Planning an Asia/Australia Cruise - Any recommendations?

[room010]

These cruises seem to be appearing on more and more itineraries now, usually as sectors of a round the world trip which is fine but I get the sense that many cruise lines send their older ships Down Under when they are getting too "tired" for the Caribbean or Med. There are also some very upmarket options with Seabourne, Silversea etc but I need some input from the experts here on which ones offer the best experience, and also which ones to avoid at all costs! We easygoing 50somethings willing to pay for a memorable trip and are pretty flexible on timing and itineraries.

[Kinkacruiser]

The best we have downunder are the Dawn , Sun and ex-Regal Princess (renamed Pacific Dawn). There is a Sydney-Perth (Fremantle) cruise on the Sun from memory, as well as a few SE asia cruises from Fremantle mid year.

I gather you are hoping to combine two cruises?

The Dawn has recently been refurnished while the Sun will have her makeover in April 2010.

Hope that helps a little.

Cheers,

Anna

[moyaroo]

These cruises seem to be appearing on more and more itineraries now, usually as sectors of a round the world trip which is fine but I get the sense that many cruise lines send their older ships Down Under when they are getting too "tired" for the Caribbean or Med. There are also some very upmarket options with Seabourne, Silversea etc but I need some input from the experts here on which ones offer the best experience, and also which ones to avoid at all costs! We easygoing 50somethings willing to pay for a memorable trip and are pretty flexible on timing and itineraries.

The P&O/Princess Australia ships have gotten a bit of bashing on the boards, but the other cruises such as the Diamond Princess, Ocean Princess (small ship doing Asia) are fine. You can't really go wrong with Silversea, Regent or even Oceania (though less is included and if you want Oceania look at Azamara often a bit cheaper for the same ship and service level (Ocean P is same ship but not quite same in service ( does not have open seating dining for instance))

[room010]

Thanks for the feedback. After our P&O "Pacific Sky" experience a few years ago it will take a LOT to persuade me back onto anything owned and run by P&O, hence my question about alternatives ;)

[Shiraz49]

Although it involves a flight north (if ex Aust) there are many wonderful cruises ex Hong Kong or Singapore that cruise to include Vietman, Cambodia, Thailand etc ...... really eye opening experience if you have not been there previously, lovely people, great scenery.

 

We cruised RCL Rhapsody (one of their first excursions into the area) but there are many cruise lines to pick from.

 

Happy Planning

[shieldsboy]

Why not try one of the round-the-world ships sectors sailing from Sydney.

 

We have had three voyages from Sydney to Hong Kong and Singapore on the P & O (UK) ships - these should not be compared with the older P & O Australia ships of which you have had previous experience as they are of a much higher standard.

 

These ships sail from UK in early January and arrive in Sydney in February, returning to UK in early April and visit Asia on the journey to/from Australia.

 

Another alternative is the Diamond Princess when she leaves Australia and heads North after her summer season. She leaves Sydney in mid February.

The Volandam also heads to Asia after her season down-under.

 

P & O Australia also operate some better class ships - Sun Princess and Dawn Princess - they provide cruises to Asia starting in Australia throughout the year.

 

One of the pluses of cruising around these areas is that you normally get warm weather - provided you head North from Sydney. You can get rough weather on occasions but we have sailed from Sydney to Bangkok with hardly a ripple in the sea.

 

Good luck with whatever you pick.

 

Don

[Kiwi Kruzer]

These cruises seem to be appearing on more and more itineraries now, usually as sectors of a round the world trip which is fine but I get the sense that many cruise lines send their older ships Down Under when they are getting too "tired" for the Caribbean or Med. There are also some very upmarket options with Seabourne, Silversea etc but I need some input from the experts here on which ones offer the best experience, and also which ones to avoid at all costs! We easygoing 50somethings willing to pay for a memorable trip and are pretty flexible on timing and itineraries.

 

Keep your eye out for any specials that may pop up from Regent Seven Seas.

The local fleet are indeed old, but offer a great cruise experience.....

its just the hardware thats lacking.

We have done 2 Regent cruises through this way and both were superb.....

Also look at the HAL cruises that reposition down this way for the season.