Grey Nomad

No you do not have to do the safety drill twice. You will get a notice before you dock at the end of the first cruise giving you very clear instructions on what happens. Also before the end of your first cruise, preferably the afternoon before, you can go and buy your duty free alcohol eg gin and take it back to your cabin and drink it on your way back. Just buy your tonic in Auckland.

It was mentioned that Princess Cruise Lines gave the family $100,000 immediately after the accident but what wasn't mentioned was that once the Emerald Princess left Port Chalmers a collection was taken on board and you could also leave donations at Guest Services.  We were on the following cruise on Emerald Princess and a donation box was still at Passenger Services and I understand that there was a considerable sum already collected by the end of our cruise, meaning something in the vicinity of $50,000.  This amount, of course, is only heresay.

We did B2B Sydney to Auckland and then Auckland to Sydney, different ports each time on Emerald Princess in February 2017.  We did Immigration before arriving in the Fiordland and when we got to Auckland were given transit cards for Arrival and I think we went to guest services to get our new cruise cards. But it is all explained in detail long before you arrive in Auckland. On that cruise there were 43 passengers who were doing the same as us.  Several things to note:  It is amazing to see the activity on board by 10 am when all passengers are off and crew are cleaning madly.  We were still able to have a leisurely breakfast in Horizon Court and then a cup of tea in International Cafe before going ashore at our own pace to do whatever we wanted for the day.  Also, you can go to the Boutiques the night before you arrive in Auckland and buy alcohol and have it in your room for the second cruise.  We checked with crew in the shops during our first cruise.  Also during our first cruise, we spoke with Maitre D re changing our table and the night before docking in Auckland he came and got us from our table and took us to the other side of the dining room and showed us two tables by the window and asked us which one we wanted.  No trouble.  As said previously there is limited parking on the dock (probably a maximum of 20 cars).  If your friends wait nearby you can send them a text once you arrive on the street and they can do a drive by.  Above all Enjoy!

We did a B2B NZ cruise on Emerald Princess last year. Cruise 1 was Sydney, Hobart, Fiordland, Dunedin, Akaroa, Picton, Gisborne, Tauranga and then Auckland .. 11 days. Coming back it was Auckland, Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Akaroa, Dunedin, Fiordland, Hobart, Sydney .. 11 days. The BIG advantages wer that Fiordland first was Milford Sound from 7.30 am in morning and then down the coast to other Sounds. Coming back it was other Sounds and thenMilford Sound late afternoon. Both beautiful days but scenery was different with different lighting at different time of day. Going over bad sea fog stopped us going into Dunedin and Akaroa but we were not worried as we knew we were going on our way back. Of 3000 passengers on board 43 were staying on for B2B. We did not have to get off the ship in Auckland if we did not want to. Were given transit tickets to use that morning if we went ashore. Any other questions please ask.

We had gin and diet tonic in the Skywalker Lounge for the 5pm to 7 pm platimum elite on board Emerald last February/March. Just ordered it and the waitress would go down 2 floors to Adagio Lounge and get a bottle and bring it back.

On a cruise earlier this year on Emerald Princess, the gentleman concerned had a rather large scooter but he could walk small distances by himself. He had spoken to his cabin steward and he parked his scooter in one of the linen rooms close to his cabin.

Having done the 30 day Around Australia on Sun Princess last October/November the outlets are as follows. 1 Australian outlet behind TV. Outlets at desk are US and there is one US outlet on small shelf just outside bathroom door as you come into cabin. This is the one I mainly used for charge iphone, ipad and camera as I could sit them on the shelf above.

We have done the Fremantle to Sydney Northern Explorer and in October/November did Sydney all the way around. After doing it one way, west to east, and then travelling anti clockwise on the circumnavigation, I would do the Northern Explorer again but definitely Fremantle to Sydney. Our Northern Explorer didn't go to Indonesia or PNG. It was before they had to do an international port, but going through the Torres Strait and down the East Coast it was in daylight and there was an excellent reef pilot who gave a commentary along the way about the different islands, eg. Thursday, Friday, Horn. We stopped in Cooktown which was wonderful. If you travel the other way it is at night time and you miss out on all this. Also no matter which way you go, choose a cabin on the port side of the ship and from time to time you will be able to see land. Saying this if you are doing Fremantle to Sydney it would therefore be best to stop at Indonesia instead of PNG as it would probably be in daytime.

If docking in Cairns, you are right in the middle of town. Come out of Terminal and turn right and just follow the boardwalk around the water front to the Marina (where you can do trips out to Barrier Reef from) and just continue to walk past all the restaurants and coffee shops. You will come to the Lagoon where you can also have a swim. From there it is a lovely stroll along the Esplanade and once again plenty of eateries and coffee shops. One street back from Esplanade will take you back to the ship in a more direct route. Easy to spend the day just walking around looking and eating.

On board Sun Princess at the moment. Announced yesterday before we left a Melbourne that Burnie was a no go because of weather. Winds all day today were 40 knots and all decks closed. Didn't hear any complaints about missing Burnie.

If you go solo (and many have) is there any reason why your partner could not join you for a segment and you do the other segments on your own.

Also there are quite a few solo travellers who have done blogs. It may be interesting for you to read these.

We have done a lot of motorhome touring in NZ and Tasmania. I think it is best to get a proper motorhome rather than a Wicked Camper or the little green ones (Jucy). To consider a tent would mean you would have to purchase your crockery, cutlery and pots and pans etc. I agree with Aus Traveller in regard to WA as it is a great state but vast distances and you would spend too much time driving and not enjoying the experience. In New South Wales alone you have the choice of the North Coast, South Coast, Hunter Valley, Riverina and Western Districts and it is all beautiful. We have a caravan and go Camping a lot. Cost of car plus a cabin would probably end up too expensive and then you have to unpack and repack every night whereas in a small motorhome everything is there easily accessible to be able to stop for lunch or whatever on the way. We had full facilities on board but mainly used the campground facilities and used the shower recess for storage of our suitcases. They all come with reverse cycle airconditioners these days so that is not a problem. Cost of camp sites in proper campgrounds is around $25 to $45/$50 depending where it is and also time of year. We used Cruisin Tasmania in Tassie and Tui Campers in NZ and could not have been happier. You would not have to book in to caravan parks unless it was peak times. Even now in our caravan we just roll up and get a spot. Admittedly it might not be the top spot right on the river or beach but one back a row or two but we are still happy. There is so much to see in this beautiful country of ours and I am sure you will enjoy every bit of it. Another point worth considering is that in our last two times of motorhoming we got two single beds rather than a double which converts to the table. This way we did not have to make up the beds every night. We also hired a camp table and 2 chairs to go with the motorhome so we could eat outside. Best of Luck!!!!

We used to go to the Amuletto Cafe on Dawn Princess. It is in the Horizon Court in the area where all the tables are and we would go late at night after the shows and have coffee or tea with a pastry before bed.

I have tried to insert the photo but can't seem to get it to work but here is the link.

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy302/greynomad2/DSC01306_zpsvhikdkid.jpg

In the ship's boutiques they have the correct tools to change batteries, etc and do other jewellery repairs. I took a chain back once that I had bought a couple of years previously on a different Princess ship and needed the lock changed around. When I bought the chain bracelet they had put the clasp on upside down. It was not a problem.

We found in Noumea that if you are at the tour desk section where the shuttle drops you off, you can pay all your tours in AUD. If you want a coffee or soft drink from the coffee shop there, they take Aussie dollars but give you back Pacific Francs in change unless it is later in the morning and they have plenty of Aussie dollars to give you the change in AUD.

We have done both north and south island several times. First time 21 days doing both but since then have done north only twice and south only twice all trips in a campervan. We have always planned our trip using http://www.wises.co.nz and found it fairly accurate.

Sailaway John, my only other comments would be ... don't miss watching the dancing at sailaway on the wharfs. It was very good. Also do remember that these people do not live in long established cruise ports like you find in Fiji or

Vanuatu. We just hope that their natural friendliness and happiness at seeing the passengers does not disappear. If you get the opportunity at Alotau or Rabaul to have a look around by private tour or taxi, take it. There are plenty of these on the wharf. As I think I said previously, not a lot there except a big warm welcome and beautiful dancing.

we just felt we did not come across any crew member who was not happy to be on Dawn Princess. It did make a difference to how we felt on board.

mad fisher, did your friends not like the cruise or not like the ports. If it was only the ports I can understand that because there was not a lot there and it was quite hot and humid. I know a lot of passengers felt that the Princess tours were not value for money. We felt the people more than made up for it but if they did a tour maybe they did not see what we saw.

ABOUT US

We are from the lower Blue Mountains and drove our car to our daughters at South Penrith and had a shuttle pick us up and take us to White Bay. The cost of this shuttle was $95 each way. We are 67 and 71 years young. This was our first time at White Bay. We like to be on board early and therefore the shuttle picked us up at 10.15am and already had another couple on board. We arrived at White Bay in approx. 1 hour and was there by 11.30 am.

EMBARKATION

Embarkation was a breeze. Dropped luggage off and went straight to the Platinum non-existant line, through Customs and then to Cruise Desks to receive our cards and on to Deck 7, had the obligatory photo and hey presto we were on board by 11.45am. Straight to our staterooms to drop of hand luggage and as it was then midday we went up to Horizon Court.

THE SHIP

We had previously sailed on Dawn Princess and twice on Sun Princess so we knew what to expect. One comment I had read previously that these ships of Princess are Cruise Liners and not Theme Parks. The ship came out of dry dock in May and we had seen some photos on CC. The carpets in the lift areas and stairs are all new. Now Brown tonings. The carpets in the corridors are still the same (at least on our floor .. Baja). Horizon Court has been completely changed. All new carpet and flooring in buffet area. The different levels have been removed so therefore, one level. Where previously there was an area between the two buffet sides at the front, it is now Café Amuleto and this is where there are all the pastries, cakes, some fruit salad, toast, muffins, etc for breakfast, puddings for lunch and tea and to one side the Barista Bar. Also are two large areas for the normal tea, coffee, water and lemonade. It is very open and roomy. We sat down to lunch and immediately a waiter was there to offer tea or coffee. We were told that the tables and chairs had only arrived overnight and therefore this cruise was the first cruise with the new furniture.

We were not aware of any other major changes, except new flat screen TV’s in the stateroom and I think it was new taps in the bathroom.

I didn’t come across any problems on the ship maintenance wise. Yes, there is areas of rust, yes they were continually doing maintenance. I didn’t feel that it was looking tired.

Power points in the stateroom. One Australian power point behind TV and one US power point at desk. We found towards the end of the cruise the power point (US) under the little shelf near the bathroom door. This is our fourth cruise on this type of ship and the first time we have noticed it. I only saw it one day when sitting on the chair near the TV and looking towards the bathroom. So take a US/AUD adaptor and use this one for charging ipads and phones, or for using CPAP machines.

CREW

Our Room Stewardess was Ramona, and we think she was the best we have had. She came and introduced herself as soon as we came back from lunch, brought us a sharps container for my husband’s insulin needles and we told her that we like ice in our room everyday and that we always go to breakfast by 7am. When we came back from breakfast each day, our room was immaculate and bathroom tidy.

When having buffet lunch on the first day, the waiter asked our Table number at night and then brought over the assistant waiter we would be having at night. I know this was only a coincidence that he was working in the same area. But we sat in his area as we liked the spot near the window best for all breakfasts, so had a wonderful rapport with him of an evening and again of a morning. His name is Bonn and together with Mark they made a really great team. They had been mates since school and started on Princess together and share a cabin together. They were both delightful and very entertaining.

We felt the crew on the whole ship seemed to be a happy crew and always smiling and Good Morning or Good Afternoon. I feel a lot of this can be put down to the Captain who was also very friendly. Captain Carlo Servillo.

ENTERTAINMENT

We attended most shows and as we were on late sitting for dinner, it was the 6.15pm show and then the 9.45pm show. The Cruise Director was Mark Turner and we have had him before on Sun Princess. We really liked him then and now even more so. He was always outside the Theatre Doors after the show of an evening in case anyone wanted to know anything. The Princess Singers and Dancers were very good and most of the guest artists were good. The US comedian left a lot to be desired and when he put on an R rated show in the Vista lounge, we and most of the passengers decided not to go. I understand a lot also walked out. We didn’t attend any Trivia or Bingo so can not comment.

PORTS

Brisbane, Alotou, Doini Island, Kiriwina Island and Rabaul. We had to give Honiara a miss because of Cyclone Raquel heading in that directions so we retraced our steps calling by Alatou again to drop off the reef pilot and a New Guinea Customs officer. PNG is still very much a third world country. The people are absolutely delightful and very happy to see the cruise ships and the passengers. When leaving Alotou they danced on the wharf for nearly one and half hour. As we pulled out they were calling out Aussie, Aussie, Aussie and of course we responded with Oi, Oi, Oi. This went on until we were out of hearing. They also were yelling out, thank you for coming. It was a highlight of the day in Alotou. Doini Island was a complete surprise. Villagers from numerous islands around came across at 6am in the morning and set up their places and selling their souveniers, etc. There must have been several hundred there in their groups of pre-schools, schools, church groups, all dressed in costume and beautiful singing. You just kept walking along through the trees and kept looking at the different groups and their beautiful smiling faces. All raising money for their various groups. At Kiriwina Island it was a different atmosphere with a lot of men sitting along the road. I have never seen so many yams. I don’t know how they thought we would be buying yams. Rabaul of course is very dusty and does not really have a town centre as such any more. Only the native market and 2 supermarkets. The main town at Rabaul is now Kokopo which is 30 minutes drive away. At each of these ports it was very hot and humid.

After leaving Rabaul and not going to Honiara, the Captain announced we would be doing some scenic cruising past the Witu Islands. One such Island is Garove Island. This is an extinct volcano where part of the eastern wall had collapsed hundreds of years ago and the sea entered. We arrived there at about 8.00 am in the morning and stayed in position inside the crater for 2 hours. It was absolutely magic and so serene. Apparently during the war the Germans used this crater as a very safe, secure and hidden harbour. Now there is a Catholic Mission on the headland as you enter and a couple of small villages inside. Of course, when the ship entered a canoe with 2 young natives came out very tentatively to see what was going on. Gradually others ventured out and in the end on our side of the ship (port) there were 7 canoes. Even though there was an announcement about not throwing things overboard in case they got caught in engines passengers were still doing this. Particularly with things that would float. Apples, oranges, cans of coke or lemonade. T-shirts, caps and even those that still had PNG Kina left, put it in plastic bags and threw overboard. One passenger bravely threw over a Princess beach towel and another a plastic breakfast bowl. The natives were very athletic with their catching and diving and were cheered on by all onlookers on their balconies and Deck 7. All in all it was a totally unexpected moment enjoyed by all.

The natives in all places were very friendly and pleased to see the ships and passengers. The children were absolutely delightful.

Because of no Honiara, we then had 5 sea days before arriving back in Sydney and disembarking.

TENDERING

Wow, what a problem was had at Doini Island. We were lucky we were not caught up in it. We went ashore early and were back on board by lunch. Because the weather was a bit rainy and cloudy early most passengers left it til nearer lunch before going to the MDR for their tender tickets. We went as soon as we saw there was a break in the weather and the sun came out. Doini Island can only accommodate 1 tender at a time and towards the middle of the day you had to wait up to 2 hours for a tender. At 3 pm onwards it was apparently impossible to get back and the queues were very long. To make matters worse one passenger coming over was sick on the tender and it had to be sent back empty and thoroughly cleaned before it went back in service. Also the seas became rough and they were only allowing the tenders to be filled 50% for safety reasons. People had to wait on Doini Island for up to 3 hours to get a tender back. There was a bar there and a band playing and seating. Some sat and watched and read, others stood in line and were furious. Mark Turner spoke about it in the theatre that night and apologised and said he was available after if anyone wanted to offload on to him their thoughts.

The next day at Kiriwina Island, no problem at all as passengers were determined not to get caught up later in the morning and it was more spaced out. As well at Kiriwina the tenders could land both sides of the wharf and so it was twice as fast.

DISEMBARKATION

We were in one of the earlier groups for disembarkation. There didn’t seem to be any self walk-off like we had experienced before at OPT. Our time slot was 7.50am but we were called at about 7.45am. We went off and formed the rapidly lengthening queue to go through Customs. I couldn’t understand why they would only have 5 Customs desks for 2000 passengers. Basic mathematics would tell you it was going to build up. We got through in half an hour and collected our cases and walked out. We rang our shuttle and was told that the other 2 passengers on our shuttle were on a 8.30am group. At 8.15am our shuttle rang again to inform us that all groups on board had ceased getting off because off the build up and had to wait until it had cleared. Our shuttle luckily had an earlier bus and we were given the opportunity of going to Penrith via Parramatta which we took. I don’t know what happened after this. Our shuttle gave us excellent service, keeping us informed all the time, both going and returning.

OVERALL

We had a wonderful time and none of the problems that some experienced affected us. I would like to mention that one of the talks given on board was by the future cruise manager, Celia, and was excellent. It was called “Be a Savvy Cruiser” and was most informative. Even though we have cruised several times and have purchased Future Cruise Credits, there was still things we learnt.

We have just returned from the Papua New Guinea cruise on Board the Dawn Princess, 23rd June, 2015 to 8th July, 2015 and have now written a review of this trip. Please remember that this review is my opinion only and does not necessarily represent what others experienced. I am mainly a positive person and do not look for faults or problems. I was not sure whether to put this on here or on the Member Review page.

We have just returned from Papua New Guinea on Dawn Princess. During this cruise the Future Cruise Manager did a talk called "Be a Savvy Cruiser". It was very informative. One thing she did say was that if you book direct with Princess you can request your own Travel Planner and this person will handle all your bookings whenever you ring. That way you can get to know the person who is handling your booking at Princess. If you book onboard with Princess you can then come home and shop around and have the booking transferred to your own TA. Also Princess will never undercut a price given to you by a TA. But you might get additional benefits from TA's by shopping around. She said it was important to take control of your own bookings and keep an eye on deals and fare reductions. Don't depend on your TA to do this.

When we originally booked it was for the 21 day New Guinea cruise last August but for medical reasons we had to cancel and transferred to this one. In January this year they brought out a special on this cruise and dropped the price by $1000 each, so we contacted our TA and she had it changed to the lower price and mentioned at the time that she even managed to get the OBC. I have been doing all the paperwork this afternoon and Just found I had kept the promotion and printed it off on the lower price. That shows $100 OBC pp. So maybe OzKiwiJJ is right and I will get an additional $100USD pp once on board. Anyway have placed copies of everything in my bag. Hopefully I will know by First port of call in Brisbane and place a post.

If I look at my Circle Savings Account it shows each Cruise Credit $100 AUD applied to this booking (which was our deposit) and Onboard Credits $100 USD applied to this booking BUT if I look on cruise personaliser under Credits it shows each Travel Agent Promotion $42.50 each ($85 from our TA). then Onboard Sales Promotion $100 each, then Special Cruise Sale Offer $50 each which I think is because of 50th Anniversary. It states all credits are in AUD. I have just printed everything off and will put with the FCC letter to take on board. We shall find out on Tuesday. It would be very nice to have an additional $100USD each wouldn't it. Or at least by today's exchange rate an additional $28.

I hope you are right Ozkiwijj. No personaliser shows both with $100 credit. Another $100 each would be nice. I will let you know about the Dawn when I get back. We did go on her 4 years ago to Hawaii but it will be interesting to note any changes. I understand that there have been changes in Horizon Court since dry dock. Hope the MDR has not changed too much because last time the food was beautiful. Thanks all for your help.