Live from the Sun Princess Feb 20 Around New Zealand

[DonahCBrown]

Live from the Sun Princess Feb. 20, Sydney to Sydney around Australia

 

Boarded without incident after two nights in Sydney at the Intercontinental, where we won’t be staying again, as they pulled a change of policy on us with no warning and slapped us with a hefty charge for having our friends join us in the club room – have done this numerous times in numerous places around the world with no issues and it seemed fine initially, but then, on the way out, we got hit with a substantial charge. Conversation with the manager had no impact, so will be writing to the corporate office and posting a review to the sister site over at Trip Advisor when we get home. Left a bad taste, though, and we were grateful to get to board rapidly and with no problems.

 

Sun Princess is in good shape for her age and everyone has been very pleasant and helpful. We have a snafu with our (not arranged through group services) roll call meet an greet as the time and place we choose to have our informal get together is going to be occupied by a group of 165 so we’ll have to change that one on the fly….Oh well…

 

There are a couple of large groups on board, one of ‘Rock and Rollers’ - they are all in very distinctive shirts and may in fact be the big group who will be in the Wheelhouse tomorrow at 1 PM. I overheard some people talking as we were checking in, and it seems like there is also a large contingent of line dancers, so it should be pretty fun to hang out at the dance venues.

 

Our entertainment options for the whole cruise were summarized in the initial Patter and entertainment in the Princess Theater will include the Production Shows Piano Man, Shimmy, Save the Last Dance, and British Invasion. There is also a comedian, a ‘multi-instrumentalist’ – not really sure what this might entail but have visions of a one man band from the old movies…a vocalist and a folkloric show that sounds like it will feature Maori entertainers called “Haka the Legend” - The Vista Lounge features a comedian, some game shows Toni Stevens who we saw and enjoyed on the Diamond last year, several theme parties, another cultural presentation and some games and musical entertainments as well. Movies under the Stars – and usually inside and on the tv as well, will be Letters to Juliet, Life as we know it, Killers, Pavarotti in Concert, Cirque du Soleil, Secretariat, Lord of the Rings, Eat, Pray, Love, Knight and Day, Inception, and Salt.

 

For sailaway, we spent some time in the hot tub outside the spa, and watched several young mothers totally ignore both the ‘adults only’ and the ‘no children in ‘nappies’ signs and take over the Lotus Spa Pool, which I will for sure not be using until I see someone drain it and clean it! One little one was in disposable diapers and nothing else…yuck.

 

Dinner this evening was pretty much the usual departure menu – and after dinner we wandered, checked out the shops and were in serious sticker shock at the prices – duty free liquor is at least twice what we usually pay, cigarettes were 2 cartons for $100 AUD – which made us all glad we had long since quit. Bijoux Ternier - $10 everywhere else in the world is $20 here. I have no idea why things are so expensive in the on board shops, but we will be spending our money on shore…

Brief, very very brief - stint in the Casino proved to us that the slots really are the ‘stupid tax’ – ie the tax for being stupid enough to play – lots and lots of penny slots, which take your money really really fast – not a lot of folks participating when we made our donation, doubt we’ll be back.

 

That’s it for now – we’re making an early evening of it, plan to be up and at the gym bright and early.

[Francine]

Hi Donna,

It will be so great to follow you and Dennis on this journey. Sorry about the hotel problem. I hope the cruise will be another wonderful one for you.

Fran

[Francine]

Oh...and say "Hi" to Tina and Ken from us.

Fran

[coo359a2]

Hi back at you Fran. Hi to Len from us. Think it's going to be a great cruise. Like Donna said the prices are sure an eyeopener.

 

Weather is much warmer than I thought. Glad I threw in some shorts.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Heres where they are heading...

 

 

 

Date Port Arrive Depart

Sun 20/02/11 Sydney / Australia 16:00

Mon 21/02/11 At Sea

Tue 22/02/11 At Sea

Wed 23/02/11 Bay of Islands / New Zealand 08:00 17:00

Thu 24/02/11 Auckland / New Zealand 07:00 18:00

Fri 25/02/11 Tauranga / New Zealand 08:30 19:30

Sat 26/02/11 Napier / New Zealand 12:00 18:00

Sun 27/02/11 Wellington / New Zealand 08:00 18:00

Mon 28/02/11 Lyttelton (Christchurch) / New Zealand 08:00 18:00

Tue 01/03/11 Port Chalmers / New Zealand 08:00 18:00

Wed 02/03/11 Fjordland National Park (Scenic Cruising) / New Zealand 08:00 17:00

Thu 03/03/11 At Sea

Fri 04/03/11 At Sea

Sat 05/03/11 Sydney / Australia 07:00

[victravellers]

Live from the Sun Princess Feb. 20, Sydney to Sydney around Australia

 

 

Dinner this evening was pretty much the usual departure menu – and after dinner we wandered, checked out the shops and were in serious sticker shock at the prices – duty free liquor is at least twice what we usually pay, cigarettes were 2 cartons for $100 AUD – which made us all glad we had long since quit. Bijoux Ternier - $10 everywhere else in the world is $20 here. I have no idea why things are so expensive in the on board shops, but we will be spending our money on shore…

.

 

When the Sun and the Dawn came to Australia, they converted the prices on board to AUD with an exchange rate of about 50 cents to the US Dollar.

I was shocked when I saw the prices in the shops after I had been on the Sapphire Princess with USD.

Princess is not happy to make heaps of extra money off us Aussies just with cruise prices.....They want it all :rolleyes:

In fact, when I was on the Sun Princess in 2009, they had a jewellery sale. The original prices were crossed off, a new ( more expensive price)was handwritten in pen and they tried to tell us this was the discount price in AUD.:eek: ........ they did not make a sale from me that day.

 

Linda

[caribill]

 

Our entertainment options for the whole cruise were summarized in the initial Patter and entertainment in the Princess Theater will include the Production Shows Piano Man, Shimmy, Save the Last Dance, and British Invasion.

 

First time I have heard of the "Shimmy" show. Do you know if it is for the Australian market only?

 

For sailaway, we spent some time in the hot tub outside the spa, and watched several young mothers totally ignore both the ‘adults only’ and the ‘no children in ‘nappies’ signs and take over the Lotus Spa Pool, which I will for sure not be using until I see someone drain it and clean it! One little one was in disposable diapers and nothing else…yuck.

 

I suspect if you tell the SPA staff that there is a child in diapers in the pool that the pool will quickly be shut down, drained, and cleaned.

 

 

 

Thanks for the "live from"

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Hi Donna,

 

I am really looking forward to this thread.

When the Princess sent Sun and Dawn Downunder, they promoted it as International Cruising. Many locals have cruised with them and say it does not compare with Princess USA, so it will be very interesting to hear your comments.

I am away for a week cruising, we will be in Christchuch just ahead of you, but look foward to catching up on my return.

 

Wishing you smooth seas and a wonderful trip around NZ.

[DonahCBrown]

In response to the Shimmy show - haven't heard of it before either so will go and see and report back when we see it.

 

So far we haven't really seen much that seemed that different from a 'regular' Princess cruise except for some special menu items marked as New Zealand specialties with a silver fern next to them on the menu - and we've seen regional specialities highlighted elsewhere as well - and the huge number of penny slots. However, they don't pay off at all, so that's the same as usual...

 

On to the report -

 

Day at Sea Feb. 21

The gym is well equipped, quite new looking treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, and weight machines, and wasn’t very busy at 7 AM which might have had to do with the first of two time changes between Sydney and the Bay of Islands.

 

Trivia was scheduled for 9 AM, which we didn’t make, but we did join up with our team for the afternoon games and won with 19 of 21 - prize selection included one passport wallet, one needlepoint kit, and lots of card and hats – Tiffany kindly let us pick and choose.

 

Our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet successfully moved on the fly from the Wheelhouse where we were in conflict, as it turns out, with the preview to the art auction – probably would have been fine to stay in there actually, but we moved over to the disco which was quite a nice spot. We had about half of the roll call in attendance, and were also visited by Joy the Captain’s Circle Hostess, and the Suzanne, the Future Cruise Consultant who spent quite a bit of time with the group answering questions and chatting.

 

We’ve enjoyed the menus so far in both the buffet and the dining room and have particularly noted that there are really good curries on the buffet line at lunch. Service, especially in the Horizon Court, seems to be a little better than we’ve experienced elsewhere with lots of staff assisting with locating table space, bringing drinks, and so on. The captain, Andrew Froude, does a great noon announcement, with the usual weather conditions and position announcement expanding into a little mini-talk on the region – quite informative and enjoyable.

 

Our port lecturer Deborah from the UK did an excellent job, particularly for the independent travelers, with her presentations on the Bay of Island and Auckland. As we have only the two sea days, she will do Tauranga and Napier ports tomorrow.

 

Tonight’s early Movie Under the Stars was Letters to Juliet which we’ve seen – very cute, and the in room feature is You Again, which we haven’t actually gotten all the way through as yet. The game show of the evening was Majority Rule – we lingered over dinner a little too long to make it there, so we went to check out the “instrumentalist” – sad to report that this is not code for an old fashioned one man band as I had imagined, but rather is an accordion player, named Ross Maio – not our thing, so we drifted past the entertainment in the Wheelhouse – pretty decent C&W – and the piano player in the Atrium and, facing another one hour forward, on up to the cabin.

 

Tomorrow is formal night and the first Production Show – Piano Man – have seen it a couple of times, but may stop by anyway as I like the songs and it is always interesting to see how it is staged on different ships. Princess Grapevine wine tasting is also on tomorrow, and one of the Scholarship @ Sea offerings is an opportunity to learn the Haka, which I’ll be attending. Movies are Morning Glory, Life as We Know It, and 127 Hours. The Captain’s Champagne Waterfall Party is on at 7:15.

 

That’s it for now.

[busseltoncruisers]

Thanks Donna for taking the time to report on your cruise. We are enjoying following your adventure and counting down the days until we board the Sun for our Northern Explorer in April. Could you let us know who the CD and Assistant CD is currently on board.

[DonahCBrown]

Terrible terrible news about Christchurch - we're watching the coverage on the Australian news feed. The Captain has made an announcement and told folks with friends and relatives in Christchurch to contact the Pursers Desk for assistance in getting in touch. Feel certain that we will not call there as it looks to be far far worse than the 7.1 that they had in September. Having gone through this in Hawaii a couple of years back, I really feel for poor Christchurch. :( Everything else seems a bit frivolous at the moment...but - Cruise Director is Gavin Chandler, Assistant is a blonde named Jen.

[erewhon]

Terrible terrible news about Christchurch - we're watching the coverage on the Australian news feed. The Captain has made an announcement and told folks with friends and relatives in Christchurch to contact the Pursers Desk for assistance in getting in touch. Feel certain that we will not call there as it looks to be far far worse than the 7.1 that they had in September. Having gone through this in Hawaii a couple of years back, I really feel for poor Christchurch. :( Everything else seems a bit frivolous at the moment...but - Cruise Director is Gavin Chandler, Assistant is a blonde named Jen.

 

Unfortunately the aftershocks are continuing, just wish the earth would keep still.

This earthquake has caused far more damage than the September quake.

The road tunnel to the port of Lyttelton is closed.

[busseltoncruisers]

Thanks for replying Donna. I am currently at work and have learned of this terrible quake via CC. This has certainly been a summer of disasters. Our thoughts are with all who are affected by this disaster. We pray that the loss of life is minimal.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Feel certain that we will not call there as it looks to be far far worse than the 7.1 that they had in September.

 

The Pacific Sun is in front of you, and she is due in Lyttelton (Christchurch) on the 25/02/2011, so we will see what happens with her and then that will give us an idea on what will happen with you.

[rkmw]

they just announced on the TV that the QM will not be going to Christchurch due to the earthquake so i dont think the other ships will be going there either....might give them an extra day at sea?

[Astro Flyer]

They said it was a 6.3 but with more damage than the 7.1 with over 60 fatalities...our prayers are with everyone in Christchurch. :(

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

Terrible, terrible news about Christchurch. It is our favourite city in NZ and had some lovely times visiting there in the past.

Australia and New Zealand are certainly copping their fair share of natural disasters lately...... let's hope this is the end of it.

[DonahCBrown]

Feb. 23, Bay of Islands

 

After a rather subdued evening mostly spent watching Australian TV news coverage of the tragic earthquake in Christchurch, we arrived in the beautiful Bay of Islands. Today is slightly overcast, with comfortable temperatures and we are anchored a bit off from Paihia with lovely views from the ship towards Russell, Waitangi Wharf, and Paihia as well as the islands in the bay. Tours today go as far as Kerikeri and into the Kauri forests, and many of them also feature a stop at the Waitangi Treaty grounds with its visitor center, war canoe exhibit and Maori whare runanga (meeting house), which is what we visited, independently. The grounds are lovely with a nice English style garden around the Treaty House, and a small area around the visitors’ center with tree ferns and other native forest plants. The Waitangi Treaty is the ‘foundation document’ for the nation of New Zealand setting forth the relationship between the Maori and the British who created an alliance in 1840. Waitangi Day is Feb. 6, so we missed it by a bit, but the area is interesting to visit at any time of the year. From a prior visit, we remembered the huge war canoe, but today there was a second slightly smaller one pulled up alongside, and several significantly smaller ones on the shore. I imagine these were here for the Waitangi Day events that included the sailing of flotillas of these magnificently carved vessels, so it was a bit of a bonus to be able to see additional examples.

 

There has been no official announcement about Christchurch and/or any substitution of port that will be made, but I feel quite certain we won’t end up calling there, as the tunnel between the port and the city has collapsed and there is simply too much damage and too much rescue work and so forth that is on-going for them to want to be bothered with a bunch of tourists. I would be astonished if we did make that port call, and, quite frankly, think it would be hugely inappropriate to do so, given the significant loss of life and the hundreds still unaccounted for. Just MHO, of course…Will post when there is something definite announced.

[Te Aroha]

Hi I am a New Zealander living in the North Island and thought we could help by giving you the news about the Christchurch situation.

 

It is with great sadness the I pass along the following news.

 

A national state of emergency has been declared with all schools businesses etc closed within the Christchurch area for at least the next 5 days.

 

Loss of life is currently at 75 confirmed dead with over 300 people missing. All infrastructure is badly damaged with most of the city without water, trucks are trying to get through now with supplies, power is out to a lot of the city and gas has been turned off. Most roads are damaged with cracks and liquifaction and sink holes, covering large areas of the roads and city making movement difficult for everyone involved.

 

I can see no way that any cruise ship will be docking at Lyttleton in the near future, possibly for at least a month or more.

 

Maybe the cruise lines will look at docking in Dunedin for an extra night.

 

My prayers and thoughts are with the people of Christchurch.

[Loonbeam]

CNN International has reported that Cruise ships and other vessels in the area may be tasked with transiting supplies and/or the transit or loan of medical staff or equipment depending on need and resources. So it's possible you may approach Christchurch but not actually disembark if the Sun is asked to or offers to assist.

[MERLOTCHAMPAGNE]

How very,very sad and unnerving. We just got off the Sun Princess on Sunday and were standing in Cathedral Square admiring the steeple just last Tuesday. It is such a shame as they were beginning to rebuild and even with the effects of the previous quake and aftershocks, we loved Christchurch and all of its gardens, markets and history. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.

 

 

Hi I am a New Zealander living in the North Island and thought we could help by giving you the news about the Christchurch situation.

 

It is with great sadness the I pass along the following news.

 

A national state of emergency has been declared with all schools businesses etc closed within the Christchurch area for at least the next 5 days.

 

Loss of life is currently at 75 confirmed dead with over 300 people missing. All infrastructure is badly damaged with most of the city without water, trucks are trying to get through now with supplies, power is out to a lot of the city and gas has been turned off. Most roads are damaged with cracks and liquifaction and sink holes, covering large areas of the roads and city making movement difficult for everyone involved.

 

I can see no way that any cruise ship will be docking at Lyttleton in the near future, possibly for at least a month or more.

 

Maybe the cruise lines will look at docking in Dunedin for an extra night.

 

My prayers and thoughts are with the people of Christchurch.

[caribill]

How very,very sad and unnerving. We just got off the Sun Princess on Sunday and were standing in Cathedral Square admiring the steeple just last Tuesday. It is such a shame as they were beginning to rebuild and even with the effects of the previous quake and aftershocks, we loved Christchurch and all of its gardens, markets and history. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected.

 

Before and after

[Pam in CA]

I read on a cruise website that the Sun Princess has cancelled it's call in Christchurch and is extending it's stay in Wellington and then doing scenic cruising in Marlborough Sounds.

[DonahCBrown]

I read on a cruise website that the Sun Princess has cancelled it's call in Christchurch and is extending it's stay in Wellington and then doing scenic cruising in Marlborough Sounds.

 

If so, we haven't officially heard as yet. Meanwhile, I thought I'd anticipate some of the 'usual and customary' questions:

 

 

 

Some answers to questions that are frequently asked:

 

Who’s Who on Sun Princess –

 

Captain is Andrew Froude

Staff Captain is Kevin Grant

Future Cruise Consultant is Suzanne Brimacombe

Captain’s Circle Hostess is Joy Casaru

Port Lecturer is Deborah Shields

Cruise Director is Gavin Chandler

Chef is Norbert Sommerhalter

Maitre d’Hotel is Giuseppe Franchina

 

Most Traveled Passenger event – no luncheon on this cruise – cocktail reception is planned for the evening of the Napier port call. There are around 60 Elites on board, don’t know the cut off for the event, though.

 

Trivia & Trivia Prizes – mostly decks of cards, although the first day, there were also baseball caps. Quizzes so far have been pretty easy, general knowledge, not really geared to Australia/New Zealand – in fact we’ve had European itineraries with more UK/AU/NZ music/tv/entertainment/sport questions than have shown up so far on these.

 

Casino – very few table games, over all a small casino area, lots and lots of penny slots – more than I’ve seen on any other Princess ship, very few of any other kinds, some video poker and I don’t recognize but a couple of the slot ‘games’ – Wolf Run is the only one that was really familiar. The slots are VERY tight and people are staying away in droves.

 

General impression of condition of ship, etc. – good for her age, bedding is all the ‘new’ style – comfortable, but I like a hard bed – YMMV – requested and received feather pillows and had no problem getting an extra blanket, too. Cabins on this class are smallish, but pretty well designed and there is adequate storage space. Spa has nice spacious showers in the dressing rooms if the tiny cabin shower makes you claustrophobic. Gym equipment is all new, in really good shape. There is no sign up for the treadmills, so far not a problem, though. Food is generally the usual and customary Princess menu, with some regional specialty items and, it seems to us, a few more curries (really good ones!) on the buffet. Dinners have featured some really good specialties - had a 'Hangi' dinner last night - quite tasty.

 

Just docking in Auckland now so we'll be out and about soon. Planning on the War Memorial Museum, then will add on as time allows, with some shopping, perhaps a trip over to Devonport, or maybe the Maritime Museum and the Viaduct.

[DrJohn]

 

Who’s Who on Sun Princess –

 

Captain is Andrew Froude

Staff Captain is Kevin Grant

Future Cruise Consultant is Suzanne Brimacombe

Captain’s Circle Hostess is Joy Casaru

Port Lecturer is Deborah Shields

Cruise Director is Gavin Chandler

Chef is Norbert Sommerhalter

Maitre d’Hotel is Giuseppe Franchina

 

Hi Donna -- if you get a chance could you please say hello to Giuseppe Franchina for us? We sailed with him 50 days on the Grand Sept-Oct 2009 on 4 B2B cruises -- and he joked that our contracts were the same as he came onboard the same time we did and left when we did! He was wonderful. Could you also see if he might be on the Sun March 2012 as we have tentatively booked the March 3 sailing.

 

Many thanks,

John & Kathy