did, in fact I wore it on some other nights too!

I have a Sacha Drake Ultimate Black Dress which can be tied a few ways to give a different style. It's also easy to hand wash and dry, and doesn't need ironing.

i think the OP should consider flying to NZ and doing a land tour, might be less complicated than their plan

That's my advice too, having previously worked in NZ tourism.

If you love cruising, (though it sounds like you don't) cruise. If you want to see the best of NZ, fly/drive. Too many of the good bits are left out of cruises, or included but missed due to weather.

Plus you aren't guaranteed smooth seas anywhere on a NZ cruise!

I was there a week or so ago and did a Princess tour of Batu Caves, a pewter factory (was better than I thought it would be) and a boring museum. We had a lovely lunch in town in view of the Petronas Towers and saw a fair bit of the city from the bus.

It was ok, not our best shore day by a long shot. Normally I'd be more inclined towards getting the shuttle and poking around town myself but it was obscenely hot so even though the attractions were middling to average, we were grateful to be spending the majority of our day on a cold comfortable bus. (And we are youngish and fit.)

If you do visit the Towers note the sky bridge between the two is closed for work at the moment, you can still go to the observation deck up top though.

There was also a European power point. I'd brought an adaptor so was able to use that too.

Depending on your cabin you might need to go hunting for the outlets - in the balcony room ours were hidden behind the TV.

We were there last week and just took a taxi to Cenang Beach and hung out for the day. Rented a chair and umbrella each and enjoyed a few water sports - parasailing, banana boat etc. The beach itself and the water were glorious, no jellyfish. The local people were lovely and we weren't hassled to buy stuff, they asked once and accepted a polite no with no argument.

They had this on Sun Princess Indian Ocean cruise this month - lot of fun , as always!

It was held on a recent Sun Princess Treasures of Asia cruise too, though I didn't see it (or any other show!). There was a passenger performance as well, a choir I think.

After talking to the union I can confirm it has been postponed for the cruise ports as well, not just the airports mentioned by the media.

That's a relief, thanks for posting.

ABC news site is saying the same thing, though they're not specifically mentioning cruise terminals, just airports.

Coincidentally as I was reading the news I received a text from Princess saying our boarding had been brought forward an hour due to the strike!

Haven't heard boo from Princess. I'll be getting to the port earlier than originally planned.

Two :D

I'm fairly sure the smoking area is on the port side on that deck so if you use the starboard side doors to/from the pool area to the lifts and Horizon Court you will avoid the worst of the smoke. Note, there is also a smoking area on the promenade deck, just a section of one side (can't remember which) but unfortunately if you are doing laps around the ship you have to walk right through it.

Thanks that's good to know. Shame about the promenade deck, my son is supposed to be training for a running event when we return home, I don't really want him running through a pack of smokers. I'll have to pretend he's a bit older and try to sneak him into the gym!