Cavallo

This side of the ditch, finding a "Cruise Specialist" is like finding a pork chop in a synagogue. Whilst many TA's profess to be Cruising Specialists when the rubber hits the road they are found wanting. What compounds things is that nearly all TA's have to work through a 3rd party wholesaler who causes delays in getting responses from any changes we may make and also clips the ticket on commission so any negotiation re commission reduction for business is limited. An example is Celebrity pay TA's 15% commission ( some get more), the TA gets two thirds and the third party one third. I have been trying to find a reputable real Cruise Specialist who can work direct with the cruise line and not through a 3rd party and too date cant find one. Few Ta's are also willing to give up part of their commission for a confirmed booking either.

I agree Beanb41. I booked our next cruise with what I thought was a "Cruise Specialist" group and have found I am doing all the work. I feel like I am teaching her rather than the customer. My booking has now been handed over to another TA due to the original TA's extended leave and the new TA is clearly too busy to manage her new workload. What are the pitfalls of changing to a different agency? TA s here do work through a 3rd party wholesaler.

We had to tender in September. Much better if they can dock.

These were taken on Sun Princess July 2015 - our mini suite had two doors to the balcony, one from the sitting area and one from the sleeping area. The whole layout of the cabin is a bit quirky in my opinion ... (for more photos of mini suite see https://picasaweb.google.com/boeckli/6177221279633270161

 

Stunning photos Boeckli. I was only going to look at the photos of the Mini Suite but became totally immersed. Thanks for sharing :)

HAL have the leat restrictive smoking policies as far as I can find.

 

Is tha a Goid thing or a bad thing, only you can decide.

It's a deal breaker for me. I would book a cruise with HAL if it wasn't for their smoking policy, however they are catering more for the European market than Aus/NZ.

Thanks so much for this review. Sounds great. Might have to change our mind about avoiding P&O !!!

Yes I agree. Looks like a definite step up by P&O.

Thanks Mason for such a comprehensive review and great photos and well done P&O. Would be happy to cruise on Eden after seeing this review. Love the smaller ships and P&O look like they have stepped up a notch or two here.

If you're in a balcony cabin I recommend having an Ultimate Balcony Dinner one night. It's wonderful, and you can choose lobster or steak (or both) for your main. We chose lobster and got two tails each! Way too much food but delicious. The included wine is dreadful though. We took a nice bottle of Bolly with us and had that with our meal instead.

Thanks for the recommendation, we have only ever had breakfast on the balcony and this time I had decided to do a balcony dinner so it's

defiantly going to happen now! I had debated about taking wine on board but it looks like a good idea. No point spoiling a good dinner with bad wine.

Forgot to mention - if you like lobster they had it on two different nights in the MDR. Yum! I do like the way Princess does lobster.

LOVE Lobster - something else to look forward to:)

One of the beauties of the smaller ships, I wish there were more this size.

Me too GUT2407. Enjoy the smaller ships.

They only tour we did was in Lombok. Although it was interesting seeing the island scenery - towns, villages, farms - it was a long day. However it's probably the best way to sightsee there unless you can find a private tour.

 

At Geraldton the locals run a hop on hop off shuttle bus for $5. It'd good for getting up to the HMAS Sydney memorial, however the town itself is easy to walk around.

 

In Broome the ship has free shuttles to take you into the town. If you want to go to Cable Beach just catch the local bus. It's very easy.

 

We only had a short stop in Darwin, we departed at 2pm. We were meeting a friend for coffee at Parap markets. The shuttle bus was $20 per person but only ran every hour. We got a taxi and asked the driver to take us on the "scenic" route, through the city and past some landmarks. It cost about $26, and our return trip was about $18 so not much more than using the shuttle. There is a lovely waterfont area a short walk from the dock with lots of cafes.

 

You may want to do a tour from Port Douglas. The scenic train / skyrail combo to Kuranda is good. It leaves from near Cairns and the drive to there is spectacular. The Daintree trips are good too and, of course, there is the Great Barrier Reef. If you don't want to tour then Port Douglas township is just a short walk from the marina where the tenders dock, and walking around the township and to the beach is easy and mostly flat. There are good cafes and restaurants in Port Douglas.

Thanks so much, I have copied this and printed it off so I can refer to it. I had looked at the skyrail so will definitely do the combo.

They did on Sun and Sea last year. Premium mini-suites were changed to penthouse suites. Here's the thread it was discussed in http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1990892

Thanks OzKiwi. Interesting thread.

We did that cruise last month - Fremantle to Sydney. It was great. There are plenty of quiet places around the ship. Remember, Princess ships have the Sanctuary which costs a bit extra but is worth it when you want peace, quiet and comfort. Also if you have the late dinner sitting and want a quiet place for a pre-dinner drink go to Magnums, just past the Art Gallery. That was our go to place when we weren't in the mood for the entertainers in the Atrium or the Wheelhouse Bar.

 

To put my earlier comment about the food into perspective, we were more than pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food on our first cruise on Sun Princess, it was better than expected. Dawn Princess was more what we expected initially. It was tasty food, served hot, and bigger portions than on Sun. I guess it just comes down to how the executive chef of each ship runs his galleys. I think the guy on Sun is more of a perfectionist.

Thanks for your helpful advice OzKiwi, we are looking forward to our cruise. Any recommendations for shore tours for a couple of Kiwis who have never been further north than Hervey (hope I spelt that correctly) Bay?

We prefer the more active options rather than coach tours. Can you swim at the beaches up there at this time of year - I understand the pool on DP is one of the coldest on the ocean!

Comforting to read this thread. We are doing the 17 day Top End in September next year and it will be our first experience of MUTS. Looking forward to watching a movie or two under the stars and it is good to know there are places to go to get away from the music if you are not enjoying it as I did have concerns about that. As for the food, it would have to be unbelievably bad to be a problem for us. When you read the reviews it does leave you wondering what you are in for, but for me 17 days on a ship is always better than 17 days at work :D

I agree.. some category changes are in the wind.

Do they change the category i.e. aft Mini Suite to Full Suite, and charge more for them given that you would get full Suite perks, but not full Suite size?

Either that or someone has linked the wrong deck plans for the after dates. :confused: :rolleyes:

Could be. That means anyone booking a cruise after that date my find their cabin has disappeared/moved/become smaller, the possibilities are endless :eek:

I compared the deck plans three times and couldn't spot anything. It must be a very trivial change.

On looking at other ships on their website they also have the same message only different dates, Sun Princess 4th Oct 2016, Sea Princess 10th Oct 2016, Island Princess 11th May 2016. I didn't look any further. Perhaps they're just hedging their bets :rolleyes:

When you look at the Dawn Princess deck plans on the Princess website it asks you to choose a BEFORE or AFTER Nov 2016 sailing. Does anyone know what changes are being made?

Sun Princess uses tokens for the machines and they are AU$3 each. There are token machines in the laundries that accept your cruise card and if they aren't working just go to the customer service desk to get your tokens.

Does this also apply to Dawn Princess laundries? Much better than having to que to get coins.

Orion, 20th Dec 2013, Exploration of the Antipodes :D

A big thank you to all who have posted on this thread. We will be buying a premium package each because we are sure we will come out ahead in the end. Without everyones input I would never have been able to work out if it was worth it or not. Cruise Critic proves it's worth again !!!