jilli

[jilaxton]

Cruising on the SUN PRINCESS World Cruise next May 2012. What can anybody tell me about the ship that we might need to know ?

[soccerref]

Got off Sun Princess 4 weeks ago and had a lovely cruise. The ship is quite old in cruise ship terms but everything was spick and span. It is a moderately sized ship at 80,000 tonnes so relatively easy to navigate around. For me, the only downside is the fact that the ship only has traditional dining and we much prefer the anytime option. I will do my best to help if you have any specific questions. Enjoy your cruise.

[CraftyEC]

I know you will have a great time - our first cruise was with Princess, and we (self, husband and two teenagers) loved every moment of it.

 

You will get more responses to your question if you post this on the Princess boards here.

 

Also, if you put the subject of your question in the title, e.g."Can anyone tell me about the Sun Princess?", rather than your name, then folks with information will recognise that it's needed!

[jilaxton]

Thanks to both of you, we are first time cruisers, and although we've researched a lot, there must be plenty we need to know - perhaps let's start with the laundry. Believe a few queues there! What's the best time to do it? The hair salon - when to book? Excursions - is it better to go solo and do what you really want to do? Anything will be helpful, so hearty thankyou in advance.

[soccerref]

I would recommend that you join (or start) a roll call for your cruise (see forum menu) and you can discuss excursions with people who will be on your cruise. Personally, we do a mixture of independent tours and ship's tours depending on the destination, local language, distance to sights etc. If we have not been to a location before and the language is unfamiliar and the tour is a long one we go with a ship's tour because we know that if anything happens we will get back to the ship. If it is a familiar port with sights near to the ship we will do things independently.

 

The laundry rooms contain 2 front load washers and 2 driers + 1 ironing board and a dispensing machine for soap powder and drier sheets. Each item is $2Aus. There is no definitive answer to ‘the best time’ but I tend to go early morning, put the washing in and then go for breakfast.

I can’t help with the hair salon but it never looks full.

 

A lot of people get anxious about their first cruise. My advice is to remember that the ship is a floating hotel and it works in the same way. You get the ‘Princess Patter’ (a daily newsletter) every evening in your cabin and it contains all the information you will need about the following day’s events so you can plan your day accordingly.

Keep the questions coming and I will do my best to help.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

If you don't see you Roll Call here - start one of your own -- great to meet people before your cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=310

[jilaxton]

Thank you so much, soccerref. I don't have worries about the cruise as such, having been to probably 50% of the places and am comfortable about our getting around on our own, if necessary but I follow Sir Baden Powell and believe in Be Prepared!

[soccerref]

Glad to be of help. I forgot to say that you don't pay for the ironing facility in the laundrette. I also love 'to be prepared' so keep the questions coming.

[jilaxton]

Okay, here's one - can I take a Jiffy travel steamer on board. Mean no ironing.

[sail7seas]

No. Steamers are not permitted on cruise ships. The greatest fear of all on ships is fire and they do all they can to eliminate risk.

All ships offer pressing/laundry/dry cleaning service. We only sail HAL these days so I don't know the prices for those services on Princess. Maybe they have laundry packages to make it more economical..... HAL does.

 

You may wish to look at the Princess forum of CC to ask specific Princess questions, if you have not already done so. You will find more Princess cruisers on that Board.

 

Welcome. Happy you found us.

[bbwex]

In the future, put the nature of your question in the subject line -- that way more people will know what you are asking about, and you will get more answers.

 

Just a thought.

[jilaxton]

Hi Ben and Susan. It's okay, was directly answering SoccerRef. Yes, I am learning little by little. Ta, Jilli

 

To Sail7seas (what a lovely name), re the travel steamers. The idea came from several American cruisers who were able to take them on different boats. And here and there, there are still those doing it - but I take your point that it's not Princess. Jilli